“You son-of-a-bitch.”
“I think those are the Turks. Over there. Having coffee in the window. Watching us. Watching you. The Bulgarians do the dirty work for KGB. They tried to get you in Paris, didn’t they?”
“Damn it, man.”
“They won’t kill you in Switzerland unless they have to. I think you should take the metro up, get on a train, get out of the country. Go down to Italy. It’s warmer there.”
“I don’t have anything.”
“We were just in France.” He reached into his pocket and took out a hundred-franc note from the wad and looked at it. He extended it. “The franc isn’t worth what it used to be but it might be enough for a meal.”
Colonel Ready reached into his pocket and Devereaux had the small PPK in his large hand. Devereaux stared at him.
“Shoot me,” Ready said.
“Go away. Go kill yourself if you have the guts for it but I’m not going to do it. Go away, colonel. And don’t come back to Lausanne. There’s no money left for you and they know you’re here. Look, they’re getting up from the table now.”
He turned and saw it was true.
“Bastard,” said Colonel Ready and he was limping away, half running, across the square to the metro station, looking behind him and fishing for a coin in his pocket.
The two men who resembled Turks went out of the restaurant. One stared at Devereaux for a moment and then shrugged to the other. They got in the rental car and drove around the château and saw Ready limp into the entrance. The one in the passenger seat got out. He ran across the street and got on the train before the doors of the funicular closed and the gates were shut.
That night, Rita said to him, “It will be all right now. Everything.” But it was really a question.
He had climbed into the soft bed next to her. The night was full of silence. The windows were open slightly and the cool mountain air shivered into the room but they slept naked beneath the down covers.
“Yes,” he said. “It’s all done now.”
“Will they kill him?”
“I think they’ll get him this winter. He’s good, but it’s a very open trail.”
“We killed him.”
“Yes,” he said.
“I never thought I could hate that well.”
“Yes,” he said because he did not want to talk to her about it.
“November,” she said.
“It’s the thirtieth,” he said.
“The last of November. ‘Thirty days hath September, April, June, and November.’ ”
His eyes were open and he stared at the ceiling in the darkness and smelled the clear gentle breeze that came into the room from the mountains. “Yes. That’s all of it,” he said.
“You’re sure,” she said.
It was still a question.
He didn’t want to answer. He closed his eyes.
“You’re sure.”
He felt the curve of her lean thigh against his. He felt her hairless thigh against his leg and felt the warmth of her body coming next to him.
“Maybe I should close the window,” he said.
“No. I can warm you,” she said.
It was going to be all right. But they did not make love as they had intended. They held each other like exhausted survivors and they fell asleep in each other’s arms and they slept, matching breath for breath, their bodies warming each other beneath the thick, light down.
A clock tolled exactly at twelve because all the clocks in Switzerland are very precise. And that was the last of November.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
An award-winning novelist and reporter, Bill Granger was raised in a working-class neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago. He began his extraordinary career in 1963 when, while still in college, he joined the staff of United Press International. He later worked for the Chicago Tribune, writing about crime, cops, and politics, and covering such events as the race riots of the late 1960s and the 1968 Democratic Convention. In 1969, he joined the staff of the Chicago Sun-Times, where he won an Associated Press award for his story of a participant in the My Lai Massacre. He also wrote a series of stories on Northern Ireland for Newsday—and unwittingly added to a wealth of information and experiences that would form the foundations of future spy thrillers and mystery novels. By 1978, Bill Granger had contributed articles to Time, the New Republic, and other magazines; and become a daily columnist, television critic, and teacher of journalism at Columbia College in Chicago.
He began his literary career in 1979 with Code Name November (originally published as The November Man), the book that became an international sensation and introduced the cool American spy who later gave rise to a whole series. His second novel, Public Murders, a Chicago police procedural, won the Edgar® Award from the Mystery Writers of America in 1981.
In all, Bill Granger published twenty-two novels, including thirteen in the November Man series, and three nonfiction books. In 1980, he began weekly columns in the Chicago Tribune on everyday life (he was voted best Illinois columnist by UPI), which were collected in the book Chicago Pieces. His books have been translated into ten languages.
Bill Granger passed away in 2012.
Also by Bill Granger
The November Man series
Code Name November (previously published as The November Man)
Schism
The Shattered Eye
The British Cross
The Zurich Numbers
Hemingway’s Notebook
The November Man (previously published as There Are No Spies)
The Infant of Prague
Henry McGee Is Not Dead
The Man Who Heard Too Much
League of Terror
The Last Good German
Burning the Apostle
Other Novels
Drover
Drover and the Zebras
Public Murders
Newspaper Murders
Priestly Murders
The El Murders
Time for Frankie Coolin
Sweeps
Queen’s Crossing
Chicago Pieces
The Magic Feather
Fighting Jane
Lords of the Last Machine (with Lori Granger)
PRAISE FOR BILL GRANGER AND THE NOVEMBER MAN SERIES
THE NOVEMBER MAN
“Chilling… seems to move with the speed of light.”
—Pittsburgh Press
“Should keep you reading to the end… an engrossing book about the world of computers, treachery, slow or sudden death, and ‘doing things wrong for all the right reasons.’ ”
—Chicago Tribune
“Crisp style, well-mannered prose, and inexorable tension characterize this worthy addition to the successful November Man series. Granger once again displays his winning talent for manipulating traditional elements of intrigue… highly recommended.”
—Library Journal
“Granger’s November Man series has been consistently entertaining and interesting, far surpassing much of the work done in the espionage genre. This addition to the list maintains that consistency… builds almost perfectly to an exciting finish… on the mark.”
—Publishers Weekly
“First-rate… This gripping novel provides further proof that November Man has grown into one of the most complex fictional spies on the current scene.”
—Booklist
CODE NAME NOVEMBER
“Mr. Granger has combined Ian Fleming, John le Carré, and Trevanian in a heady mix… He handles all the elements with real virtuosity.”
—New York Times Book Review
“Granger is one of our premier spy novelists. His Devereaux is the perfect spy for these less than perfect times.”
—People
“A novelist of superb talent who has mastered the genre and brought to it a distinctly American viewpoint.”
—Chicago Sun-Times
“A serious American writer o
f the first rank… Like Hemingway, Granger learned the technical aspects of his craft through newspaper work. The result is lean and uniquely American.”
—National Review
SCHISM
“An intelligently crafted thriller… lean prose and intricate plotting.”
—Los Angeles Times
“The mysteries and motives here turn out to be suitably momentous… all of the characters are vulnerably likeable… solid entertainment.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“True and dramatic and entertaining… Schism stands on its own.”
—Chicago Tribune
THE SHATTERED EYE
“The Shattered Eye is a page-turner of the first order.”
—Denver Post
“It catches you on the first page and propels you through to the end at an accelerating speed.”
—Chicago Tribune Book World
THE BRITISH CROSS
“Sharp and suspenseful… A fine piece of work.”
—Chicago Sun-Times
“Never lets readers relax. This one belongs on the top shelf.”
—New York Daily News
“Granger handles all the elements of real virtuosity.”
—New York Times
THE ZURICH NUMBERS
“An invigorating thriller. Granger is a fine, serious storyteller… His simple, meaty prose is a perfect complement to the intricacies of the plot.”
—Publishers Weekly
“An ingenious, imaginative plot… The November Man has a steely, indomitable quality that raises him to Bond’s superstar status.”
—Kansas City Star
HEMINGWAY’S NOTEBOOK
“Granger writes like a shooting star. His plots and characters and dialogue are so good… It’s chilling stuff… a single page will grip the reader with an impact that other writers would use a chapter to pull off.”
—Chicago Sun-Times
“Fast-moving, action-packed, violent, and ultimately very satisfying.”
—Christian Science Monitor
“This lean, suspenseful tale, peopled with compelling characters, has a drive and signature all its own.”
—Publishers Weekly
THE INFANT OF PRAGUE
“Fascinating… compelling… Devereaux, The November Man, is back, and we’re all a little richer for it.”
—Chicago Tribune
“The characters are lively; the plot is as rapidly and smoothly paced as it is complex; the humor arrives without warning, and Granger continues to juggle the pieces while producing a unique spy thriller.”
—Richmond Times-Dispatch
“Colorful… wonderfully complex… readers will delight in Granger’s deft unraveling of the skeins in this terrific page-turner.”
—Publishers Weekly
HENRY MCGEE IS NOT DEAD
“The plot moves smoothly… Granger writes crisply… Devereaux provides a satisfactory ending.”
—San Antonio Express-News
THE MAN WHO HEARD TOO MUCH
“The action is swift and brutal… his sense of characters is powerful. As ever with Granger, the prose is the opposite of the bloodless stuff of techno-thrillers.”
—Chicago Tribune
“Granger’s plots can be as intricate as the best le Carré… Granger is a master of fooling the unwary reader.”
—St. Louis Post-Dispatch
“Bill Granger is a rarity among writers of serious novels. Each of his books seems better than before.”
—Minneapolis Star-Tribune
LEAGUE OF TERROR
“Granger writes a very, very good espionage thriller.”
—Los Angeles Times
“Granger is a pro, with polished writing skills… [that] spur the reader on.”
—Chicago Tribune
“Snappily paced thriller… Staccato stylist Granger delivers easy-reading entertainment via plot and counterplot.”
—Publishers Weekly
THE LAST GOOD GERMAN
“The Last Good German is the twelfth November Man novel, and may be one of the best… The characters are complex and the plot is an unusual wheels-within-wheels puzzle.”
—Baltimore Sun
BURNING THE APOSTLE
“Granger’s icy Devereaux has entered into the halls of legendary thriller characters… electrifying… the narrative races along, snappily paced with wickedly effective dialogue. Devereaux remains the most believable character in current spy fiction.”
—Tampa Tribune Times
“With their eerily plausible plots and intriguingly complex protagonist, Granger’s November Man novels rank among the finest examples of espionage fiction.”
—Publishers Weekly
Don’t miss the other exciting books in the bestselling November Man series
Code Name November (previously published as The November Man)
Schism
The Shattered Eye
The British Cross
The Zurich Numbers
Hemingway’s Notebook
The November Man (previously published as There Are No Spies)
The Infant of Prague
Henry McGee Is Not Dead
The Man Who Heard Too Much
League of Terror
The Last Good German
Burning the Apostle
And look for the major motion picture The November Man!
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Contents
Cover
Title Page
Welcome
Dedication
Epigraph
Author’s Note
1. A Man Under Contract
2. Colonel Ready
3. The Ouchy Ferry
4. Killers
5. The Important Hostage
6. The Morgue
7. The Trail of November
8. An Intimate Reception
9. The Road to Madeleine
10. Philippe
11. The Stranger at the Square
12. Cain
13. Harry’s Trouble
14. From Hell’s Kitchen
15. A Woman of Pleasure
16. The Afternoon and the Evening
17. Angel
18. The Communist, the Nun, and the Agent
19. Meeting at Sea
20. Yvette
21. Telling Harry
22. Devereaux’s Girl
23. In the Land of the Dead
24. In Distant Places
25. Devereaux’s Run
26. The Butcher’s Yard
27. A Children’s Game
28. The Serpent
29. Anthony Calabrese
30. Fools
31. After Angel
32. Celezon
33. Hemingway’s Notebook
34. Stronger in the Broken Places
35. Nights of Old Men
36. The New Regime
37. Women
38. A Publishing Event
39. Preparations
40. The Man Who Was November
41. Ways of Escape
42. The Last of November
About the Author
Also by Bill Granger
Praise for Bill Granger and the November Man Series
Don’t Miss the Bestselling November Man Series
Newsletters
Copyright
Copyright
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Copyright © 1986 by Granger and Granger, Inc.
Cover
design by Elizabeth Connor
Photo of man copyright © nikitabuida/Shutterstock
Photo of island copyright © Roxana Gonzalez/Shutterstock
Cover copyright © 2014 by Hachette Book Group, Inc.
All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher constitute unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the publisher at permissions@hbgusa.com. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.
Grand Central Publishing
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New York, NY 10104
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Originally published by Warner Books, by arrangement with Crown Publishers, Inc.
First ebook edition: October 2014
Grand Central Publishing is a division of Hachette Book Group, Inc.
The Grand Central Publishing name and logo is a trademark of Hachette Book Group, Inc.
The publisher is not responsible for websites (or their content) that are not owned by the publisher.
Grateful acknowledgment is made for the use of the following: Excerpts from A Moveable Feast. Copyright © 1964 Mary Hemingway. Reprinted with the permission of Charles Scribner’s Sons.
ISBN 978-1-4555-3062-5
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