Science Spies

Only in 1995 did the United States government officially reveal the existence of the super-secret Venona Project. For nearly fifty years American intelligence agents had been decoding thousands of Soviet messages, uncovering an enormous range of espionage activities carried out against the United States during World War II by its own allies. This extraordinary book is the first to examine the Venona messages.

In literature and film, the spy chief is an all-knowing, all-powerful figure who masterfully moves spies into action like pieces on a chessboard. How close to reality is that depiction, and what does it really take to be an effective leader in the world of intelligence? This first volume of Spy Chiefs broadens and deepens our understanding of the role of intelligence leaders in foreign affairs and national security in the US and UK from the early 1940s to the present.

An incredible historical truth stretching from Hitler’s infamous bunker in Berlin to the White House in Washington threatens the very heart and soul of American democracy.

A president, with an election looming as his second term nears an end, conspires with the wealthy and politically powerful Boston Brahmin to bring the country to its knees. While ordinary Americans struggle for survival, others demand answers. A centuries old cadre of Bostonians with roots dating back to the Founding Fathers, are forced to face the tough questions....

A new queen under threat. An ambassador with a desperate scheme. Two kingdoms with everything to lose. Once a spy and counselor to the throne, Sage Fowler has secured victory for her kingdom at a terrible cost. Now an ambassador representing Demora, Sage is about to face her greatest challenge to avoid a war with a rival kingdom. After an assassination attempt destroys the chance for peace, Sage and her fiancé Major Alex Quinn risk a dangerous plot to reveal the culprit. But the stakes are higher than ever, and in the game of traitors, betrayal is the only certainty.

In 1863 a meeting takes place between legendary war Ieaders - a secret alliance that will never show up in any American history books. A clandestine arrangement has been struck for a single chance to heal a war-torn nation. The mission is to bring the greatest prize in the world back to American soil - remnants of prehistory's greatest ship and most startling mystery.

Newmerica was forged out of a violent coup that superimposed a socialist state over what had been the United States of America. For five years into their rule, the progressives have had their way in dismantling every aspect of American life. Out of the shadows, a new American president has been sworn in, threatening their grip on the nation. The Newmericans are unwilling to turn over the reins of power setting the stage for a conflict unlike any other.

In 2035, the southwestern United States is ravaged by drought, reeling from an environmental catastrophe that has left the landscape a chaotic, depleted ruin. California, still viably inhabitable due to its oppressive social controls, marshals state-of-the-art surveillance technology and totalitarian policies to preserve its fragile hold on rapidly dwindling resources and an increasingly unsettled population.

Jack Gregory, the CIA’s top assassin, went rogue after a mission gone wrong. When a confrontation leaves him bleeding out on death’s doorstep, he is faced with an offer from a dark figure named Anchanchu. If Jack is willing to act as a human host for Anchanchu, the entity will revive him and give him another shot at life. Jack takes the deal...but he must now face the consequences of having the same dark creature in his head as some of history’s greatest villains. Struggling with desires and memories that are not his own, Jack is not the man he once was.

It's the year 2027. Extraterrestrials have finally responded to broadcast signals transmitted from Earth. President Elizabeth Schaefer creates a secret alliance with Bretta, a humanistic young female, who is seeking legal asylum for herself and over 200 refugees from another world. Together they must face an ominous galactic danger testing their strategies, strengths, and desires.

The United States has experienced its share of turmoil over the years. Although not particularly as war-torn or stricken with genocide and violent crime as other nations, over time, gun violence and terror attacks have become commonplace on American soil. Never before has the United States been subjected to widespread coordinated terrorist attacks, devastating enough to bring the entire nation to its knees. Until now.

Evelyn Harbinger sees nothing wrong with a one-night stand. At 149 years old, Eve may look like she bakes oatmeal cookies in the afternoon and dozes in her rocking chair in the evening, but once the gray hair and wrinkles are traded for jet-black tresses and porcelain skin, she can still turn heads as the beautiful girl she once was. Can't fault a girl for having a little fun, can you?

Two weeks before the U.S. entered World War I, a Chicago advertising executive visited the Department of Justice with a proposal - organize the country’s businessmen into a secret force of volunteer agents to ferret out and investigate enemy activities within the United States. The country, overcome by a wave of patriotic fervor, had also become gripped with fear and uncertainty of the influx of immigrants from the very countries with which the country was now at war.

A bold experiment has mutated a small fraction of humanity. Nations race to harness the gifted, putting them to increasingly dark ends. At the dawn of global war, flashy American superheroes square off against sinister Germans and dissolute Russians. Increasingly depraved scientists conduct despicable research in the name of victory. British agents Fogg and Oblivion, recalled to the Retirement Bureau, have kept a treacherous secret for over 40 years. But all heroes must choose when to join the fray, and to whom their allegiance is owed - even for just one perfect summer's day.

Istanbul, 1683: Mehmed IV, sultan of the Ottoman Empire, is preparing to lay siege to Vienna, capital of the Holy Roman Empire, when a mysterious visitor arrives in his bedroom - naked, covered in strange tattoos - to deliver a dangerous, world-changing message. Paris, 2017: Ottoman flags have been flying over the great city for 300 years, ever since its fall - along with all of Europe - to the empire’s all-conquering army. Notre Dame has been renamed the Fatih Mosque. Public spaces are segregated by gender.

After a stressful first year at Yesgol, Evan Tailor is looking forward to a vacation with his boyfriend and a stress free year of schooling. Unfortunately, life has other plans. Despite his relative success in last year's tournament, Evan can't rest on his laurels. His impending debts loom ever larger, and his strengthening abilities reveal a conspiracy that runs deeper than Yesgol, one that could shake the roots of the very nation in which he lives.

Spies on Trial brings the listener fast-paced stories of foreign spies engaged in daring deeds of sleuthing that undoubtedly have more than their fair share of intriguing moments. But nowhere is this suspense more intense than inside the courtroom, where the drama of intense covert activities is fully unfurled, offering fascinating glimpses into this vast and nefarious underground world of international espionage.

Charles Stross builds a new series with Empire Games. Expanding on the world he created in the Family Trade series, a new generation of paratime travelers walk between parallel universes. The year is 2020. It's 17 years since the Revolution overthrew the last king of the New British Empire, and the newly reconstituted North American Commonwealth is developing rapidly, on course to defeat the French and bring democracy to a troubled world.

The greatest gold discovery in history draws a young Charles Knight to West Africa, where he unearths deception, violence, and romance. Xander Winn - a Dutchman on his own mission - mentors Charles on his voyage into the world of speculation and African politics. But a psychopathic rebel leader, the purveyors of a six-billion-dollar fraud, a team of mercenaries bent on early retirement, and the US government all get in his way. Everyone wants him dead. But Charles plans to strike it rich.

Fatherland is set in an alternative world where Hitler has won the Second World War. It is April 1964 and one week before Hitler's 75th birthday. Xavier March, a detective of the Kriminalpolizei, is called out to investigate the discovery of a dead body in a lake near Berlin's most prestigious suburb. As March discovers the identity of the body, he uncovers signs of a conspiracy that could go to the very top of the German Reich.