Throw Away the Key

Throw Away the Key by Jason M. Hough, 320 pages

Lars Bergman was once part of the CIA's "surreptitious entry team," the group assigned to sneak in and steal, plant, or replace documents or other things during spy operations. But now, he's semi-retired, putting his skills to use as the main locksmith at CIA's headquarters. When a woman near the top of the CIA hierarchy dies and leaves hints that only Lars would understand in her office safe, he begins to suspect that her death is tied to a failed operation from decades earlier.

This is simultaneously a throwback to old-school Cold War spy thrillers and a nesting doll of heists. I loved the twists and turns, as well as the details about locks and how to pick them. Yeah, there are a lot of spy tropes here, but they're done so well. A wonderful escapist novel that you can just sink into. I recommend it for fans of Alma Katsu's CIA thrillers.

All the Light We Cannot See

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr (2014) 530 pages

Marie-Laure, a blind girl in pre-WWII Paris, learns to get around her community after her father builds an intricate model of the neighborhood and teaches her to notice the landmarks and count her steps. He works at the Museum of Natural History. When the Germans begin to occupy France, they flee to the coast, to the walled town of Saint-Malo, where her father's uncle lives.

Werner, an orphaned German boy, dreads coming of age, when he'll be expected to work in the coal mines, where his father died. But the scientific and mathematical aptitude of him and his younger sister gets Werner involved with learning how to fix radios. One of their joys is to listen to music and podcast-like science lessons from far away. Werner's technical skills are noticed, and he is accepted into a training camp for boys, where in addition to Nazi indoctrination, he helps develop ways to locate the source of radio broadcasts.

The stories of Marie-Laure and Werner alternate. Food, fuel, and other necessities become scarce everywhere. People disappear, including Marie-Laure's father. Bombing occurs. An evil Nazi with cancer is looking for a gem with mystical healing power, which Marie-Laure's father may have been given for safekeeping. When Marie-Laure and Werner's lives finally begin to intersect, the story becomes even more riveting.