The Last Supper
[ 2006-04-03 09:59 ]
 |
|
|
Author: Charles McCarry
List Price: $24.95
Pages: 276
Publisher:
Overlook Hardcover (March 23, 2006)
Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.4 inches
ISBN: 1585677620
|
| |
|
First published in 1983, this is one of a half dozen of McCarry's
espionage thrillers featuring CIA agent Paul Christopher, an old school
spy who operates in a world where clever and vicious communists are
unquestionably the villains, and who is handsome, dedicated and never
short of compliant women. Dismissing his lover Molly Benson's feelings of
dread, Paul leaves her bed to fly off to 1960s Vietnam. Sure enough, Molly
is quickly murdered. Abruptly, the book flashes back to 1926 Germany where
Paul's father, a young American writer, encounters minor Prussian nobility
and the woman who will become Paul's mother. Apolitical until the Nazis
arrest his wife in 1939, Paul's father joins the OSS that becomes the
postwar CIA. At this point, fans of this veteran author will settle back
to enjoy nearly 400 pages of nasty scheming. Paul's father spies
successfully, but his obsessive efforts to track down his wife lead to
Paul's father's murder. Following his father's footsteps into the Cold War
"outfit," Paul travels the world to counter communist skullduggery, while
delivering plenty of his own. He retires (after a 10-year stint in a
Chinese prison) but continues to investigate his father's death. In so
doing, he finds the answer as well as the reason for Molly's murder,
leading to a shocking twist that turns his world upside down.
Book review
This is without question the best
spy/epionage book I have ever read. McCarry takes you through a maze of
war, violence, family pain...frankly he misses nothing. This book is so
rich and intelligently written you just can't put it down. I have found it
rare that a book of this genre illicits this kind of depth.
The fact that McCarry was a CIA operative in real life comes through
quite obviously. His knowledge and understanding of this subject,
undeniable. This novel spans over decades and unlike so many spy novels,
builds and unfolds the characters like few books do, let alone a spy
novel. That's what gives this book it's brillance, McCarry took his time
and so carefully and painstakingly crafted these characters...wow!
Unlike some reviewers, I don't go into the storyline and frankly with
this novel that would be too challenging to do anyway...yeah the story is
that big. This novel however will make future spy novels that you read
pale in comparison and has raised the bar. A great follow-up read to this
is Old Boys, which is a continuation of the Paul & Lori Christopher
characters. Whatever you do, read this book-because you just haven't read
first rate espionage fiction until you do.
Author introduction
Charles McCarry was born in 1930, and spent much of his
non-writing life working for the CIA. He divides his time between the
Berkshires and Florida's west coast. |
|
|
