David Mullet

I think I first encountered Ricky Jay in David Mamet's House of Games with Joe Mantegna and Lindsay Crouse. He would pop up now and again over the years in films and TV episodes, including the final season of Sneaky Pete, his last on-screen work. I enjoyed his crafty, cynical, world-weary con men wherever they made an appearance. Jay spent even more Hollywood time off-camera, serving as a technical consultant regarding illusions and con games on dozens of productions. Gary Sinise's wheelchair…

Many espionage stories' protagonists fall into one of two categories... The first category is the espionage professional: Ian Fleming's James Bond, Daniel Silva's Gabriel Allon, and John LeCarre's George Smiley all come to mind. Cool, calm, collected, they are trained and paid to do their nation's dirty work. At the other end of the spectrum is the unwitting amateur that finds themselves thrust into a situation which they are seemingly ill-equipped to deal with. Eric Ambler's and Alan Furst’s…

I recently stumbled across The Cyclist, a British mystery by Tim Sullivan, among the new books at a local library. I had never heard of it or the author, but figured I’d give it a try. I was very glad that I did. ‘The Cyclist’ is actually the second book in a series featuring Bristol police detective George Cross. I enjoyed it so much that I immediately looked for the first book in the series, The Dentist. Cross has Asperger’s Syndrome. Being on the autism spectrum, he often struggles with…