I believe that Charles McCarry is the best American writer of spy and espionage fiction working today.

His second novel, "The Tears of Autumn," published in 1974, was one of the most compelling, riveting stories I've ever read, with a chilling, shocking, disturbing ending that continues to give me pause many years later, when I think about how the events swirling around the assasination of John F. Kennedy to this day seem to defy logical, rational explanation.

In the same way that George Smiley was a continuing presence in le Carré's stories, the agent Paul Christopher is the oft-present protagonist in McCarry's.

McCarry himself worked for the CIA many years ago, and the air of authenticity that pervades his books makes them absolutely absorbing.

His newest book, "Old Boys," was just published.

I will read it slowly once it arrives (I just ordered it from amazon), trying to stretch it out as long as possible.

Why McCarry is not better known is beyond me. Perhaps his publisher just doesn't feel strongly about his work, or perhaps it's too erudite, too nuanced.

But in these regards, it's no more so than le Carré's. Truly a mystery.

Like le Carré's, McCarry's books have a way of foreshadowing the future.

For example, his 1979 book, "The Better Angels," was about an Arab prince, made rich by oil, who decides to wage a terrorist war on America and Israel.

His weapon of choice: passenger airliners, blown up over major metropolitan centers.

Then there's his 1995 novel, "Shelley's Heart," which describes the events surrounding the 2000 presidential election five years in the then-future, in which the disputed outcome hangs on a few thousand contested votes in a single state.

His best book? "The Last Supper," a story of Cold War intrigue and the shadowy, deadly men and women who carried out the wishes of their wintry, distant, not-for-attribution masters in Washington and Moscow.