Product Description
Robert Cope Harland ended his career as a British spy in an Austrian hospital, after being tortured and beaten by Czech security agents in the last days of the communist regime. He was young enough then to find a new life with the Red Cross and then with the UN. Twelve years later his UN plane crashes in mysterious circumstances at La Guardia airport, New York and Harland is the only survivor. Unwittingly he is pulled into a world of relentless intrigue - and back into his old profession. A spy's life, once blighted by the Cold War, is now threatened by the equally ruthless forces of modern espionage. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

Henry Porter -- Soon to be Famous
Henry Porter is a secret, but not for long.This is a relatively early book but already full of the layers of ambiguity, the polite, civilized savages who populate the spy world. and the total command of pace that makes his later books some of the very best of their kind.Get this, and if you like it go on to the brilliant BRANDENBURG GATE and BELL RINGERS.Porter is a serious talent who also happens to be a great entertainer.

Nice read.
What frustrated and disappointed me was Robert Harlands sloppiness. Harland, a former British spy, wassuspicious from the get yet kept making careless stupid mistakes over and over. That, after the first two, was inexcusable, imho. His sloppiness caused his sons death which reeeeally pissed me off cuz I liked Tomas Rath and was looking forward to a whole book with him in it. Grrrrr. Other than that I enjoyed reading this book and am looking into reading his 'Brandenburg Gate'. 'Empire State' sounds stupid so will skip it. Also will skip 'Remembrance Day' after reading the Publishers Weekly and Chris Fogarty's review.

Good, not great
I must agree with some of the other reviewers that this one is good, not great.Parts of it are too implausible, and other parts dragged on way too long.Halfway through I had to put the book down for a few months and regain my strength before finishing.It was only pure perseverance, not enthusiasm, that made me finish it.The end was actually well done, but it took far too long to get there.

Espionage is not dead...
However I do not read an espionage genre on regular basis, more exactly - I read it very rarely, this book has got me totally. Thrilling from the very first paragraph it has consumed my entire weekend. I simply could not leave it and let it be a bed-side reading. I have picked it randomly from a box of english books I have received from someone leaving my country back to the US and every other book I have picked up afterwards was a pure disappointment in a comparision with this one.
The plot is great and refreshing, the style is dynamic and the construciton of book is thirilling. Beside being an enormously convincing post cold-war espionage book, I have appreciated the job the author has done as for the local specifics described in book. As long as I come from on of the countries the book takes place in and as long as these central-european countries are usually described in a ridiculous, far from reality way, Mr. Porter has bothered himself to do a research, to check the probability of local names and places (authors, when writing about the post-communist countries often tend to name their heroes Boris and Yelena, forcing them to live in towns sounding like in XY-kovo and let them standing all their days in the queues to get a bread and potatoes, thinking that giving the contex a typical russian coherency of the 70ties spices the book with the sprinkle of authenticity) and together with the plot he has made the book so persuasive I have started to look over my shoulder to check whether or not I'm being observed by a spy.
But first and foremost he has convinced me the espionage genre (and the espionage itself) has not died with the end of a cold war.

Porter's one to watch.
Spy's Life is a very enjoyable espionage thriller. Robert Harland, a former British spy, begins the novel by surviving a plane crash only to realize that this is the least of his worries. Key events in this spy's life have come back to haunt him and now he is not only fighting for his life, but the lives of his loved ones. Great political intrigue, I especially liked the use of the United Nations in the novel.

Can't wait for the sequel 'Empire State'. ... Read more

Product Description
Constantine Lindow, a brilliant young scientist, is waiting for his brother Eamonn outside a central London tube station when a bus turns into the street - and explodes. The next day Lindow is arrested as the prime suspect and pitched into a web of intrigue.Caught between the British Security Service, New Scotland Yard’s anti-terrorist squad and the cold-eyed killers from his brother’s past, Lindow must find the bomber to prove his own innocence.But first he has to confront Eamonn’s double life and work out the meaning of a scrap of paper hidden in this flat. The trail for the bomber leads Lindow to Boston, to a hideout deep in the Maine wilderness and finally back to London, where he tracks down a killer with a grandiose plan of mass murder – a killer who’s a genius with computers and encryption codes, and more cunning and ruthless than anyone could ever have imagined.

Only Lindow has the scientific training to crack the killer’s code – only he can stop the telephone calling …Amazon.com Review
A British journalist's debut thriller, Remembrance Day has the high-intensity impact of a 24-point headline. Con Lindow, an Irish-born molecular biologist recently relocated to London after a distinguished career in the U.S., is waiting for his brother near a busy Underground station when a bus explodes, gravely wounding Eammon Lindow and destroying the lives of dozens of passengers and bystanders. When Con wakes up in a hospital, he finds himself the chief suspect in what the British Security Service and Scotland Yard believe is another IRA outrage. Only one man believes in his innocence: Commander Kenneth Foyle, head of the Anti-Terrorism unit of the Metropolitan Police Force, who is frustrated by the infighting between his own department and various operatives of the intelligence services that is hindering his efforts to solve the crime.

A false passport and a cryptic note hidden in his brother's apartment are Con's only leads in his desperate attempt to clear his name. The hunt for Ian Rhodes, the rogue MI5 agent responsible for the bombing, takes Con to Ireland, Boston, and Maine, accompanied by an attractive and mysterious friend of Eammon's who has her own reasons for wanting to stop Rhodes from carrying out his plan to blow up the peace talks in one last horrendous gesture of defiance.

Porter's pacing is brilliant, his characters tightly and believably drawn, and his knowledge of the internecine world of British intelligence encyclopedic. This well-crafted novel makes him a worthy successor to John Le Carré; readers will be eagerly anticipating his next effort, hoping for another encounter with the real hero of Remembrance Day, the dogged and likable Commander Foyle. --Jane Adams ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

Some parts of it work, some parts don't
It's odd to say about a book published only 10 years ago, but the main plot device seems a bit dated.Sadly, IED's and the various methods in which they can be detonated are in the news almost daily.The novel seems to have two main characters- Con Lindow and Commander Foyle, the latter being much more interesting.Foyle's dedication to his duty as he sees it is inspiring, and watching over his shoulder as he races against time to prevent another terrorist attack is thrilling stuff.Con Lindow doesn't seem fully fleshed out as a character.For example, he's injured in a bombing, wrongly imprisoned and interrogated, and then a day later- after learning of his brother's death- he's making eyes at a complete stranger who obviously has an ulterior motive.Lindow seems rather emotionless through all these developments.Oh, and spoiler alert: there is no "steamy lovemaking" depicted in the novel.Perfunctory, yes.Steamy, no.

Promoting the Big Lie
Were Remembrance Day simply a thriller I would rate it five stars. It is fast-paced and some neat science is woven into a suspenseful plot. Its deadly pyrotechnics and interesting locales suggest that its targeted market is viewers rather than readers.
Its great defect is in its misrepresentation of the Anglo-Irish conflict. It assumes that the reader is fully disinformed by Brit propaganda. In reality, Ireland's 834 years of Brit rule has been one long genocide varying only in its intensity. Liz I, Cromwell and Victoria each murdered more than half of Ireland's population. The author presents ex-IRA-man Lindow as an ex-terrorist. He depicts Lindow's Irish mother as evil to the extent that she is a patriot. As antitoxins to such gross propaganda buy Ten Men Dead or Eye-Witness Bloody Sunday or (Sutton's) Index of Deaths From the Conflict in Ireland. Author Porter is refuted by the official murder record. For example; wwwdotterrorismirelanddotcom shows that, of the 173 child-murders in this post-1969 phase, 20 were by Irish forces; 153 by Brit forces - the actual terrorists.

Engrossing and Highly Plausible Thriller
In this debut novel, Henry Porter provides the grist of more seasoned spy thriller authors: a plausible and twisted plot, a worthy villain, protagonists with real-life depth and flaws, and scenes rich in detail in the Clancy or Ludlum tradition. The self-serving hypocrisy of government agencies becomes the villain's arch angel, as often occurs in real life tragedies such as 9/11. The only thing that prevented a dreadful tragedy in this novel was the tenacity of the detective who was determined to solve the crime on his beat no matter what, a woman's belief in the system she worked for became greater than her personal ambitions, and the victim of police "profiling"-- if your mother is a terrorist, you are automatically a terrorist. A stunning first novel and an absorbing read. Porter joins my growing list of favorite spy thriller writers. I now look forward to reading Porter's next novel, "A Spy's Life."

Highly Recommendad!
This is one of those all too rare occurences: a truly great first novel in the thriller/suspense, etc. field. Here, Henry Porter proves that there is rich ore to be mined in the post-Cold War, post-Northern Ireland era. While the "Troubles" are an essetial part of the plot's background, the story is driven by a set of fascinating characters. In fact, Commander Kenneth Foyle of Scotland Yard's Anti-Terrorist Unit is a prime candidate for a series. Wathcing Foyle take hold of the case even against the wishes of his own service and the active enmity of the Security Service is an interesting story in itself as we watch the Security Service implode from its own intrigues and attempts to impede the main investigation into the bombing that killed Lindow's brother and implicated Lindow only because the authorities were protecting themselves from other revalations.

Kirsty Lainge of the Security Service is an especially interesting character, although in some ways it did seem obvious what stance she would ultimately take and what the outcome would be for her. The question of Mary's relationship to all this is answered early but the fate of one of the injured bystanders is an interesting twist at the end. In fact, the last line of the book was very appropriate.

I look forward to "A Spy's Life" with an assurance, from reading the reviews, that Henry Porter has not faded much, if at all, from his first effort. "Remembrance Day" is simply a great read and highly recommended.

remembrance day
A good tale, well told. Well-developed characters are set in an intriguing plot, with a nice balance between procedural detail, descriptive material, and suspense.

Unfortunately the lack of proof-reading [at least in the US, Simon & Schuster edition] results in innumerable typographical errors, which were extremely distracting and spoilt the reading pleasure.

Had the publisher made any effort in this regard, I would have awarded 4 stars.

I hope that Mr. Porter will write more books of this ilk, and that he will take note of this deficiency.END ... Read more

Product Description
MACBETH, Shakespeare's last great tragedy, has remained one of the most popular plays since its first performance in 1606 - probably in front of King James. This exciting audiobook production is directed with fresh imagination by Fiona Shaw who breaks the conventional strait jacket that has hampered the development of Shakespeare on audio. We are as much in the 21st century as in medieval Scotland - the tensions, the politics, the struggle for power and dark ambition is part of our lives. This is also reflected in the sound world, with modern machinery and tanks. MACBETH is part of Naxos AudioBooks' exciting series of complete dramatisations of the works of Shakespeare, in conjunction with Cambridge University Press. It uses the New Cambridge Shakespeare text, as used by the Royal Shakespeare Company and educational institutions across the world. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (124)

Certainly not Shakespeare's best
Though Macbeth does have some very quotable lines--such as the Three Witches' infamous "Double, double, toil and trouble; / Fire burn and cauldron bubble"--it made for a confusing and rather unsatisfying read. I would only recommend this to the Shakespeare fans who want to grasp the full range of the bard's oeuvre.

The entire play seemed very disjointed, like there was a scene or even an act missing. This is one of Shakespeare's shortest plays, and it was published after his death, so it stands to reason that perhaps it was unfinished.

Macbeth and his wife aren't very convincing characters; at no point did I feel any sympathy for them, and their motivations seem predictable and flimsy. Both change throughout the play, but neither for the better.

For a full review, please visit [...]

Great book
Perfect ad for any literature collection. Fast shipping and the book was in good condition.

Let not light see my black and deep desires
In the theater, people apparently don't call Shakespeare's "Macbeth" by its actual name -- it's usually called "MacB" or "The Scottish Play." The dark superstitions that hover around this play really show its power: it's a harrowing portrait of a weak man who spirals into a personal hell of ambition, murder and madness.

Shortly after a victory in battle, Macbeth and his friend Banquo are traveling home across a heath when they encounter three witches -- who greet him with "All hail, Macbeth! hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor! All hail, Macbeth! that shalt be king hereafter!"

When MacBeth is made Thane of Cawdor, he naturally begins to think that being king might be next in line. And when King Duncan visits his castle, Lady MacBeth goads her husband into murdering the king and framing a couple of innocent servants for the deed. As the witches predicted, MacBeth becomes king of Scotland.

But the witches also prophesied that Banquo would be the father of kings, so MacBeth starts tying off loose ends by hiring assassins to kill Banquo and his young son, as well as a wily thane named MacDuff and all of his family. But though MacBeth believes himself to be safe from everyone, his fear begins to grow as madness and guilt torment him and his wife...

One of the most fascinating things about "Macbeth" is how evil it is -- mass murder, insanity, bloody ghosts, a trio of manipulative witches pulling MacBeth's strings, and a nice if weak man who becomes a raving murderous paranoiac. Shakespeare starts the story on a dark note, and it gets darker and bloodier as the story winds on to its bleak climax.

In fact, the entire story is a two-part spiral -- things get tighter and more intense, even as MacBeth and Lady M. get crazier and more violent. Shakespeare litters the story with brutally intense scenes (Banquo's ghost crashing the dinner, Lady M. trying to scrub her hands clean) and powerful dialogue ("Shake off this downy sleep, death's counterfeit,/And look on death itself! up, up, and see/The great doom's image!").

The one flaw: Shakespeare's handling of the "no man born of woman" prediction is a bit lame. I mean, didn't that count as "born" back in Elizabethan times too?

Honestly, MacBeth is both a fascinating and repulsive character. He starts off as a nice ordinary thane with no particular ambition, but his weakness and his wife drive him to some pretty horrible acts. Before long, he's become somebody you desperately want to see diced into little pieces. And Lady Macbeth is little better, although there's a slight disparity between her ruthless ambition and her later insanity.

"MacBeth" is a story filled with stormy darkness and all-consuming fire -- a powerful depiction of evil and how easily we can be seduced. Just don't say its name in the theater.

Good, but not the Arden
I ordered the Arden Shakespeare version of Macbeth and was sent the Signet Classic edition, which is also good, but of course we all like to get what we order. I suppose it was just a matter of misnomer, and I am relatively content with Signet.

Footnotes are decent, but any Shakespeare play should also be used in accordance with a Lexicon for a second definition if nothing else.

100% Satisfied with my order!
This order was perfect ~ Thank you!The book arrived quickly and was in exactly the condition that was described.Thank you for the great service~Carole in Southern California ~ ... Read more

Product Description
This digital document is an article from Semana, published by Spanish Publications, Inc. on November 1, 2002. The length of the article is 1348 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Pantalla grande. (En Proyeccion).(Resena)(Resena de pelicula)
Publication: Semana (Magazine/Journal)
Date: November 1, 2002
Publisher: Spanish Publications, Inc.
Volume: 8Issue: 505Page: 40(2)

Article Type: Resena, Resena de pelicula

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Product Description
This digital document is an article from Siempre!, published by Edicional Siempre on November 26, 1998. The length of the article is 1230 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Bienvenido a Sarajevo.(TT: Welcome to Sarajevo.)(Reseña)
Author: Mario Saavedra
Publication: Siempre! (Refereed)
Date: November 26, 1998
Publisher: Edicional Siempre
Volume: 45Issue: 2371Page: 78(1)

Article Type: Reseña

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more

Product Description
This digital document is an article from Siempre!, published by Edicional Siempre on October 28, 1999. The length of the article is 1431 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Entre el amor y el deseo: Buen melodrama: como en los cuarenta.(reseña de película)(TT: Firelight: good drama,like in the forties.)(TA: movie review)(Reseña)
Author: Tomás Pérez Turrent
Publication: Siempre! (Refereed)
Date: October 28, 1999
Publisher: Edicional Siempre
Volume: 46Issue: 2419Page: 72

Article Type: Reseña

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Product Description
This digital document is an article from Semana, published by Spanish Publications, Inc. on October 25, 2002. The length of the article is 594 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Suspenso y romance: a la pantalla grande llega "The truth about Charlie", una pelicula de Universal Pictures que se estrena por estos dias. (En Proyeccion).(Resena de pelicula)
Publication: Semana (Magazine/Journal)
Date: October 25, 2002
Publisher: Spanish Publications, Inc.
Volume: 8Issue: 504Page: 39(1)

Article Type: Resena de pelicula

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more

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The cast of this unabridged version of Macbeth includes Fiona Shaw as Lady Macbeth. ... Read more

Product Description
The cast of this unabridged version of Macbeth includes Fiona Shaw as Lady Macbeth. ... Read more