This is a bit of a departure for Simmons, whose novels typically are firmly in the world of fantasy. The Crook Factory, however, is a fictionalization of Ernest Hemingway's spying activity in Cuba during WWII, and so is at least loosely based in fact (not unlike DeLillo's Libra. True or not, the story is quite good, and Simmons's writing is solid, though not awe-inspiring.