On the necessity of violence

And the rough men who commit it

Even before the Hamas attacks on Oct. 7, I probably spent too much time thinking about John Wells.

If you know me mostly from Unreported Truths, you may not be aware I spent a decade writing spy novels. Ironically or not, my only real writing award is for fiction. In 2007, my debut, The Faithful Spy, won the Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of Americ…