Man On Fire

 Well, here I am, plugging another spy thriller, and another Netflix series. This time it's Man on Fire. I started it very recently, so I'm not sure if the series will hold on, but so far so good. It's about a former CIA operative who has to protect the orphaned daughter of his assassinated mentor from terrorists. It's set in Brazil and, like I said, so far so good. Nothing terribly original, but nothing horrible either, the plot keeps me invested in it. I know it's freely adapted from a novel from A.J. Quinnell and that it was already adapted in a 2004 movie, which I haven't seen, so the story is all new to me. If I am still satisfied when I finish it, I might buy the novel. Anyway, if you read the source material, or watched any of its adaptations, let me know in the comments. Please no spoilers.

Looking for Devil's Peak

You may remember that I have been desperately looking for the TV series adaptation of Deon Meyer's Devil's Peak. I love his crime thrillers and of course I want to see all the adaptations of his work on the screen, whether they are movies or series. South Africa is such a great atmospheric setting for crime dramas and seeing it on screen adds a new perspective to the experience, like an extra layer. I thought it would screen on the BBC, eventually, but apparently it never did. I recently did a Google search and thought I could find it on Tubi, but again, no: it's available in the US and Canada, but not in the UK. I have started to wonder whether I should just subscribe to a streaming service that has it.

Glock (Signature Weapon)

This is a new post in my Signature Weapons series, about weapons that say something about the characters using them, especially but not exclusively in crime fiction. So today I am blogging about the Glock. This is the very first firearm of the series. And before I go further, a disclaimer: I know almost nothing of firearms, I'm not a gun enthusiast by any stretch of the imagination, I don't have a gun fetish either, so I am writing this as a complete outsider, but as an aspiring crime fiction writer. Now, I find Glocks interesting for a number of reasons: thematically, symbolically and practically. First, it is the service weapon of many police forces in the world, including the SQ (Sûreté du Québec). So this is often the weapon of choice of my characters. According to the TV Tropes entry on handguns, it has the reputation of being the boring but practical gun of all boring, but practical guns. It's reliable without being flashy. Also, it's an Austrian weapon, and the name is very close to the German Glocke, which means bell. I find it ironic that a weapon is thus linked to something often seen as delicate and playful, used to produce music. And yes, I am working to use this double entendre in couple of stories.

Legends

 I found another great crime series on Netflix and I wanted to share it/plug it here: Legends. It's both a crime drama and a true crime documentary, as it is based on true events: the heroin trade of the early nineties in the UK and the combat against it by a team formed by border officers. A ragtag bunch of misfits as the trope is called. I love ragtags bunch of misfits, especially in crime fiction, even more when they had an origin in real life. I might blog about the trope one day, but I digress. You have two fairly rarely seen (at least in fiction) mob groups as the antagonists, one from Liverpool, the other from Turkey. Anyway, I cannot stress how solid the series is and I cannot recommend it enough.

Revisiting Cat's Eye

I blogged last year about the manga series Cat's Eye. More specifically, its anime adaptation, quite popular when I was around ten. It was about three sisters who were also cat burglars, the Cat's Eye(s) of the title, who also owned by day a coffee shop named... Cat's Eye. They were stealing the art works of their long lost father, because they wanted to find him by... stealing his paintings? To complicate matters, one of the girls, the main character, is dating a young police detective determined to capture the mysterious and elusive cat burgling trio. And yes, he doesn't really suspect that his girlfriend is one of them. He is pretty clueless. I was not a big fan, the plot being far too humorous and filled with glaring plot holes. So yes, they made an adaptation which I found on Disney+. So I gave it a watch. It's entertaining enough, but gripping police drama this is not. Even as a caper, you need to seriously suspend your disbelief. Like not notice that the Cats don't wear gloves and accepting that they are impervious to smoke bombs and tear gas, while the police is not. I laughed out loud a few times at how absurd things were. Still, it's entertaining enough and as I grew quite fond of Japanese anime, I will watch it all. Also, I am a sucker for nostalgia, even if I can be critical of a cultural product.

Secret Service

Since the beginning of 2026, or almost, I have been binge watching spy thrillers. It seems to be my new pastime: watch and read spy fiction. And I found one recently in ITV that I wanted to mention here: Secret Service. It's with Gemma Aterton, a former Bond girl who made quite a nice little career since then. She is not my favourite actress, but I like her. She plays Kate Henderson, an MI6 agent in charge of the Russian desk, who finds out that one of the candidates for the position of UK prime minister might be a Russian mole. But she doesn't know which one. It's nothing too original, it has a few plot holes and you need to suspend your disbelief at times, but it's a solid and fairly well written thriller nonetheless. So yes, if you are living in the UK, I suggest you give it a go.

Tomahawk (Signature Weapon)

 Here is another post in my new Signature Weapons series, about weapons that ought to be seen in crime fiction, either used by the heroes or villains, as a signature weapon. So today I want to blog about the tomahawk. Not the missile, but the Native American axe. As a child, I grew kinda obsessed by it when I saw Disney's Davy Crockett: King of the Wild Frontier. I thought it just looked so cool. So I made it one of my characters' signature weapon in some of our games. My parents had bought a few wooden toys, if I remember well. Now, the tomahawk still exists, although it is more often used as a tool than a weapon. Some look like plain hatchets, some look like they have been forged near Mount Doom. Be that as it may, I am ware that a tomahawo might not be the most practical weapon, even in close quarters. All the same, I would like to see it in a modern crime fiction setting as a signature weapon.

The Hunter

Sometimes, there are dreams that I don't have that come true. So a few days ago, I learn in this Variety article that the crime novel The Last Hunt by South African writer Deon Meyer will be adapted into a TV series. But that's not all: Israeli scriptwriter Noah Stollman, who is also one of the scriptwriters of the spy thriller series Fauda, will do the adaptation. And you know how much I love Fauda. So for me, it is like the meeting of two great creative minds, from two cultures I love. Now Meyer has been adapted before and I have rarely been able to find these adaptations on streaming or on television, but it's good news all the same. The article says it is a spy thriller, which is true of this novel and many other works of Deon Meyer. Anyway, the adaptation is titled The Hunter (working title?) and I will be on the lookout for it. If you are interested, watch this space.

Bushmills for Saint Paddy's?

 "McNulty: Can I get a Jameson?
Bartender: Bushmills OK?
McNulty: That’s Protestant whiskey.
Bartender: Price is right, ain’t it?
McNulty: Make it neat."

Well, first thing first: happy Saint Patrick's Day to you all. I will make time to drink today and, at some point, I might even accompany my usual pint with a shot of some Irish spirit. It might be Bushmills, even though it would be ironic to drink a Protestant whiskey on the day of a Catholic saint. But when we went to Belfast, we visited their distillery briefly. Could be a nice way to remember the trip. Oh and for those who don't know where the exchange above is from, it's from The Wire. You can watch the scene here. I've been wanting to say the reply next time they offer me some in a pub. Haven't had the chance since the local Irish pub shut down, but maybe today is my lucky day. Luck of the Irish, as they say.

Truth Serum (The Night Agent)

 I am blogging again about the spy series The Night Agent. Because I really enjoy it, first and foremost. Also, because it renews with a number of old tropes that we seldom see nowadays in the genre, as far as I know. So yes, not to give too much away, but instead of using "proper" torture, ome of the antagonists (not sure if I can say villain) uses a truth serum to gather intel from an uncooperative person of interest. And it is also used, from what I read, fairly reastically. As I am typing this, the use of a truth serum in the episode has not been listed yet in the TV Tropes entry, to my surprise. Anyway, to me it shows that sometimes, to be original and creative, you need to revisit old tropes that have been discarted as clichés.

Hunting Lodge (The Night Agent)

As you know, I have been (binge) watching the third season of the spy thriller The Night Agent on Netflix. It's great fun and very gripping, even though it's often derivative. But I think that sometimes, for certain genres, such as spy fiction, revisiting commonplaces and common tropes is part of the fun. So in one episode, the hero ends up in a hunting lodge. I love a good hunting lodge in adventure and spy stories. It's a perfect setting to put the hero in danger and for him to become a prey. Also, Hunter's Lodge was the name of a historical secret organisation (which I read researching to blog this post), so it works on a thematical/symbolic level too. In any case, I always get excited when I see that a spy or a crime story as a sort of hunting lodge as one of its settings.

The Night Agent in Istanbul

 Okay, so I have started watching the third season of the spy TV series The Night Agent on Netflix. So far so good, I am really enjoying it. It's not entirely original or particularly groundbreaking, but it is competently made and there's plenty of suspense to keep you invested. Anyway, like every self-respecting spy thriller, it sometimes goes to exotic locations. In this instance, the Night Agent ends up in Istanbul in the very first episode. And it reminded me that there are certain places, certain cities in the world, closely associated with espionage and covert operations, both in fiction and in real life. So it inspired me to do a series of posts about them in the near future, if that can interest you. It won't be like deep dive, just a few fun facts about them, what I know and what I learned.

Unfamiliar Thriller

As I have a fair deal of free time on my hands, I have been waching a lot of spy thrillers. I discovered one recently, an eight episodes long German TV series set in Berlin, called Unfamiliar. So far it is very solid, violent and brutal like I like them, but very sober in its diaplay of violence at the same time. The plot is intelligent, does not go on melodramatic streaks or shiock value for the sake of it. It's also a nice change to see a spy stories set in contemporary Germany and not shortly before or during World War II. It's still traditional in many ways: the antagonist is a Russian agent. But then some things never change. So yes, I am going to binge watch this.

Condor Thriller(s)

 I love a good spy thriller, as you know, and I try to read all of the classics of the genre and watch them when there are any available. I watched Three Days of the Condor a few times, I even read James Grady's Six Days of the Condor. Great author to read, by the way, I suggest you see his other works (I haven't many of them, but still), not only the one that made him famous. Anyway, I recently learned that, like many iconic stories, this one got readapted in 2018, a TV series simply titled Condor. There's too many of them these days, on too many streaming services, it's hard to keep track, so I had no idea it even existed. I guess I will have to check if I can see it somewhere. If you have seen it, please leave a comment. In the meantime, I recommend the original novel. You might also find interesting that Grady wrote a sort of sequel to it, condor.net, setpost 9/11, with a new protagonist with the same codename.

About The Night Agent

I blogged a week ago about The Night Agent, a spy TV series on Netflix which I thoroughly enjoyed its first two seasons. The first season is based on a novel of the same name (which I intend to read one day), I understand the second and upcoming third ones are completely original stories. So yeah, as you know, there is an upcoming season three and I am quite excited about it. I watched the new season trailer yesterday and yes, it seems promising. There is just one thing that disappoints me: the absence of Rose Larkin, the character played by Luciane Buchanan. In the first seasons, Rose was not merely the love interest for the hero Peter Sutherland and occasional damsel in distress. She was also a civilian caught in a dangerous game of violence and espionage, an outsider who had to learn on the spot how to play. She was also a de facto audience surrogate. So I fear we will lose a bit of the show's humanity with her absence. I understand putting continuously a civilian in a world she does not belong to would stretch credibility. However I hope she shows up in later seasons, because she does bring a lot to the series, contributing to its relatability.

The Return of the Night Agent

As you may know, I have enjoyed in the past watching the Netflix spy TV series The Night Agent. It doesn't reinvent the wheel, but it's a solid thriller that kept me entertained. It has a few ineresting enough characters, a lot of suspense and it is not too ridiculously far-fetched. I am even curious about the novel it is based on, although I might not buy it any time soon: too many books on my TBR list already. But anyway, there's been two seasons of the series and a third one is coming. It's going to be aired next month. I am really looking forward to it. Have you seen the series? What do you think of it? Tell me in the comments.

The Traitors in a nutshell

 My wife has developed in recent year an addiction to the binge-watching reality TV The Traitors. The British version, but also its many other iterations, which she tries to watch wherever she can. She saw the Canadian one (English and French), the French one, the American one, what have you. She also discovered a number of fans of the series among the mothers in our son's school. So she was discussing it with other mums yesterday morning to others. One of the mums had not seen yet and asked what it was about. My wife explained that it was like psychological warfare on a daily basis, with traitors and faithfuls, manipulation from both sides, and so on. The other mother said: "Sounds like what I have everyday at home really." It made us all laugh and I think it deserves to be a great unknown line. On a side note, I don't watch it. I don't care at all about game shows.

Glögg (word of the day)

 Don't judge me, but I have been watching a Christmas romcom series on Netflix, called Home for Christmas. Not exactly groundbreaking, but while not original it can be genuinely cute at times and reasonably clever. But I watch it because it's set in Norway and it looks perfect for the holidays. Oh, and it's the same team that made A Storm for Christmas, which I really loved. Anyway, I discovered thanks to the third season a sort of mulled wine (or spirit) called glögg. Originally from Sweden, or so the Wikipedia entry says. I love to discover new Yuletide traditions and I hope to try glögg one day. Anyone ever drank it? Leave me a comment. And glögg is the word of the day.

Radio Times ('Tis the season to be watching)

 It is a sight I always look for in shops this time of year: the Christmas edition of Radio Times! Because, as I said it before and as I am saying it again now: 'tis the season to be watching, falala lalaaaa... I buy it every year, except when we don't celebrate it in the UK, although even then I would be tempted to buy it anyway, just for the sheer pleasure of owning it and reading it. There are always interesting festive articles and interviews. This year, you may be surprised to know that I will not buy it. Because yes, we are going away. All the same, I love seeing Radio Times in the shops. It makes me feel Christmasssee.

Bourne: The Montreal Connection

As you may remember, I started reading  The Bourne Identity for #Noirvember. As a spy thriller, it's very solid and it keeps me entertained, if nothing else, even though I pretty much know what will happen. As a literary experience, it's a mix bag: Robert Ludlum writes too many words and his dialogues are often stilted and not very natural. He's better at writing plots (albeit with a high number of contrivences) and develop interesting concepts (a man who lost his memory is pursued assassins) than creating believable characters. But anyway, there is one thing that caught my attention, one element that was absent from the the movie adaptation: Marie St-Jacques, the romantic interest of Jason Bourne, is actually French Canadian and studied in Montreal, at McGill. She's a bit bland (then again, so is Bourne, and many others), but I thought this was funny. It's nice to have Montreal being mentioned in a famous spy thriller.