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PEOPLE & ARTS A31
Spy novelists keeping an eye on Trump-Russia allegations
HILLEL ITALIE
AP National Writer
NEW YORK (AP) — Jason
Matthews is a retired CIA
officer who now writes spy
novels, focused on Rus-
sia. He was working on a
book last year that ordinar-
ily would seem a little far-
fetched, but which proved
too close to current events.
“The plot line was an Ameri-
can presidential candidate
who has a secret that’s so
bad it would ensure his or
her impeachment, and
the only person who would
know the secret is Vladimir
Putin,” says Matthews, a
prize-winning author best
known for his “Red Spar-
row” thrillers.
Matthews set the novel
aside, but he’s in no dan-
ger of running out of ideas.
With law enforcement and
Congress looking into pos-
sible ties between Trump
advisers and Russians dur-
ing the 2016 campaign, spy
novelists have been chal-
lenged, amused, angered
and inspired. The Cold
War ended decades ago,
but writers now see a new
wave of possible plot twists
and plots to avoid, whether
the reported Russian con-
tacts of such former Trump
campaign officials as Paul
Manafort and Carter Page,
the Trump dossier compiled
by British intelligence or the Kseniya writes only in Rus-
firing of National Security
Adviser Michael Flynn over
phone conservations with
the Russian ambassador.
Kristen Stewart explains why she
went public about love life
The Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) — Kristen
Stewart used to fight like
heck to keep her private
life private, including her
relationship with her “Twi-
light” co-star Robert Pat-
tinson, but then she came
to grips with her celebrity
status.
In July, she revealed for
the first time that she had
an on-again, off-again
girlfriend, followed most
recently by her first host-
ing gig on “Saturday Night
“I wake up every morning
and I think, ‘Thank heav-
ens for Vladimir Putin,’”
says Matthews, whose next
book, “The Kremlin’s Can-
didate,” will center on the
“tried and true” story of a
Russian asset in the CIA.
“He’s a great character
and his national goals are
the stuff for spy novels:
weaken NATO, dissolve the
Atlantic alliance, break up
the European Union.”
Charles Cumming, known
for such novels as “A Di-
vided Spy” and “A Colder
War,” is working on a thriller businessman caught up
that touches upon Brexit
and Trump’s election, in-
cluding “the idea that col-
lusion could take place
between the Russian and
American intelligence ser-
vices is no longer the stuff
of fiction.”
Michael R. Davidson, an-
other former CIA agent
who writes novels, also
found the story of Trump
and Russia overlapping
with fiction. He and writ-
ing partner Kseniya Kirillova
had been working since
early 2016 on “Successor,”
a thriller about the Russians
attempting to get a mole
in the White House who will
push the Americans to lift
sanctions.
“We had it mostly complet-
ed by late summer. But as
sian, I had a lot of translat- mary motive.
ing and editing to do and
did not finish until Novem-
ber,” Davidson said. “All the
Live,” when she joked in a
swipe at Republican Presi-
dent Donald Trump, “I’m,
like, so gay, dude.”
The idea, Stewart said in
reports on People and
elsewhere, was to spread
acceptance, adding to
The Sunday Times of Lon-
don:
“Considering I had so
many eyes on me, I sud-
denly realized (my private
life) affects a greater num-
ber of people than just me.
It was an opportunity to
Thursday 9 March 2017
while we were increasingly ABOVE: In this March 2, 2017, photo, President Donald Trump
bemused and concerned gestures as he speaks to Navy and shipyard personnel aboard
by the Russian contacts of nuclear aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford at Newport News Ship-
Paul Manafort and Carter building in Newport News, Va. BELOW: In this Feb. 2, 2017 file
Page, not to mention Flynn, photo, Russian President Vladimir Putin gestures while speaking
but it was a case of fiction during his and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban joint news
becoming reality.” conference at the parliament building in Budapest, Hungary.
David Downing, whose
novels include “Lenin’s Associated Press
Roller Coaster” and “One
Man’s Flag,” said he finds he says. “The characters Felix Sater up to? Where has
the Trump-Russia reports involved seem to come out the (British intelligence) MI6
more a political story than of pulp novels, without any source gone to ground?
a spy story. But he did find of the gravitas a good spy So, yes, we may have the
some details in common novel would give them. Of elements for a good spy
with his novel “Stettin Sta- course this may change as story but at the moment
tion,” about an American we learn more. What was all we have is a national
(Trump business associate) disgrace.”q
with Nazi Germany during
World War II.
“This is what you get for
electing a self-defining
businessman/deal-maker
as president — someone
who can’t be relied on to
put the national interest
first, while, of course, loudly
insisting that that’s exactly
what he’s doing,” he said
of Trump.
Best-selling novelist Joseph
Kanon, who has written
the Cold War thrillers “Los
Alamos” and “The Prodi-
gal Spy,” says for now the
Trump-Russia stories are
more like a Carl Hiassen
farce than a John le Carre
drama. He notes some of
the necessary elements for
a spy novel: both sides are
doing it, espionage is seri-
ous and ideology is the pri-
“The current mess is really a
gangster story, part farce,
but ultimately dismaying,”
surrender a bit of what was In this Oct. 24, 2016, file photo, Kristen Stewart arrives at the 23rd
mine, to make even one annual ELLE Women in Hollywood Awards at the Four Season
other person feel good Hotel in Los Angeles.
about themselves.”
Coming out publicly, Stew- Associated Press
art said, “just seemed im-
portant and topical.”
Stewart said during a re-
cent round of interviews
for her upcoming film “Per-
sonal Shopper” that there
was another motive be-
hind her Trump-focused riff
last month on “SNL”: “We
just wanted to make the
monologue funny.”q