“I've consciously tried not to romanticize anything, especially not int...” — Charles McCarry Quote

I've consciously tried not to romanticize anything, especially not intelligence work. I've always said that I've been writing a series of episodic, naturalistic novels. The people just happen to be spies, politicians, civil servants.

China, hidden and mysterious, has always interested me.

I've certainly written a lot of things that have more or less come true. But I don't have a gift for prophecy.

Anything that's secret, clandestine, loaded with such a supercargo of speculation, misinformation, disinformation and, for that matter, accurate revelations, creates an appetite.

As long as government is allowed to collect all Internet data, the perceived exigency will drive honest civil servants to reach more broadly and deeply into our networked lives.

There are thousands of civil servants. In large part, they are brilliant. They work really hard.