A = John Altman

The first book in my journey to read an author representing every letter of the alphabet is "A Gathering of Spies" by John Altman.

This was John Altman's first novel and the perfect way for me to start. I've said before that I love spy novels, so the title grabbed my attention. I read the inside cover and thought it sounded interesting. While I didn't find Altman to be the best spy novelist I've ever read, I did enjoy the book.

The premise of the novel is that Nazi spies were dropped all over the U.S. in the years leading up to World War II. They had either been discovered as spies and arrested or had assimilated into the American culture and were living and continuing to spy. A female spy is dealt with extensively. Now, she's no softie by any stretch. She's a hardened Nazi spy who can and will kill to get what she needs and remain free. Using her willingness to murder and the lack of background information checks available in the 1930's, she marries a scientist who is working to help develop "The Bomb." You can see this is not a good thing. I won't give any thing else away, just know that she's not hesitant to keep killing to get this information back to her Nazi handlers in Berlin. She does have someone on her tail though. Thanks to a CIA agent who goes a bit rogue, she's followed by him and the always sexy MI5 from Britain. Will she escape? will she get her information to Berlin? Will our hero be reunited with his wife, who is being held in a concentration camp? You know how the war ends, but you'll enjoy some of the twists and turns and the what might have beens that are presented in John Altman's "A Gathering of Spies."

Next, we hit the B's. Until then, get out to your local library and check out a good book!