“Not only is the world a very small place but distances are no longer important to intelligence services.”Īlfon’s fast-paced global thriller isn’t all techno gadgets and silicon-chip driven action. “I wanted to reflect this new aspect of espionage in my novel,” says Alfon. Illustrative: A cybersecurity expert stands in front of a map of Iran as he speaks to journalists about the techniques of Iranian hacking, September 20, 2017, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Geopolitically and technologically the world is a very different place, the author stresses, and espionage fiction must move swiftly alongside history. The Israeli writer says he wanted to move away from penning Cold War pastiche parody, a style he believes is stunting the creative energy of many 21st century espionage novelists. “And so it was important for me to try and give readers some inclination of how the real world of espionage actually works.”
“When I read most espionage fiction I think, ‘How strange, this is not the way things function in the actual world of espionage,’” says Alfon. James Bond creator Ian Fleming was a former naval intelligence officer, while John le Carré, who penned Cold War classics such as “The Spy Who Came in from the Cold,” worked for British intelligence agencies MI5 and MI6.īut having an awareness of the roots of your own literary tradition is very different from being imprisoned by it. Members of Unit 8200 training in September 2012 (photo credit: Moshe shai/Flash90)