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VJ Books Presents Author Charles McCarry!

Charles McCarryCharles McCarry (1930-2019) served in the United States Army, where he was a correspondent for Stars and Stripes, has been a small-town newspaperman, and was a speechwriter in the Eisenhower administration. From 1958 to 1967 he worked for the CIA, under deep cover in Europe, Asia, and Africa. However, his cover was not as a writer or journalist. He is married with four grown sons. His family is from the Berkshires area of western Massachusetts, where he currently lives.

McCarry was editor-at-large for National Geographic and has contributed pieces to The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and other national publications. He is an admirer of the work of W. Somerset Maugham, especially the Ashenden stories. He was also an admirer of Richard Condon, author of The Manchurian Candidate, Prizzi's Honor and numerous other novels.

His novels, which are highly regarded for their expertise and literary quality, are currently being reprinted by Overlook Press, starting with Tears of Autumn, republished in 2005. Charles N. Brown, the publisher of Locus, which primarily addresses the science-fiction publishing world, wrote in the July 2006 issue: "Two Charles McCarry hardcover reprints from Overlook... aren't really SF or fantasy, but they are two of the best spy thrillers ever written and form a secret or alternate history of the 20th century."

McCarry is best known for a series of books concerning the life of super spy Paul Christopher. Born in Germany before WWII of a German mother and an American father, Christopher joins the CIA after the war and becomes one of its most effective spies. After launching an unauthorized investigation of the Kennedy assassination, Christopher becomes a pariah to the agency and a hunted man. Eventually he spends ten years in a Chinese prison before being released and embarking on a solution to the mystery that has haunted him his entirely life: the fate of his mother who disappeared at the beginning of WWII. The books are notable for their historical detail and attention to the details of spycraft as well as their careful and extensive examination of Christopher's relationship with his family, friends, wives, and lovers.

Also notable are two books having to do with Paul Christopher's American cousins, Horace and Julian Hubbard: The Better Angels and Shelly's Heart. These surprisingly prescient books tell the story of a U.S. President who approves the assassination of the leader of an oil-rich Arab nation who has acquired nuclear arms and intends to pass them onto a terrorist organization. When news of this threatens to ruin the President's chances for re-election, the Hubbards conspire to steal the election. In Shelly's Heart, the conspiracy is revealed and the newly re-elected President is impeached and placed on trial in the Senate with surprising results. Both books are written with a great deal of Washington insider knowledge and the political ins-and-outs of the latter novel are breathtaking. The film Wrong is Right (1982) starring Sean Connery was loosely based on his novel, The Better Angels.

Better Angels
Signed First Editions

Better Angels by Charles McCarry

Christopher'sGhosts
Signed First Editions

Christopher's Ghosts by Charles McCarry

The Shanghai Factor
Signed First Editions

The Shanghai Factor by Charles McCarry

The Secret Lovers
Signed 1st Edition

The Secret Lovers by Charles McCarry


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Better Angels | McCarry, Charles | Signed First Edition Thus Book McCarry, Charles | Better Angels | Signed First Edition Thus Book

Author Signed Hardcover Book. 2008 NY: Overlook  First thus, first printing, fine in a fine dust jacket, signed by the author.  This is a collectible book free from material defects.  Jacket covering services are available for a small fee.

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Secret Lovers, The | McCarry, Charles | Signed First Edition Book McCarry, Charles | Secret Lovers, The | Signed First Edition Copy

Author Signed Hardcover Book  2006 NY: Overlook Press  First edition, first printing, fine in a fine dust jacket, signed by the author, remainder marked.

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Second Sight | McCarry, Charles | Signed First Edition Book McCarry, Charles | Second Sight | Signed First UK Edition Copy

Author Signed Hardcover Book. 1991  LON: Overlook Press  First UK edition, first printing, near-fine (toned edges) in a fine dust jacket, signed by author, remainder marked.

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Last Supper | McCarry, Charles | Signed First Edition Book McCarry, Charles | Last Supper | Signed First Edition Copy

Author Signed Hardcover Book  2006 NY: Overlook Press  First edition, first printing, fine in a fine dust jacket, signed by the author, remainder marked.

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Second Sight | McCarry, Charles | Signed First Edition Book McCarry, Charles | Second Sight | Signed First UK Edition Copy

Author Signed Hardcover Book. 1991 LON: Overlook Press  First UK edition, first printing, near-fine (toned edges) in a fine dust jacket, signed by the author.  This is a collectible book free from material defects.  Jacket covering services are available for a small fee.

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Second Sight | McCarry, Charles | Signed First Edition Book McCarry, Charles | Second Sight | Signed First Edition Copy

Author Signed Hardcover Book. 1991  NY: Dutton  First edition, first printing, fine in a fine dust jacket, signed by the author.  This is a collectible book free from material defects.  Jacket covering services are available for a small fee.

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McCarry, Charles | Secret Lovers, The | Signed First Edition Copy McCarry, Charles | Secret Lovers, The | Signed First Edition Copy

Author Signed Hardcover Book. 2006 NY: Overlook Press First edition, first printing, near-fine (cut on front of dust jacket, toned) in a near-fine dust jacket, signed by the author, remainder marked.

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Charles McCarry Bibliography:

Paul Christopher Series
1. The Miernik Dossier (1971)
2. The Tears of Autumn (1974)
3. The Secret Lovers (1977)
4. The Last Supper (1983)
5. Second Sight (1991)
6. The Old Boys (2004)
7. Christopher's Ghosts (2007)

Other Novels
Double Eagle (1979)
The Better Angels (1979)
The Bride of the Wilderness (1988)
Shelley's Heart (1995)
Lucky Bastard (1998)

Non fiction
Citizen Nader (1972)
Great Southwest (1980)
Paths of Resistance: The Art and Craft of the Political Novel (1989) (with Isabel Allende, Marge Piercy, Robert Stone and Gore Vidal)
Inner Circles: How America Changed the World : a Memoir (1992) (with Alexander M Haig, Jr)
From the Field: A Collection of Writings from National Geographic (1997)