For readers new to the Countless Lies series, End of Lies (March, 2019) may be the best jumping off point. For one thing, the themes of Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election and the possibility of a deep state coup remain topical in 2020. For another, End of Lies is the shortest (110,000 words) and fastest read. If you like End of Lies, then you can go back and pick up Sea of Lies and Pack of Lies.

Explanations of conspiracies fascinate me, but only plausible ones. The Countless Lies trilogy addresses various conspiracies or unsolved mysteries in a suspenseful and believable fashion. Over six years after MH370’s disappearance, there is still plenty to be learned. I hope Sea of Lies and Pack of Lies prompt others to ask the governments leading the search efforts—the US, Australia, France and Malaysia come to mind—to share all their findings with the public. From 2014-2018 I traveled to Burma, Australia, the US and Sri Lanka multiple times to visit many of the sites (and some of the people) depicted fictionally in the Countless Lies novels.

One common thread throughout Countless Lies is the Nolan family, retired CIA code breaker and patriarch Bob; long-suffering and unforgiving wife Joanie Lam; vivacious daughter Mei-Ling; and pugnacious college student Bert. Sexy China intelligence chieftain Yu Kaili is a frequent participant, though it’s hard to tell what her true feelings are for our anti-hero Bob (and vice versa). Frank Coulter and Anatoly Chumakov remain implacable foes.

People ask me what the books are like that they may have seen or read elsewhere. I suspect that if you are a TV person and watch Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan, Homeland, The Americans, or 24 then you’re going to like the Lies novels. Fans who enjoyed Syriana, Taken, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, (both the movie and TV series) or (showing my age) The Conversation should be able to have some fun as well.

If you like the classic George Smiley spy novels of le Carré (The Honourable Schoolboy is a favorite as it’s set in Asia), Charles McCarry (check out his Paul Christopher thrillers), and Deighton’s Bernard Samson (Berlin Game for the first of Game, Set and Match) books then you should like Countless Lies.