Resurging nazis are frequently the antagonists. Some reviewers praise Phil Sherman's adventures for the relative plausibility, presenting a thoughtful, careful investigator in contrast with more rash, bombastic heroes of the genre. A brief review in "The New York Times" described 1975's "The Kremlin Plot" as including "the required porno passages and sadism" in a "well-plotted action story". In her book, "The Middle East in Crime Fiction," Reeva S. Simon of the Columbia University Middle East Institute describes Smith's Phil Sherman character as "a tough-talking, independent operator who resembles a sort of Mike Hammer working international." In "The Cold War File," Andy East identifies Smith as "one of the first espionage novelists to perceive (the) change in world attitudes... from the Cold War to détente."