We all cringe at our earliest works—either they don’t represent who we are anymore, or we’ve improved so much that the early work seems amateur by comparison. Readers will often grant a writer grace if there’s clear effort. But what happens when the effort is stolen?

What is Assassin of Secrets?

Assassin of Secrets by Q.R. Markham is a Spy Thriller novel starring Jonathan Chase, an elite agent working for an international intelligence agency. He's tasked with uncovering a conspiracy that threatens global security which involves traveling to exotic locations, espionage, and relying on his survival instincts. If that sounds very similar to James Bond-eque Spy story, that's because it is. If it wasn't for the controversy, this book would have just faded into obscurity as your typical Espionage novel.

About the Author

Author Q.R. Markham (real name Quentin Rowan) was born on 1976 in Brooklyn, New York. His life was riddled with thefts and cheating, he had dealt with drug addiction and juvenille delinquency throughout his adolescence. He turned to writing as an outlet for his issues in life and to process his emotions. Many would find it surprising that he found moderate success as a writer in his teens. When he was just 19 years old, his poem Prometheus at Coney Island was featured in the 1996 edition of The Best American Poetry edited by Adrienne Rich. Markham also worked at Spoonbill & Sugartown, an independent bookstore in Brooklyn, which gave him credibility in the local literary scene.

Markham continued to write for other literary journals, but showed signs of liftening passages from other authors. Such is the case of his story Bethune Street that was published in The Paris Review in which the the story had passages from Graham Greene's Our Man in Havana and other authors. A New Yorker article claims that another short story from the same journal stole content from Nicholas Mosley’s Accident.

Most surprisingly and ironically, he wrote an article on the Huffington Post, 9 Ways That Spy Novels Made Me a Better Bookseller which contained which supposedly contained plagiarized passages. Considering his history, it's very likely that he did plagiarize passages, but the reason why I say "supposedly" is because it's impossible to confirm because the Huffington Post article isn't accessible anymore. The site likely deleted due to the Assassin of Secrets controvery. The New Yorker article is the only mention of the Huffington Post article. Markham's history is one of tragedy and ambition; he had the opportunity to grow from his mistakes, but ultimately he persisted to the point of complete disgrace.

How the Plagiarism was Discovered

In November 2011, Mulholland Books (an imprint of Little, Brown) published Markham's first novel, Assassin of Secrets. Sources claim that Mulholland Books marketed the book as the first in a series, a throwback to classic Spy fiction. Early reviews praised the book, “A dazzling, deftly controlled debut that moves through familiar territory with wry sophistication.” (Kirkus). “Q.R. Markham’s thrilling debut is just like his spy hero: ambitious and audacious. More, please.” (Duane Swierczynski). However, at least 5 days after the novel was published, many readers (specifically Spy Fiction fans) started noticing that several portions of the book were stolen verbatim from other Spy novels.

• Ian Fleming — original James Bond novels
• John Gardner — James Bond continuation novels
• Raymond Benson — James Bond continuation novels
• Charles McCarry — The Tears of Autumn and other spy novels
• Robert Ludlum — The Bourne Identity
• Charles Cumming — A Spy by Nature
• Daniel Silva — The Kill Artist
• James Bamford — nonfiction (e.g., Body of Secrets)
• Geoffrey O’Brien — critic/essayist

The plagiarism went far beyond having a few stolen passages, it was clear that Markham was intentionally stealing parts of books that he liked in order to write Assassin of Secrets. It was to the point that nearly the entire book was plagiarized. Both long paragraphs and page-long sections had stolen content. The book could no longer be seen as a homage to classic spy novels, it was a strange a patchwork collage built from the years of craft and effort that other authors had poured into their own work.

The Fallout

The reaction was immediate: days later, Little, Brown apologized for the situation and pulled the books off the shelves immediately. Unsold copies were recalled and destroyed, and refunds were offered to readers who had already purchased the book. There were supposedly only 6,500 copies of the book in print. Q.R. Markham apologized for his plagiarism. admitting that he's had a lifelong compulsion to copy. Plans for a 2nd book were cancelled, and Markhams career was instantly destroyed, he forever became associated with literary fraud.

Why it Shocked the Industry

This scandal brought about many questions and concerns in regards to industry trust and editorial oversight. How could such a large company like Little, Brown not notice these obvious instances of plagiarism? Was there even an editor team or did Little, Brown simply rush this book out to push out their next Thriller? Did Little, Brown even take the time to look into Markham's literary history? It's worth nothing that Little, Brown already had an eerily similar incident back in 2006, when Harvard Sophomore, Kaavya Viswanathan wrote a book, How Opal Mehta got Kissed Got Wild and Got a Life. Readers instantly noticed that several sections were plagiarized from other similar novels. Plans for a 2nd book were also cancelled, copies were recalled, and Viswanathan left the literature world. So it is clear that there are significant issues at Little, Brown in regards to their editing staff and quality control standards that didn't improve in 2011. Had they noticed Q.R. Markhams plagiarism in advance, the book would have been shelved and Little, Brown would have prevented damage to their reputation.

Many book sellers and reviewers who liked Assassin of Secrets felt deceived by the fact that they had read or purchased a work that lacked unique content. Spy novel fans felt deceived because they had hoped to read a new work in the genre. This indeed It wasn't just one book that was plagiarized; it also embarrassed a major publisher and, more importantly, it raised questions about systemic vulnerabilities, publishing quality control, and the value of background checks. Perhaps the only constructive result of the scandal was the dialogue it opened within the industry.

Trivia

To lighten the mood, here's some small pieces of trivia that could be found regarding Assassin of Secrets.

• Despite the book's reputation, copies have now become a rare collector's edition due to the limited stock available.
• There's two versions of Assassin of Secrets; U.S. Version - a picture of a car in front of a building. U.K. Version - a simple graphic of a gun.
• The U.K. version seems rarer due to reports there were less copies printed.
• Aside from from publishing a memoir in 2012, Q.R. Markham seems to have vanished from the public.
• There's one YouTube Video that includes Markham reading from his memoir and briefly talking about his controversy.

Should you read the Book?

This is more of a subjective topic but one that can't be avoided due to the morbid curiousity that comes from such a unique situation. Here are some factors to think about.

One of the most significant concerns is that reading this book may inadvertently endorse plagiarism and diminish the work of the original authors from whom the material was taken. It's worth noting that this controversy occurred over 10 years ago, Little, Brown, Markham, and anyone else involved in the process of the working on the novel have likely moved on from this incident. From an artistic standpoint, the book lacks any original content, so much of the text is stolen from other books that if you're a Spy novel fan, you likely won't find any unique about the story. One could also argue that if someone wanted to get into Spy novels, starting off with the James Bond or Bourne Identity novels are a much better choice as they have original content and are far more widely available.

Since Assassin of Secrets has become a collectors item, it would cost quite a bit to simply purchase one copy. Not many would spend so much on a book that they might not enjoy. Certainly, those who can afford the book and seek it for collecting purposes tend to overlook both the ethical concerns of plagiarism and it's artistic shortcomings. It seems that the current audience for this book is far narrower than Markham had though. Beyond collectors, only those who are diehard Spy novel fans, who don't care for quality, or originality will get the most out of reading it. In that sense, the irony practically writes itself: the image of a spy novel aficionado covertly flipping through Assassin of Secrets, as if the act of reading it must also be carried out like a secret operation.