Spy Author Payne Harrison has kindly submitted a brush pass review to the Spybrary Podcast.
‘As a former Army signal officer and a spy novelist myself (including the ‘crypto-thriller,’Black Cipher), I’ve always been rather frustrated that other thriller authors have largely avoided the signals intelligence tableau as raw material for their stories — even though the National Security Agency is by far the largest intelligence service, and SIGINT provides the greatest intel
harvest.
Indeed, the key piece of intel that enabled the bin Laden raid to take place was a cell phone intercept. I suppose the main reason thriller writers avoid the subject is that the raw material can become very technical, very fast, and it requires a deft literary hand to synthesize and harness the techno data into a compelling story.
That said, three works have recently come to the fore in the SIGINT tableau that achieve the elusive goal of harnessing the technical aspects for a slick storyline.
Payne Harrison
Payne Harrison give you the low down on:
The Third Reich is Listening
The Good Listener – BBC Radio Drama available on Youtube.
Pine Gap – Available on Netflix
Check out Payne Harrison's novels
