'Spies and Other Gods' is an espionage novel by a former British intelligence officer

James Wolff is the pseudonym of a former British intelligence officer who now writes espionage novels. His latest, Spies and Other Gods , follows the Head of British Intelligence at the tail end of a long and successful career who feels that his mental acuity is beginning to slip away. In the midst of this brain fog, Sir William Rentoul must join forces with intelligence teams across Europe to track down an anonymous assassin. In today’s episode, Wolff joins NPR’s Mary Louise Kelly for a conversation about the personal cost of spying and Wolff’s cast of Iranian characters. To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookoftheday See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy

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'Spies and Other Gods' is an espionage novel by a former British intelligence officer is an episode from NPR's Book of the Day by NPR.

This episode is 8:42 long.

This episode was published on May 4, 2026.

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