"The Lie Detector"
By Bill Raetz
World Espionage Bureau Press,
2008
With The Lie Detector,
you get a blend of classic Ian Fleming hard-as-nails jet
setting spy noir mixed with modern post-Cold War wired-world intrigue.
It’s brisk modern pulp fiction that starts at 90 miles an hour, and doesn’t
let up.
The story is that of
Bryce, an agent for The World Espionage Bureau, and the mess he needs to
clean up. He was sent out on a hit, but at the last second something caused
him not to pull the trigger. Now, he’s a rouge agent traveling to Eastern
Europe to tie up the loose ends. But he finds out there was more to this
hit than he bargained for. There’s nowhere to turn and nowhere to go. Bryce
is on his own—on the run from the criminals he’s suppose to stop and the
wanted by the agency that owns him.
The dialogue is slick
with plenty of modern hipster references. (In fact, there are nods of The
Martini Kings and modern pin-up Heidi
Van Horne.) The action takes you across the globe from fancy
hotels to back-alley brawls. The violence is brutal and keeps reminding
you espionage is not pretty work. If there was one fault, that would be
the lack of a good femme fatale. Sure, Bryce has Lexis, his sexy partner,
but this relationship keeps itself an arms-length away from the bedroom.
The Lie Detector
stays very true to its pulp fiction and spy novel roots without getting
mired in hackneyed nostalgia. It’s the latest novel from Bill Raetz,
who already has two spy fiction books under his belt. If his latest is
any indication of what’s to come, we might be on the verge of a neo-espionage
revival.
You can find out
more about The Lie Detector on the World Espionage Bureau
website: http://worldespionagebureau.com.
And while you’re there, make sure to watch the trailer for The Lie Detector.
It features Modern Femme Fatale (and amazing classic burlesque dancer Betsey
Bosen.)
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