“Thomson’s wildly original debut, a darkly satirical thriller, features an unlikely, if endearing, father-son spy duo: retired appliance salesman Drummond Clark, who at age 64 suffers from Alzheimer’s disease, and Charlie Clark, a down-on-his-luck gambler… Soon after Charlie rescues Drummond from the Brooklyn streets, where he’d been wandering, the older man’s house blows up and the two barely escape with their lives. Clark and son begin an adrenaline-fueled cross-country flight in which they must evade ruthless CIA assassins long enough to understand why they’re being targeted. During rare moments of lucidity, Drummond hotwires a car and effortlessly kills multiple assailants, suggesting to Charlie he was once much more than just a washing machine salesman. Poignant themes of love and redemption underpin an action-packed story line that includes exotic locales, high-tech gadgetry, and international intrigue.” —Publishers Weekly 

The Dallas Morning News: “Thomson has made a spy story that sticks.”

The Chicago Sun-Times: “Nonstop action, thrills, and more escapes than Houdini in his lifetime.”

The Newark Star-Ledger: “Roadrunner meets Columbo.”

Margaret Cannon’s review in The Globe and Mail: “It takes a lot to engage me in a spy novel. I want smarts, thrills and some realism in the spycraft. My icons are writers like John le Carré and Len Deighton, and not too many spymasters can hit those peaks. Once A Spy, a debut novel by Keith Thomson, gets close. This tale of a doddering old spy and his slightly addled son has plenty of twists and turns, and you’ll find it very difficult to put aside.”