Publishers Weekly Picks Up The Haze for Review

So, this happened, and I'm sharing this belatedly: Publishers Weekly reviewed my novel The Haze.

They called it “engrossing,” and said I “keep the twists coming,” and even added that fans of post–Cold War espionage will be satisfied. Honestly, that meant more to me than I expected. I wrote this book during a strange, messy phase of my life—before my conversion to the Catholic Church, before a lot of things settled—and seeing it described that way feels… surreal.

What struck me most is that the reviewer saw exactly what I hoped someone would see: the tension between the political plot and the emotional wreckage underneath. The Haze isn’t about a clean, patriotic spy marching off to glory (even though, for commercial reasons, I had to add a guy-gets-the-gal-slash-bad-guy-dies veneer. It’s about Hector Kane—wounded, confused, grieving, morally foggy—trying to navigate a world where every “truth” contradicts the next.

Anyway—just wanted to share this little moment. It’s a blessing in its own quiet way.

— Michael (a.k.a. Burnaby Hawkes)

The full review can be read here: https://www.publishersweekly.com/9781777202453