Brian Freemantle

Brian Freemantle is a British writer of thrillers and suspense novels.  Freemantle's espionage novels have been compared to those of John le Carré, for they feature heroes who do not quite fit the mold of the cool, smooth “superspy.” In fact, Freemantle's spies are fallible and emotional, relying upon their wits--and often sheer luck--to get through each calamitous adventure. Also like le Carré, Freemantle has been able to see beyond the end of the Cold War, moving his heroes and villains on to other fields of adventure, from organized crime to the drug industry and global terrorism.

Freemantle is probably best known for his novels that feature the disheveled spy Charlie Muffin, who, despite his known expertise on Russia, is often at odds with his superiors over how to best handle situations.  Nearly as important as his character is Freemantle's skill as a storyteller. "The reader is captured by the narrative," explained Jim Stinson in the Los Angeles Times Book Review, adding that Freemantle "handles story, logic, tension, pace and surprise with sure control. He hauls you aboard and won't let you off until the roller coaster stops."

In addition to the "Charlie Muffin" stories, Freemantle has written a number of other spy thrillers under a variety of names. Many of the plots and settings for these novels are the product of Freemantle's years as a foreign press correspondent for several British publications. Critics frequently note that the author's experience as both an investigator and a world traveler lends an air of believability to his books.  The “Danilov and Cowley” series features the unusual investigative duo of an FBI Moscow expert and the head of Russia's Organized Crime Bureau.  Triple Cross, the fourth in the series, was called a "rousing international thriller" by a contributor for Publishers Weekly.

Freemantle moved into new territory with several other titles. Ice Age, posits a deadly illness in the form of an aging sickness. Uncovered first in a team of scientists working in Antarctica, the sickness spreads to other locations, and one courageous scientist has to battle not only a ticking clock but the in-fighting of fatuous bureaucrats. A Publishers Weekly reviewer commented: "The tension doesn't let up till the final chilling page."

A change of pace for Freemantle comes with The Holmes Inheritance and The Holmes Factor, both of which feature Sebastian Holmes, the son of the famous detective, Sherlock Holmes, fathered out of wedlock while the elder Holmes recuperated from his tumble off the Reichenbach Falls. In the first title, The Holmes Inheritance, young Sebastian is sent to the United States as a secret emissary, only to find himself involved in a series of murders.* 

Try Brian Freemantle if you like suspenseful espionage or psychological thrillers in which the story takes time to develop, that feature off-beat characters, and often have a darker tone lightened by occasional humor.

* Author information summarized from the database Literature Resource Center.

Brian Freemantle – Titles available at St. Charles Public Library

Betrayals (1989)
O’Farrell’s Law (1990)
Little Grey Mice (1992)
Mind/Reader (1998)
Target (2000)
Ice Age (2002)
Dead End (2007) LP only
Time to Kill (2007)
The Namedropper (2007)

Sebastian Holmes Series

The Holmes Factor (2005)
The Holmes Inheritance (2004)

Charlie Muffin Series

The Blind Run (1987)
See Charlie Run (1987)
The Run Around (1989)
Comrade Charlie (1992)
Charlie’s Apprentice (1994)
Bomb Grade (1997)
Dead Men Living (2000)
Kings of Many Castles: A Charlie Muffin Thriller (2002)

Cowley and Danilov Series

The Button Man (1993)
No Time for Heroes (1995)
The Watchmen (2002)
Triple Cross (2004)

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