Word: novelled
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Joel Brinkley's debut spy novel, The Circus Master's Mission, combines all of these things--one person's speculation, hindsight and journalistic footwork--to come up with a fascinating look at just how out of hand our government could...
...York Times reporter covering the Iran-Contra scandal, Brinkley has a sound understanding of the motives that drive politicians to involve themselves and their nation in Nicaraguan politics. With this kind of background, it is no wonder that the strongest part of Brinkley's novel which details the events leading to an American invasion of Nicaragua--is the psychological characterizations of his players...
...realism of the story is helped greatly by the chapter notes in the back of the book. It is clear from these notes that Brinkley put a lot of reporting energy into his first novel--each of the events in his book are based on slightly altered historical information or on actual government proposals and contingency plans...
ADMITTEDLY, there is a difference between writing a spy novel as a spy novelist and writing a spy novel as a journalist. Brinkley's style is at times too dry, and while the political and psychological aspects of his characters are brilliantly conceived, they lack a personal perspective...
...Brinkley's journalistic devotion to detail comes out in the military scenes, which comprise some of the weaker parts of the novel. The exact effects of SA-7's, Deadeyes, Redeyes, etc., etc., are unnecessary additions to an otherwise compelling plot...