Mike Ripley's guest appearances

Mike Ripley

Sickboy

Spies and Books - Spybrary Spy Podcast

Books Podcast

Jack Barsky

Matthew Bradford

Caitlin Doughty

Gary Oldman

William Boyd

Kate Atkinson

Chris Hadfield

Matthew Remski

Mark Henick

Jon Dore

David Schwimmer

John Horgan

Jen Gunter

Neil Pasricha

Ian Fleming

OwlTail

David Brierley

On Episode 204 of the Spybrary Spy Book Podcast, we chat with the author of the best spy book I read last year, Big Bear Little Bear, David Brierley. We are also joined by the publisher, thriller critic, and author Mike Ripley as we dig into David's work and, in particular, how he researches locations for his spy novels.  Join the Spybrary Community    As I shared in the best spy books of 2022 post, Big Bear Little Bear, published in 1981, was the best spy thriller I read last year. It was hard to ignore this recommendation from Mike Ripley, who shared that the man himself, Len Deighton, had stumbled on a copy of Big Bear Little Bear in a second-hand shop in LA and loved it. He urged Mike to republish Brierley's work under his Ostara publishing arm.   David Brierley comes in at #63 on Tim Shipman's best spy writers of all time list:  'Brierley created Cody, one of the very best female leads in spy fiction. She is a CIA trained agent who has gone freelance, who we first meet in Cold War, a 1979 novel set in the midst of a French election, which involves assassination, betrayal, and real tension (It scores 4.14 on GoodReads, which is much higher than a lot of books I love).  Cody is resourceful and Brierley was hailed on publication as “a new name joins the world’s greatest spy fiction writers”. Best of all his books are not long and written with a spare and unflashy style that nonetheless has real novelistic flair.  This is espionage for grown-ups. Blood Group O, Skorpion’s Death and Snowline followed. Between those Cody books, Brierley also became renowned for spy thrillers set in Eastern Europe, such as Czechmate.  His best book, though, is Big Bear Little Bear set in 1948 Berlin, before the airlift, where the sole survivor of a blown network works to expose a traitor in British intelligence. My paper, The Sunday Times, reviewed it thus: “ Has the rancid strength of a distillation of the best of Le Carré and Deighton: an authentic winner.” That this praise is only slightly excessive tells you what you need to know.'   Big Bear Little Bear by David Brierley Kiss Kiss Bang - The Boom in British Thrillers by Mike Ripley Dead Man Telling Tales by David Brierley - just released (2023) Czechmate by David Brierley Jeff Popple (Spybrarian) Review of Czechmate Skorpions Death by David Brierley The Cloak and Dagger Girl by David Brierley Best Spy Books of 2022 (Spybrary) Tim Shipman's best spy writers ranked list. Adam Hall/Elleston Trevor Raymond Chandler Join the Spybrary Community 

On Episode 204 of the Spybrary Spy Book Podcast, we chat with the author of the best spy book I read last year, <a href="https://amzn.to/3IN0eYp" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Big Bear Little Bear</a>, <a href="https://www.fantasticfiction.com/b/david-brierley/" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">David Brierley</a>. We are also joined by the publisher, thriller critic, and author <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Ripley" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Mike Ripley</a> as we dig into David's work and, in particular, how he researches locations for his spy novels. <ul> <li>Join the <a href="http://www.spybrary.com/community" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Spybrary Community</a></li> </ul> As I shared in the <a href="https://spybrary.com/the-best-spy-books-of-2022/" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">best spy books of 2022</a> post, Big Bear Little Bear, published in 1981, was the best spy thriller I read last year. It was hard to ignore this recommendation from Mike Ripley, who shared that the man himself, Len Deighton, had stumbled on a copy of <a href="https://amzn.to/3WgbS19" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Big Bear Little Bear</a> in a second-hand shop in LA and loved it. He urged Mike to republish Brierley's work under his <a href="https://www.ostarapublishing.co.uk/" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Ostara</a> publishing arm. David Brierley comes in at #63 on Tim Shipman's <a href="https://spybrary.com/top120spyauthors/" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">best spy writers</a> of all time list: 'Brierley created Cody, one of the very best female leads in spy fiction. She is a CIA trained agent who has gone freelance, who we first meet in Cold War, a 1979 novel set in the midst of a French election, which involves assassination, betrayal, and real tension (It scores 4.14 on GoodReads, which is much higher than a lot of books I love). Cody is resourceful and Brierley was hailed on publication as “a new name joins the world’s greatest spy fiction writers”. Best of all his books are not long and written with a spare and unflashy style that nonetheless has real novelistic flair. This is espionage for grown-ups. Blood Group O, Skorpion’s Death and Snowline followed. Between those Cody books, Brierley also became renowned for spy thrillers set in Eastern Europe, such as Czechmate. His best book, though, is Big Bear Little Bear set in 1948 Berlin, before the airlift, where the sole survivor of a blown network works to expose a traitor in British intelligence. My paper, The Sunday Times, reviewed it thus: “ Has the rancid strength of a distillation of the best of Le Carré and Deighton: an authentic winner.” That this praise is only slightly excessive tells you what you need to know.' <ul> <li><a href="https://amzn.to/3ZHzgY4" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Big Bear Little Bear</a> by David Brierley</li> <li><a href="https://amzn.to/3CRXd59" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Kiss Kiss Bang - The Boom in British Thrillers</a> by Mike Ripley</li> <li><a href="https://amzn.to/3ZBSsqe" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Dead Man Telling Tales by David Brierley</a> - just released (2023)</li> <li><a href="https://amzn.to/3iHzYUF" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Czechmate</a> by David Brierley</li> <li>Jeff Popple (Spybrarian) <a href="https://murdermayhemandlongdogs.com/forgotten-thrillers-czechmate-by-david-brierley-1984/" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Review of Czechmate</a></li> <li><a href="https://amzn.to/3CNzu6c" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Skorpions Death</a> by David Brierley</li> <li><a href="https://amzn.to/3w4e4y3" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">The Cloak and Dagger Girl by David Brierley</a></li> <li><a href="https://spybrary.com/the-best-spy-books-of-2022/" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Best Spy Books of 2022</a> (Spybrary)</li> <li>Tim Shipman's <a href="https://spybrary.com/top120spyauthors/" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">best spy writers</a> ranked list.</li> <li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elleston_Trevor" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Adam Hall/Elleston Trevor</a></li> <li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raymond_Chandler" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Raymond Chandler</a></li> <li>Join the <a href="http://www.spybrary.com/community" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Spybrary Community</a></li> </ul>

Conversation with Authors David Brierley and Mike Ripley

Dr. Mike Ripley is a reproductive endocrinologist at Atlantic Assisted Reproductive Therapies and an assistant professor in Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Dalhousie University. He also happens to be the man that put a baby inside Kyla's belly. No, this isn't a Maury Povich episode. Taylor is indeed the father. Dr. Ripley walks us through the entire process of IVF and how satisfying his job is as someone who helps create families.

Routine Checkup: Dr. Mike Ripley — The Baby Maker

David Craggs joins Mike Ripley at the Harper Collins offices in London to find out more about the paperback version of Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and why those of us who have the hardback should buy it.

David Craggs joins Mike Ripley at the Harper Collins offices in London to find out more about the paperback version of Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and why those of us who have the hardback should buy it.

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang - Mike Ripley tells us what's new in the paperback edition. (71)