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MWSA Review
For nearly six decades Mad Magazine featured “Spy V. Spy” as a popular feature. Piper Bayard and Jay Holmes bring these fictional antics into real life. As a source for spy novel writers, Spycraft: Essentials, reveals the not so humorous, but “real stuff” antics of spying. Backgrounds on various intelligence agencies and their interactions, along with insider-revealed unknowns are divulged. Knowledge from an experienced operative with over forty years inside is shared (but not the spy-writer’s real name) in this 276-page book. Revealed are tradecraft techniques; information about who spies and spooks are as people; the life they may lead depending on their roles and tools of the trade; and how they live (or die) in some incredibly special circumstances.
Writers wanting help with their characters and actions—even including details on weapons and their use—may want to refer to this book. Sidebars include: Conflict Alert, Side Notes, Bottom Line, Writing Tips, Pro Tips, and astute quotes by co-author, Jay Holmes. One of the two Mad Magazine cartoon characters, according to the authors’ definition, would appropriately be called a “spook.” The spook, of course, being on the good side. Spycraft: Essentials is an interesting read, churning ideas in the espionage-genre writer’s mind for their next (or first) spy story.
Review by Tom Beard (May 2020)
Author's Synopsis
What do the main intelligence agencies do and where do they operate? How do they recruit personnel? What are real life honey pots and sleeper agents? What about truth serums and enhanced interrogations? And what are the most common foibles of popular spy fiction?
With the voice of over forty years of experience in the Intelligence Community, Bayard & Holmes answer these questions and share information on espionage history, firearms of spycraft, tradecraft techniques, and the personalities and personal challenges of the men and women behind the myths.
Though crafted with advice and specific tips for writers, Spycraft: Essentials is for anyone who wants to learn more about the inner workings of the Shadow World.
“Bayard & Holmes have done readers and writers of the espionage genre a great service. . . . From novices to experts, I suspect everyone will find something in this book that they did not know before.”
~ Doug Patteson
Film Technical Advisor and Former CIA Operations Officer
"Bayard and Holmes have done the unprecedented: crafted a fully informative, while wholly unclassified, overview on American spycraft with a special focus on preparing novelists for realistic scene writing. Spycraft: Essentials delivers solid, valuable information as a comprehensive primer on how the Intelligence Community really operates. It is a must-read for all involved Americans."
~ Rob DuBois
Retired US Navy SEAL and NSA Collector
“As a writer, I’m always looking for those books that open my eyes to the shadowy ways the world truly works. I found just such a resource in the insightful, well-researched, and oftentimes humorous book by Bayard and Holmes, Spycraft: Essentials. For any author, this is the new bible for crafting stories of espionage. It’s also perfect for anyone who wants to know the lengths nations will go to keep or steal secrets and the methods they will use to do so. This is a bombshell of a book.”
~ James Rollins
New York Times Bestselling Author of The Last Odyssey
ISBN/ASIN: 978-0991569212, 978-0991569250
Book Format(s): Soft cover, Kindle, ePub/iBook
Review Genre: Nonfiction—Reference
Number of Pages: 300