Your weekly briefing from the home of secrets and skills

The secret writer

With more than 600 books to his name, you’d think John Creasey would be as famous as Ian Fleming, but no. Mr Creasey, born in 1908 in a suburb of London less than a mile from Wimbledon’s famous Lawn Tennis Club was the master of the nom de plume - writing books for more than 50 years under more than 20 aliases!

Apple TV hits the espionage jackpot

Fans of Netflix’s Fauda will be thrilled to discover Tehran, a new series launching today on Apple TV+. Written by Fauda writer Moshe Zonder, it’s about an Israeli Mossad operative who goes undercover for a mission in Tehran. The first three episodes drop tonight, with new episodes every Friday for five weeks.

WATCH THE TRAILER

The secret mission that simply vanished

A deadly secret mission from 2008 has just been revealed: four CIA operatives died in a tropical storm off the coast of the Philippines during a daring operation to try and spy on China's activity in the region. Their mission was to sail from Malaysia, and dive deep underwater to place a 'pod', disguised as a rock, to monitor signals from Chinese navy vessels operating in the area. Tragically, their own vessel disappeared...

WERE THEY SHIPWRECKED?

Hire a spy, be a spy...

Describing itself as a ‘location vision service’ Mole is a sort of Uber for surveillance. The app allows users to hire, or to be hired as, a ‘spy’. Think of Mole as the ultimate in nosey neighbor software - allowing users to connect in the app with ‘agents’ who stream locations live from their phones to show “something simple through someone else’s smartphone”.

SPY AT LARGE OR INVASION OF PRIVACY?

The real-life Vesper Lynd

Christine Granville wore a seven-inch knife on her thigh, preferred hand-grenades to guns and was brutally murdered in a crime of passion. Born Krystyna Skarbek in Warsaw, Poland, she was reputedly able to seduce with a single glance. Her daring exploits made her not only Winston Churchill’s favourite spy, but also the inspiration for Vesper Lynd, James Bond’s lover in Ian Fleming’s Casino Royale.

The 10 most underrated spy films?

Espionage is one of the most exciting film genres, from Bond to Bourne and beyond. But ranking these films is tough! Our friends at ScreenRant have picked their top 10 most underrated spy films of all time - tave a look, let us know at secrets@spyscape.com if you think they have missed any.

HERE'S THE LIST

And one more thing... We're open again - come and have fun!

New York City’s #1 Rated New Museum & Experience (according to Google and Tripadvisor) is back! SPYSCAPE HQ has reopened to a great reception and, for a limited period, general admission tickets will now include FREE admission (normally $23) to 007xSPYSCAPE, the first official 007 exhibition in NYC.

BOOK YOUR TICKETS NOW!

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