Saturday, July 10, 2010

What is Susan Hasler reading?

This weekend's featured contributor at Writers Read: Susan Hasler, former CIA counterterrorism analyst and author of the new novel, Intelligence.

One novel featured in her entry:
I loved T. C Boyle’s The Women for the strange warp and rhythm of its backwards chronology. Boyle takes the material of Frank Lloyd Wright’s life and turns it into a long prose poem. As a writer, I have to admire the skill required to pull this off so effectively. If Boyle were a figure skater, this would be a quadruple axel. [read on]
Among the early praise for Intelligence:
"A 21-year veteran of the CIA, Hasler charts the day-to-day efforts of a team of counterterrorist analysts ... in a strong debut that puts most other thriller authors with similar backgrounds in the intelligence field to shame."
--Publishers Weekly, starred review

"The gifted members of a governmental think tank try to fight the system, and lose, in Hasler's debut. A smart, blackhearted comedy whose generic title does disservice to an outrageous cast of characters."
--Kirkus Reviews

“Hilarious, heartbreaking and, above all, terrifying. A stellar debut!”
--Eric Van Lustbader, bestselling author of The Bourne Deception and Last Snow
Susan Hasler spent twenty-one years at the CIA, where she held a variety of positions including counterterrorism analyst. In 2004 she resigned from the CIA and now writes full time. Her short stories have appeared in The Beloit Fiction Journal, O. Henry Festival Stories 2005, and more.

Visit Susan Hasler's website.

Writers Read: Susan Hasler.

--Marshal Zeringue