The Neo-Noir Podcast discusses "Deception: The Beautiful Rat" Artwork

Noir Confidential

Noir Confidential draws upon the era of filmmaking known as Film Noir. Today, the genre is called Neo-Noir, but the same concepts, tropes, and techniques are used to reflect today's feelings of inevitability, cynicism and defeat. The pessimism, distrust, and greed displayed in classic Film Noir movies like "The Maltese Falcon" and "The Third Man" speak to a society racked by geopolitical conflict and economic disparity. All the elements that sparked the Film Noir heyday have returned to haunt society, and a new class of cynical anti-heroes and manipulative Femme Fatales have arrived to exorcise their demons by finding their elusive MacGuffin. Occasionally we will present a classic radio play from the 1940s and early 50s: some Dashiell Hammett (Sam Spade) and Raymond Chandler (Philip Marlowe), but to be completely upfront we are here to promote audiobooks in general and more specifically my own books like Deception, Delusion, Dilemma, Diversion, and Defection.Coming very soon is a special Noir Confidential Premiere Exclusive, CULT - The Podcast Movie. That's right podcast fans, we're bringing back Theatre of The Mind, radio plays for the podcast era. CULT is a movie script I wrote based on a short story published in my book Noir II. I've rewritten the story and turned it into a movie script. It is currently being produced as a special presentation just for my podcast subscribers. I hope you enjoy it.

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Noir Confidential

The Neo-Noir Podcast discusses "Deception: The Beautiful Rat"

November 19, 2024 • Jerry Bader

This second episode of The Neo-Noir Podcast discusses "Deception: The Beautiful Rat", the first in a series of five spy novels about Harry, an MI6 analysis. We welcome your comments. Thank you for listening.
Jerry Bader, Author and Screenwriter

Deception
Written by Jerry Bader

The world is a dangerous place, and every country has men and women tasked to protect it. These people go by many names: secret agent, intelligence officer, and analyst are just a few. Harry is one such person. He is an analyst. He spends his time reading, researching, and analyzing, followed by writing reports that often never see the light of day.

Harry is well educated with a seemingly important job, but Harry is bored. Bored, because analysts never get to be the hero, never get to order cocktails stirred not shaken, and, never, never, get the girl. Harry is frustrated, frustrated because his superiors told him the report he just spent six months working on is to be tabled, and no, he can’t have a field operative to work with to follow up.

Harry has one very dangerous character flaw, he has an imagination, not something the men on the Top Floor appreciate. Harry needs to prove himself; he needs some excitement in his life, and that excitement comes in a deadly package of intrigue and murder that combines something called the Sister Project with a Russian master spy, H. K. Kyrsa, code name, the Beautiful Rat, and the devastatingly gorgeous Harriet. The question is, is it all just happening in Harry’s head, or is there a real plot that needs to be stopped? Is Harry just plain crazy, or are the Russians out to mess with the West one more time? Harry is on his own, not sure who to trust. Are there any good guys in the world of espionage? The only way to find out is to find Kyrsa, the Beautiful Rat. Join Harry in his search for what may not even be real.

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Jerry Bader

Host