First - and you may think "well, obviously" - a book review.
Bottom line up front, Argylle is not a very good book. While it gets off to a neat start -First - and you may think "well, obviously" - a book review.
Bottom line up front, Argylle is not a very good book. While it gets off to a neat start - a slacker bumming around in Northern Thailand (which I could relate to, having been a slacker who spent his own youth bumming around northern Taiwan) - it quickly becomes increasingly (A) silly, (B) stupid and - (C), and worst of all - endlessly derivative. Specifically, the book in short order morphs into "The Kingsman" (complete with a bar of the same name and a cameo by Elton John); "Mission:Impossible;" "The Da Vinci Code," and finally various iterations of "Indiana Jones" (the first, third and fourth movies). And while it is many things, the one thing that it is not is a spy story - because absolutely NOTHING that happens here is what real spies do for a living, (stealing priceless artifacts, solving Robert Langdon-type puzzles, hunting for lost Nazi treasure, parachuting onto the roofs of mountaintop monasteries, etc.). THE "TEAM" here is frequently described as "the Agency's best people" and "the finest we have," which is helpful description - because nothing in their actions would lead you to believe that. They are a collection of one-note caricatures, consistently immature, snarky, sarcastic jerks, led by the CIA's "senior operations officer" who apparently spends her entire job micromanaging this one particular operation, rather than overseeing the hundreds of world events going on at any particular moment that would occupy a normal chief executive.
THE AGENCY itself - nominally CIA,* although looking much more like Tom Cruise's "Impossible Missions Force" - bounces between being hopelessly amateurish (pulling our titular slacker out of the jungle and quickly deciding he is the best spy it has ever hired, then throwing him and his idiot classmates into irrelevant training/team-building exercises such as dangerous white water rafting that nearly gets everyone killed; constantly blowing things up in WAY too confined spaces with no ill after effects) and unrealistically omnipotent (being instantly able to hack into all the planet's satellite and CCTV networks)…
BUT THEN…I watched "Argylle" on Apple+, and think I now have the whole thing figured out. This Argylle here is not really a book, it's a prop, a mere marketing gimmick for the infinitely better movie. In fact, the physical book with its same dumb cover appears numerous times in the film; and of course, "Elly Conway" is not only the book's claimed author (although this is generally assumed to be a pseudonym as no such real person seems to exist), but also THE STAR OF THE MOVIE, the plot of which is TOTALLY different from that of the book…because again, according to my theory, the book and its derivative plot is simply irrelevant, as the whole thing is just a cheap movie tie-in.
ANYWAY - skip the book but do watch the movie, if you're the type that likes silly action films (and this one is WAY silly), and like me will watch - and enjoy - Sam Rockwell in, well, anything. Plus, ALL the points to Bryce Dallas Howard for playing a plus-sized heroine where her figure has absolutely NOTHING to do with the story, but - according to numerous interviews - is something she did just because that's who she really is, and she was sick of being told to lose weight for roles like "Jurassic Park" that then left her too weak and hungry to do all the stunts required of her. ___________________________________
* This one always bugs me, since any good reader of spy fiction knows it is just "CIA," not "the CIA;" although it is always "the FBI." The author (whoever the hell it is) also makes the common mistakes of calling CIA personnel "agents" and "operatives," when they are in fact "officers" (although here again, the FBI uses "agents"); and referring to CIA as a "secret service" when it is more correctly an intelligence agency; "Secret Service" is reserved for those folks guarding the president, catching counterfeiters, and other similar functions. Okay - I'm done bitching now....more
Good but not great entry in the series - and probably my last, as this is the third and final "Mrs. Pollifax" set in Asia.
Gilman made a good decisionGood but not great entry in the series - and probably my last, as this is the third and final "Mrs. Pollifax" set in Asia.
Gilman made a good decision moving the story quickly out of Bangkok (a fascinating city, but too crowded to have much action taking place) and up-country to the northern highlands. So 4-stars for the setting, which cleverly incorporates characters based on Jim Thompson (who went missing in nearby Malaysia's Cameron Highlands in the mid-60s) and drug-running Shan warlord Khun Sa, who was kind of a big deal (at least in Southeast Asia) when this book was written in the mid-80s.
But then barely 3-stars as a spy story, in part because (as with the previous book, Mrs. Pollifax and the Hong Kong Buddha) the plot hinges largely on a McGuffin, but more importantly because for the first time (at least in the books I've read) she portrays the CIA as a fairly unprofessional - if not outright bumbling - organization. Sending an inexperienced analyst off to run a complex surveillance operation single-handedly, while any reader of almost ANY spy fiction knows that effective surveillance requires at least a 3-6 person team; and then later having a senior CIA official suddenly take off after a mysterious phone call, only to be spotted in a Bangkok bar several days later...to which his CIA colleagues respond with a simple "huh, that's weird - wonder if we should tell anyone about this?"
Also, Gilman strains credibility here well-beyond the breaking point (even for a Mrs. Pollifax story!) in having her cast of characters constantly stumbling across each other in the jungle, making the vast Northern Thailand wilderness seem more like a shopping mall where you might bump into friends on a weekend.
Anyway - a fun diversion for fans of the Pollifax series, jungle stories, or Thailand in general; but otherwise not the best introduction to this still-delightful character....more
Another mediocre spy story but with enough charming characters and exotic-yet-familiar detail to knock it up to an overall 4 stars and change. This isAnother mediocre spy story but with enough charming characters and exotic-yet-familiar detail to knock it up to an overall 4 stars and change. This is an immediate sequel to Mrs. Pollifax on the China Station, but set next door in 1985 Hong Kong; i.e., the exact Hong Kong where I spent so much time while based in Taipei.
The ultimate plot hinges (as do most spy stories) on a pretty big McGuffin, but it's still a quick, fun and surprisingly exciting read. That said, there's just one more Pollifax story set in Asia (the next one in the series, so perhaps a direct sequel to this book), and so after that, I may more on to something a little more serious.
One correction - just as Gilman got the location of the CIA's HQS wrong in the previous book, she duffed the return of Hong Kong to China by claiming that Britain was only giving back Kowloon and the New Territories, while the Queen was going to retain Hong Kong Island. Unless something can tell me otherwise, I believe the deal was ALWAYS to give the whole colony back to China - I just cannot imagine Beijing accepting anything less than a full reversion....more
This is just my second Mrs. Pollifax; read the first one for background, but then jumped ahead five books to get to the "Asian trilogy."
So…fun but somThis is just my second Mrs. Pollifax; read the first one for background, but then jumped ahead five books to get to the "Asian trilogy."
So…fun but somewhat weak story; Mrs. Pollifax is a certainly unique character, but this book was ultimately pretty slim on real (or at least realistic) plot. The first half of the book is basically a travelogue, and then when the "action" finally does kick in, it involves too little actual planning, which is only saved by too many impractical coincidences.
So probably only a solid 3-star story, but I'm bumping it up for sentimental reasons. I took a similar guided tour of China (the only way you could visit back then) in 1984* - just a year after this book was published - and so this really brought back a LOT of memories (at least until the story moved out to China's Far West): the Friendship Stores for foreigners and the "Foreign Exchange Certificates" which were the only money foreigners could use; the early days of the Terra Cotta Warriors, when only 300 had been excavated (there are over 2,000 today) and they were basically housed in a single large hangar; the endless banquets and shy crowds on the street wanting to practice their English; how boring Guangzhou was (seriously, why is that included on any tours?); folding seats set up in the aisles of domestic flights; and on and on…
I do have to point out one odd error that appeared throughout the book - the CIA's headquarters is frequently referred to as being in "Langley Field." However, as all good Virginians know, Langley Field is an Air Force base down near the massive Norfolk Naval Station in SE Virginia; while the CIA is located in plain old "Langley," a section of McLean just down the road here in Northern Virginia. Was that maybe different back in 1983? Oh, and just what does this title mean - what is "the China Station," which is never mentioned in the book??
But anyway, really enjoyed this and will definitely read at least the next two Pollifax books at some point, as they take place in Hong Kong and Thailand...but no rush.
* I took that first trip with my own parents, after I'd lived in Taiwan for about six years...it was such a great experience to travel with my folks as an adult and nominal "equal." I then returned to China almost exactly 20 years later with my own wife and sons - and could not BELIEVE how much everything had changed in the meantime. Haven't been back since, so can't even begin to imagine what it's like now, almost another 20 years on......more
Surprisingly good mid-60s spy story, introducing the redoubtable Mrs. Pollifax…how had I never heard of her before??
The story description mentions "a Surprisingly good mid-60s spy story, introducing the redoubtable Mrs. Pollifax…how had I never heard of her before??
The story description mentions "a quick trip to Mexico" - and quick it is, as the majority of the book unexpectedly then takes place in Albania, (where it reminded me at times of Alistair MacLean's The Secret Ways).
Gilman went on to write 13 more "Pollifax" stories between 1970 and 2000 (by which point, Mrs. P should realistically be…around 95??), and I will certainly be reading at least a few more of them, especially the three back-to-back, mid-80s books set in Asia (China Station, Hong Kong Buddha and Golden Triangle). However, like spending time with most old people (myself foremost among them), doing so in small and well-spaced doses is probably the best way to ensure maximum enjoyment....more
Long story short, I was looking for a good spy story set in present day-ish Hong Kong…but sadly, this wasn't it. Not only is it only moderately set inLong story short, I was looking for a good spy story set in present day-ish Hong Kong…but sadly, this wasn't it. Not only is it only moderately set in HK (with more of the action taking place in Xian and elsewhere), but it was barely what one could call a spy story - really more a thriller, although with minimal thrills.
So yeah, just couldn't get all the way through, although I did try. But 2/3s in, it had degenerated from an initial "iffy" down to plain "dumb" and predictable. The bad guy is a sadistic psycho Dr. No wannabe; the hero is an indestructible dunce; the heroine is a gorgeous but otherwise helpless/useless doctor; and the action is largely implausible bang-bang shootouts in downtown Hong Kong and China.
I know there's a market for such tales - maybe fans of Clive Cussler, Brad Thor, or some of those other guys I haven't read - but just couldn't take this seriously enough to continue....more
Undeniably exciting, but by the end also deeply disappointing. While the first half is very good and teases you with a continuous "just what the hell Undeniably exciting, but by the end also deeply disappointing. While the first half is very good and teases you with a continuous "just what the hell is going on?," the whole plot ultimately hinges on a HUGE McGuffin, and a hugely stupid one at that - all wildly bullshit science about genetic engineering and curing diseases and bringing down missiles - that contributes nothing to the plot itself, which in total is: man of special skills needs to infiltrate Russia in disguise and bring out something REALLY important.
So yeah, yawn, been there/done that - Firefox, Quiller, and I'm sure any number of others. Which is fine, I guess; imitation, flattery, blah-blah-blah. But in the end, it was that McGuffin, and those (view spoiler)[ totally unnecessary "Planet of the Apes," talking monkeys (hide spoiler)] that really ruined this one for me. Well, that and the endless lazy, all-too-convenient coincidences. Which is a shame, because Davidson was a very good - if not very prolific - writer, and I really enjoyed his The Rose of Tibet, written over 30 years earlier. But with only three or four books written in between, I don't know that I'll be revisiting Davidson again anytime soon....more
No wonder few people know about this sequel to Marathon Man - it is NOT good. The story is confusing, dumb, and extremely violent with a huge body couNo wonder few people know about this sequel to Marathon Man - it is NOT good. The story is confusing, dumb, and extremely violent with a huge body count (most of whom are innocents). Also, it is barely a sequel, as it focuses on the character of Doc (Roy Scheider in the movie, who absolutely died in Marathon, and barely features Babe (Dustin Hoffman), whose sole purpose for even being in the story only becomes clear on the last page.
Most disappointing is that Goldman - the man behind not only Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Prinncess Bride and All the President's Men - has totally lost his ear for dialogue and his eye for character here, most of whom come across as weird-talking stereotypes.
Looking this up on Wikipedia, I learned that this was Goldman's last novel (even though he lived another thirty years), which he himself later described as "a not-very-terrific book." Other reviewers at the time were equally unimpressed, noting variously that Goldman "bewilders us as to his ultimate aims, and seeks to keep us entertained in the meantime with gimmicks;" "the book does not puzzle the reader constructively;" "it isn't a novel at all but a book about killing," "the book's basic premise fails to hold together." and is "disjointed and agonizingly slow."
So sorry Feliks - on this one, we're gonna hafta agree to disagree....more
I'll start by saying I'm a big supporter of fiction by writers living outside the traditional "literary bubbles" of the U.S., England, Scandinavia, InI'll start by saying I'm a big supporter of fiction by writers living outside the traditional "literary bubbles" of the U.S., England, Scandinavia, India, etc.; and so it's a joy to see someone like Singapore's Flint start hitting the mainstream. She's been around a while now, and done fairly well with her long-running "Inspector Singh" series of Asia-based, semi-humorous mysteries. But with Beijing Conspiracy, she swings for the big leagues with her first international espionage thriller.
Intentional or not, Beijing owes a HUGE debt to Tom Clancy's Clear and Present Danger, with its crooked White House officials making backroom deals with our so-called enemies, and everything ultimately hinging on the unsanctioned actions of a rogue CIA (or in this case, ex-CIA) man named Jack. Which is fine in itself, except that to paraphrase Lloyd Bentsen, "I've read Tom Clancy and you, Ms. Flint, are no Tom Clancy."
The problems begin with the far-too-many coincidences that drive the plot, but quickly moves on to the writing itself which abounds with awkward similes:
The words claimed the attention of those present like the icy Siberian winds from the north. The Navy chief was apoplectic, his hair standing on end and face as red as a hong bao packet. General Zhang looked as smug as the cat who had ordered a lifetime of cream to be delivered daily and had the family dog arrested.
…and cliché Chinese dialogue:
"Come - let us go back to my place and prepare more flyers for the revolution!" "The twelfth? But that is the day of the election of our new General Secretary of the People's Congress!" "The Russian bear is a toothless creature now. The Chinese dragon remains a beast to be feared!"
Plus, while our former spy/warrior hero might be quick with his fists, he's often just a tad slower in other departments. He can kill three armed bad guys and then slip away without breaking a sweat, but then the next day has a panic attack on a plane just because he might bump into an old flame? And later, after killing still more folks who are out looking for him, his long-lost daughter is kidnapped right in front of him - and he wonders if it might just be a coincidence?
Another truly WTF? moment is when the Director of the CIA - like, Mike Pompeo-level "Director" - flies unaccompanied into Beijing on basically zero notice and starts going all spooky…I just gotta hope it doesn't really work like that, or we are all in big trouble. One final note: Flint wisely makes up all her political characters on both the American and Chinese sides…except for the otherwise-unnamed POTUS (President of the United States), who is CLEARLY the mad-tweeting, golf-loving, Coke-swizzling, nonsense-spouting Donald Trump. I can well imagine the fun she had writing those scenes, where he clearly comes off as the totally off-the-rails sideshow freak he truly was. And while no one enjoys making fun of the Not-So-Great Pumpkin as much as I do…I gotta admit that it bites just a bit to see a foreign writer doing so, especially when I know that writing similarly about the leaders of either country she calls home - Singapore and Malaysia - could well land her in jail. (And to clarify, I've lived over seven years in those two countries, and while I deeply love them both, bastions of liberal democracy they are not.)
So yeah, go ahead and make fun of ol' Girth Vader - he certainly deserves it. But understand that here in the States we're actually allowed to do it too, without fear of repercussion* - as well as vote his corrupt, fat ass out of office.
* Unless, of course, you're a Republican Congressperson like Liz Cheney - in which case you will be drummed out of power by your so-called "colleagues." But stay tuned...that girl is JUST gettin' started......more
Not sure if there's a separate genre for "female spy story," but seems like there should be, as this falls neatly into the same category as Karen ClevNot sure if there's a separate genre for "female spy story," but seems like there should be, as this falls neatly into the same category as Karen Cleveland's Need to Know and Chris Pavone's The Expats. Unfortunately, I didn't really like either of those stories for the same reason I DNF (quit at page 175) this one - I actually enjoy female protagonists, but all three of these books feature so-called intelligence professionals who are just so DUMB...why can't a female spy be as professional or even minimally capable as her male counterparts? All three leads here are supposedly career spooks (okay, two are analysts rather than case officers, but Pavone's lonely and insecure housewife was supposedly a super-spy former assassin), and yet they are consistently flustered, ditzy, and prone to just HORRIBLE decisions... not to mention lacking in the most rudimentary tradecraft - I'm pretty sure I could be a better spy than any of them, just from having watched a few Jason Bourne movies.
More than likely this is just me; there are more romantic flashbacks here than I normally like, so the intended audience for this one might just be fine with these heroines' bumbling incompetence, (MINOR SPOILER: at one point, Oullette's clutzy "Maggie" manages to escape from a group of terrorists, only to immediately trip over a tree root and knock herself out on a rock - doh!).
Anyway - by no means a bad book, and certainly better than the other two duds mentioned...but just a matter of "TMB/TLT" triage.
Was searching Amazon for some books on the CIA in Tibet, and this popped up. Looked...interesting? And so I blew a coupla bucks.
Well, this is NOT a goWas searching Amazon for some books on the CIA in Tibet, and this popped up. Looked...interesting? And so I blew a coupla bucks.
Well, this is NOT a good book - very "freshman creative writing class" - but you know what? Good on "Ames" (obviously not the author's real name; that's the character's alias in the story) - he actually sat down and wrote, finished his story and went out and got it printed, which is more than I've done with all my lofty ambitions. So live your dream, brother!...more
Just couldn't stick it out - had to surrender around page 60. Odd writing style that made it difficult to follow, combined with no plot development atJust couldn't stick it out - had to surrender around page 60. Odd writing style that made it difficult to follow, combined with no plot development at the 20% point was just a deal-breaker...life's too short.
I picked this up mainly because (A) I remember the first book (or at least the Robert Redford film version) being pretty good, and (B) I really enjoy action/adventure stories with an old (or at least older) protagonist. At the same time, however, one of the key pleasures of any spy thriller is to allow us mere mortals to experience those dark corners of the world that we will probably never get to see in person - so a spy thriller set completely in Washington DC has to be WAY better than this in order for me to see it through.
SPOILER:(view spoiler)[ Okay, so based on other reviews, I did peek ahead to the end of the next chapter and yes, the plot does pick up - but with a creepy, Lecter-esque murder that involves body posing and mutilation - what is it with removing eyes and/or penises? - so, yeah...I'm good. (hide spoiler)]...more
Nice cocktail combining a traditional "Nazi hunter" story with a dash of CIA. Probably just 3-3.5 stars for the story alone, but rounding up based on Nice cocktail combining a traditional "Nazi hunter" story with a dash of CIA. Probably just 3-3.5 stars for the story alone, but rounding up based on Jonathan Davis' excellent narration. This was a perfect "commuter audiobook" - interesting enough to hold my attention, but not so complicated that I had to frequently rewind because my mind wandered for a minute.
So yeah, enjoyable - but wasn't sure if I was interested enough to listen to more Kanon. But then I saw that our library has Istanbul Passage on CD, and as a big fan of unique (especially Asian/Middle Eastern) locales I may give this one a listen, too......more
Maybe 3 stars if a stand-alone, but I rounded down because this was just such a disappointing follow-up to McCarry's quirky but delightful debut, The Maybe 3 stars if a stand-alone, but I rounded down because this was just such a disappointing follow-up to McCarry's quirky but delightful debut, The Miernik Dossier.
This time around (four years after the events in Miernik), Paul Christopher investigates the Kennedy assassination, since he alone in all the world understands what really happened:
The explanation struck like a bell in Christopher's mind. He knew who had arranged the death of the President...All his life, Christopher's unconscious had released images and he had learned to trust this trick of his mind. He often knew what men had done before they confessed their acts to him.*
He then "goes rogue" and leaves the organization - unnamed, but obviously the CIA - traveling first to Saigon for fully half the book, but then globe-hopping between Rome, Switzerland, Rhodesia and Paris to assemble the pieces of his conspiracy theory. Long story short (and SPOILER for anyone who's still thinking of reading this - which at this point should be no one), everyone killed Kennedy - the Russians, the Cubans, the Mafia, the Vietnamese...
I dunno...maybe this book was written in the early years of conspiracy fiction and so was still original and surprising, but today it just reads as a confusing mess.
Unlike the epistolic Miernik, which was told through a series of incident reports, cable traffic, interview/interrogation transcripts, police logs, etc., Autumn is a straight-forward third person narrative, and as a result the character or Christopher comes off as a different person than in the first book (at least IMHO), where he was just one of many players.
Anyway - having also recently read (and been disappointed by) the much later The Shanghai Factor, think I'm done with McCarry for a while. Which is too bad, because he's a good writer and he certainly knows his tradecraft and global hotspots. Will probably give him another shot down the road, but for now it's on to (hopefully) bigger and better things.
* Okay, why do CIA case officers-turned-writers insist on giving their protagonists such unnecessary super powers? Jason Matthews did the same thing in Red Sparrow by inexplicably giving Dominika the ability to "see colors," which had zero to do with the story. Isn't being a spy/killer/sex machine enough for either of these guys??...more
Well, this was just hugely disappointing. I've heard so many good things about McCarry lately - who unfortunately died this past February - and I realWell, this was just hugely disappointing. I've heard so many good things about McCarry lately - who unfortunately died this past February - and I really enjoyed The Miernik Dossier, his first book (and first in the Paul Christopher series) written way back in 1973. But this book, his second-to-last novel and published exactly 40 years after Miernik, was a real dud.
And that's too bad, because it got off to such a strong start. A young CIA spook (although the Agency is never mentioned by name, just referred to as "Headquarters") is living under cover in Shanghai. A mere 25 pages in, he is the victim of an assassination attempt, after which he leaves China...and things grind to a halt. Like, for the whole rest of the book. He returns to Washington, he goes to New York, he goes back to Washington, he goes to Connecticut...he bumps into Chinese spies, bumps into a sexy Chinese lawyer who - probably the most outrageous coincidence in an entire book built on outrageous coincidences - he happened to go to prep school with...he has wildly satisfying sex with said lawyer (the third gorgeous Chinese girl he has wildly satisfying sex with) - in fact, that one attempt to whack him aside, wild sex is literally the only action in this whole story.
Also, and worthy of its own separate complaint - could this have had a more generic title??
There's lots more, but I've already wasted too much time reading this; don't want to waste even more discussing it. That said, I won't totally give up on McCarry - he just comes too highly recommended. But I'll definitely go back to his earlier stuff, and stick to the Christopher stories for which he is most famous....more
This is a pretty remarkable book. The Miernik Dossier indeed takes the form of a case file, told completely through incident reports, CIA cable traffiThis is a pretty remarkable book. The Miernik Dossier indeed takes the form of a case file, told completely through incident reports, CIA cable traffic, police logs, interview/interrogation transcripts, diary excerpts, etc. - an early example of the type of epistolary writing which has become increasingly popular lately, particularly in YA and SF with such books as The Illuminae Files, The Themis Files, The Three and others.
As such, this is one of the more realistic spy books I've read in a long time, which makes it's inconclusive ending even more impactful. Two of the last documents in the book are completely contradictory summaries of all what happened to that point. In particular, main protagonist Paul Christopher makes the following statement, which I fear is far too reflective of how the CIA and similar organizations actually operate: "I am going to say a very harsh thing that is directed as much (or more) against myself as against all you people who sit inside, making the plans that I carry out. I think we ran Miernik as we did primarily for the fun of it. We have come to look on our work, in the field at least, as sport..."
I say "main protagonist" because while Christopher appears in a number of subsequent books, McCarry in this first story pulls off the difficult task of making many characters equally important and, even when we know (or think we know) which of them are "the bad guys," equally sympathetic.
Nearly every review I've read states in one way or another that "Charles McCarry is the best espionage writer I've never heard of." And I'm guilty as well; I only learned of him when I read his obituary in the Washington Post this past February, and was particularly disappointed to learn that he had lived right here in Northern Virginia - I would most definitely have tracked him down.
I don't know yet if subsequent Christopher books were written in the same style, but I'll definitely be reading more of them, (luckily, as a "local author," our library has almost the entire series).
PERSONAL NOTE: Unusual for spy fiction, the second half of the story takes place mainly in the Sudan, while the first half takes place largely in Geneva but with critical scenes in Vienna and nearby-but-across-the-Iron-Curtain Bratislava as well. (The book takes place in the unspecified late 1950's, so apparently not long after after the Sudan obtained it's independence from the bizarre joint rule of Britain and Egypt.) These unique locales made the book of particular personal interest, as I know both Khartoum and Bratislava from earlier careers - having been lucky enough to spend a week in Khartoum during one of my last trips for the State Department; as well as taking several business trips to Slovakia as a much younger businessman. I have to say, the hilltop Bratislava Castle is about the coldest places I've ever been to - no exaggeration, as it was literally both cold and windy enough to have horizontal icicles "growing" (since they didn't actually hang) off tree branches!
[image] (The horizontal icicles of Bratislava Castle)...more
I usually don't comment on a book until I'm finished, but this one is really pulling me in opposite directions.
A female CIA analyst uncovers a disturI usually don't comment on a book until I'm finished, but this one is really pulling me in opposite directions.
A female CIA analyst uncovers a disturbing secret, and reacts by making the first in a string of horrible decisions. Indeed, the whole story is a downward spiral of bad choices that lead to more bad choices, but in a totally believable way. This is going to end up either a 1-star or 5-star review, depending on whether or not Ms. Cleveland brings it to a satisfying conclusion - but in the meantime, I am totally hooked!
(SPOILERS - WHICH IS TO SAY WARNINGS - FOLLOW): And turns out I was right, but not in the way I was hoping. I really wanted this to turn out well, but...
A good protagonist doesn't have to be heroic, but he or she should at least be sympathetic, capable or vaguely intelligent. But Vivian Miller is one of the most indecisive, incompetent and overall selfish characters I've encountered in a long time. I'm not a woman and so perhaps I can't totally understand her "wolf mother" point of view - but if everyone in positions of power put family above country, national security and the personal safety of those brave foreign agents who risk their lives working for the U.S. the way "Viv" does, then probably half the government would be working for the Russians by now, (which may well be the case; but that's a different topic). It's only halfway through the final audiobook disc that after trying EVERYTHING else she decides to "finally do the right thing," (which is what she should've done way back in Chapter One) - and then when she does finally fess up to all the illegal and unethical things she's done, she gets...rewarded with a year-long tropical vacation?? Hope that's not MY tax dollars at work there...
Other characters don't rate much better. Her husband's no winner either - right up until the very end, you're never sure if he's really a ruthless Soviet illegal or just an overall asshole; but that's not a great choice either way. And the main villain - the only other character who is fleshed out to even two dimensions - is a sneering, chest-hair-and-gold-chain stereotype that makes Boris Badenov look complex.
And THEN, finally, there's the whole "epilogue," a last-minute monkey wrench that wants to be Shyamalan-esque but which instead is more "oh #@!%, come on!..."
I'm sorry; I know this is a particularly harsh review, even by my sometimes grumpy standards. But I just had such high hopes for this, and then it went so completely off the rails. Hard to believe this was actually written by a former CIA analyst, because it reads like someone who's just watched "The Americans" and read a few hokey spy novels rather than someone with an insider's knowledge of how the Agency actually works - unless, of course, it was intentionally written as disinformation, to make the CIA look particularly stupid and thereby lull the Russians into a false sense of security...
And I wish that were the case, I truly do. But I'm afraid that more likely, it's just a dumb story.
FINAL NOTE: "Need To Know" is a specific government term - but it has nothing to do with this particular book; and so ends up being a generic and meaningless "spy title" like the latter Pierce Brosnan Bond films - "Tomorrow Never Dies," "The World is Not Enough," "Die Another Day." Sigh......more
A good but imperfect novel; a solid 3+ but I'm rounding up because it's a debut and I'm feeling generous. Matthews has legit intel credibility, and soA good but imperfect novel; a solid 3+ but I'm rounding up because it's a debut and I'm feeling generous. Matthews has legit intel credibility, and so his descriptions of tradecraft and use of "spook-speak" are right on, so solid points there. And while the following comments tend to focus on the negatives, I did enjoy the book and found it a worthwhile addition to the "new Cold War" genre, (and btw, when are we going to start referring to these as "Cold War I" and "Cold War II," like we do with the World Wars?).
* I generally liked the Dominika character, although her backstory went on way too long and the whole deal of her being a synesthete was unnecessary - she'd have been an equally strong but more realistic character if she didn't have this rare "superpower."
* Matthews shows some of the common weaknesses of a first-time author, in particular his use of the "omniscient point of view." Still, his writing was generally strong, and I was particularly impressed with the structure of his fight scenes whose run-on sentences really conveyed the tension and drama of the action.
* Some reviews have compared this book to le Carré 's work, which is frankly just silly. While a good story, it is nowhere near as well-plotted as the twisty-turny tales we expect from Mr. Cornwell. And whereas le Carré's stories are prototypically British in their "nothing is what it seems and everything is shades of gray"-ness; Red Sparrow is very American: its story line is generally straightforward, and its characters are consistently black or white, good or bad - every Russian male is a brutish thug (except for the gallant and charming mole), while every American is generally heroic (with the exception of the cartoonishly evil American mole).
* I've seen opinions coming down on both sides of the whole "recipe issue;" i.e., Matthews' adding a of recipe to the end of each chapter based on what's been eaten in the previous pages. For me, these additions consistently took me out of the story and so I didn't enjoy them, but I see that he's continued the practice in at least the second book in the trilogy - so either the majority of readers liked them, or else he's just doubling down on controversy, (like a certain figure in the White House).
* BOOK vs. MOVIE: Unlike the last two books I've read - Remains of the Day and Annihilation, both of which I thought were better on-screen than on the page - Matthews' Sparrow is far superior to the film version. I found the movie confusing, the Nash character weak and largely reactive, the additional torture scene unnecessary and even unwatchable, and I was especially disappointed with the operation against the American mole which played a larger and more effective role in the book. And yes, I realize it's hard to include everything from a long(ish) book in a 2-hr movie, but the movie just left me pretty unmoved. What I DID like from the film was the ending, which was totally different from the book. The book's ending may have been more realistic, but it was also more predictable; whereas the movie really threw in a big, almost Shyamalan-style twist that may have been less "realpolitik" but was also more satisfying.
So, again - good but not great addition to the growing category of "CIA fiction by former CIA officers." I've already got the second book (which I picked up cheap at Five Below), but it's nowhere near the top of my "to read" list, and probably won't land there for some time to come....more
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