The Parsifal Mosaic: A Novel

This is another classic Robert Ludlum thriller with all his hallmarks - unexpected twists, flashes of imagination, action and suspense and well-researched characters, locations and politics! IN this one, Michael Havelock, a former CIA/VKR(Russian special intelligence) double agent witnesses his girlfriend Jenna Karras murdered on Spain's Costa Brava. Then some time later, on a field assignment in Rome, he spots her at a railway station and decides impulsively and obsessively to track her down. The trail leads to France and a secret airbase near the Italian border where he sees Jenna again in the hands of some cold-blooded terrorists. His search reaches the US where a top-secret government operation is forming that could change the balance of world power as we know it for ever . . . who is behind this operation? Often very similar to THE POWER and THIS UNITED STATE by Colin Forbes, the villain is surprising . . .and who is the manipulative PARSIFAL character, the final piece in the jigsaw puzzle, or mosiac if you will! Well worth reading, but be warned, it is very long! But hard to fault!

This book was a wonderful story to read, though at times, the plot grew laborious. It is an action-packed ride that has a great backstory, though I could do with less of the emotional hooha between the lead character and his paramour. Apparently, after reading two non-Bourne Ludlum stories, Robert Ludlum is scared of men with white shocks of hair - this is the second novel where a nefarious villain has a stripe of white hair that is key to the main character recalling the bad bad man (not a problem, but I am worried that the more of his books I read, the more repeated devices I will start to notice).

I think I can tell that this book was scanned into OCR software in order to be made kindle-ready. There are spelling and punctuation errors on almost every page. It was incredibly distracting to read, since many words were very close to the original, but off by one letter, such as "vou" instead of "you", or sentences would have no period, while there is a capitalized letter signifying the start of the next sentence. SOMEONE NEEDS TO EDIT THIS KINDLE BOOK.

Other than the distracting errors, I would suggest this book to any spy novel fan.

An embiterred agent whose lover has been killed, or so he thinks, quits his job and goes walkabout, basically. When he finds out she is alive an perhaps a double agent, he wants back in the game.

Consular Operations wants to get rid of him, but the Russians deny to him that his wife is one of their agents.

When he finds his wife, she bolts, thinking that he is a double agent, because of information she has been fed.

On top of this, the US Secretary of State if completely starkers, and was once one of our protagonists advisers.

The partners manage to work it out, and get the ear of the present and some of his men, and realise that along with the nutso go, there is also a mole in the State department, and the two sides square off over the country.

The Parsifal Mosaic by Robert Ludlum cemented to me that Ludlum is one of the greatest spy thriller writers of all time. In this book, I can attribute this mainly to his amazing manipulation of suspense and the manner in which he uses a series of microcosms to demonstrate the central conflict, between the United States government and a renegade individual named Parsifal who has extremely sensitive documents that have the potential to cause global calamities.

Ludlum's superb spectacle begins in Spain along the Costa Brava where scarred CIA operative of Czech background Michael Havelock witnesses his lover Jenna Karas get gunned down by his own people because she is proved by higher authorities to be a double agent. Devastated by the series of events, he immediately announces his retirement and looks for a job in a university. While travelling through Europe, in Rome whilst at a train station he spots her and the chase is on. Ludlum starts the action at this point and never lets up; he moves the action from Italy to perilous alpine passes in Col Des Moulinets to the USA where Havelock slowly uncovers clues of something much more sinister that spreads all the way to the White House. Havelock is not only chasing Karas, he is being pursued by his own organisation that sees him as a paranoid schizophrenic gone rogue who can compromise various operations around Europe. This causes senior members of the CIA to send various deadly assassins to try and eliminate him while he desperately searches for the truth.

Havelock discovers the connection between the mysterious figure of unknown intentions Parsifal, Havelock's childhood friend and Secretary of State Anthony Matthias, a branch of Soviet right wing fanatics called the VKR and the danger of nuclear war. This leads to the last 100 pages being full of twists and turns which proved to me to be one of the most compelling sections of a novel I have ever read. The only problem I encountered with this novel was the more than sporadic use of superfluous, convoluted dialogue which Ludlum seems to have been prone to due to his past as a playwright. Some may criticise Ludlum for lacking in `realism' and characterisation however his novels are among the most entertaining of all time due to the nonstop action, the massive scale and the extremely enthralling, vigorous plot which will keep you hooked to the very last twist. If you read any Ludlum books make it this one and the unforgettable Bourne trilogy.

Fun summer read, but could be better researched. The bad Soviet guys are represented by the "Voyennaya Kontr Razvedka" (Military Counterintelligence" that is somehow disobeying the mainstream KGB on a grand scale. Neither "Voyennaya" nor "Razvedka" are terms likely to be used in an official title. The real Soviet military intelligence outfits such as the "GRU" ("Main Intelligence Directorate") and SMERsh ("Death to Spies") were scary enough, why make up an awkwardly named VKR? On the US side, the State Department is running a foreign intelligence and assassination network, competing with the CIA in murder and mayhem worldwide. That is hard to believe, given what historically happens when diplomats have to take care of their dirty laundry. Overall, a pretty good re-make of John Le Carre's "The Spy Who Came in From the Cold".

Cold War thrillers really belong in a class by themselves. They freeze in amber an era of bipolarity, good vs. evil, the razor's edge of annihilation. The world was comfortably Manichean.

So this is a great throwback novel, with throwback themes like U.S. vs. U.S.S.R., Cold War chicanery, moles, spies and leftover Nazis. The plot--why did someone trick Michael Havelock into thinking his girlfriend betrayed him? -- leads to a strange twist about the world teetering on the edge of chaos because one man decided to prove that another man had too much power. Fun, but farfetched. But that's the Cold War thriller for you.

This book starts out well with a simple objective, but by chapter 17 things became so complicated that I started to take notes to keep up with the flow. My interest waned about three quarters of the way through because I didn't like where the story was going and so many questions were not answered to my satisfaction. Also, I didn't care for all of the dialogue. Some of it seemed redundant.

I wouldn't recommend this book as a first Ludlum read because it's way too complex. You must be accustomed to Ludlum's style and or you must be a real big fan of cold war novels.

I've grown very fond of political thrillers, and this is not the first Robert Ludlum book I've read. That being said, this book was good but way too many gap fillers. I thought I'd never get through it. Like another reviewer I almost gave up but toward the end I had to know the answer. Cut out all the non-essentials when writing these types of books.

The Parsifal Mosaic was the first Ludlum book I read and I never regretted it. The plot was superbly woven: no loopholes, no loose ends. But I think the greatest thing about this book was the characters. Michael Havelock and Jenna Karas were portrayed as two human beings locked in an "immovable prison", as Ludlum termed it. I would say that this book is unsurpassed. Congratulations, Mr. Ludlum.

While the story itself was quite compelling; Ludlum at his best, the book editor should be fired. This is without a doubt the worst case of errata I have ever endured in my lifetime (and I am 70 years old). That covers a lot of reading .The editing was so bad, (hundreds of misspelled words), that I found myself having to re-read many sentences just to figure out what the author's intent was. AWFUL! I've come to expect some errata in most novels, but this was over the top. I've never taken the time to write a review before, but I felt abused in the purchase of this book. If you love a great spy story, read this. On the other hand, if you are irritated by such poor editing, there are plenty of other choices out there!

The Parsifal Mosaic is a great novel that follows the traditional patterns of Ludlum books. Ludlum does an amazing job connecting you to each character in the book. He also does a phenomenal job connecting the book to different events in history that seem to tie everything together. Like most of his novels, the Parsifal Mosaic will keep you on your toes throughout the story.

In The Parsifal Mosaic by Robert Ludlum, the literary device flashback was used very frequently and very effectively. Since it revealed many very essential plot elements, the novel was much strengthened by this device. And, Robert Ludlum brought much needed suspense and complexity to the plot by using flashback.
This literary device was used very much throughout this novel. And the reason it was used so much was to reveal essential and thrilling plot elements. Each flashback made by the main character, Michael Havelock, made the story more understandable and put plot puzzle pieces together. Without the use of this literary device by Robert Ludlum, there would be many gaps in the story and the book would not make sense at all.
Not only was the plot put together by the author's use of this literary device, the story was made more suspenseful and complex after these flashbacks by the main character. Each one of them blew you away by revealing something totally new and surprising that made the pages keep turning. It made the book intriguing from beginning to end.
Robert Ludlum's use of flashback in The Parsifal Mosaic ultimately strengthened the novel. In no way did it make it weak or uninteresting or bland, it actually held the plot together and made it suspenseful. This novel was as good as it was because of the literary device of flashback.

The book was fun to read, entertaining and exciting to the end. Though it had one twist to many, just one, possibly two twist too many. Michael Havelock sees the woman that he thought was dead, alive and well, and his life is turned upside down, great book great plot.

The Parsifal Mosaic sets the style of many Ludlum classics that are to follow. Michael Havelock, a tragic hero makes a supreme sacrifice and want to leave the scene of action, only to be dragged back into it in order to protect his life, coupled with the juxtaposition of hope and deceipt at every corner. It takes a while to set the scenario of Havelock's character and past, but then it takes off like an F-14 launched from a Carrier's catapult. Superb reading and intense storyline make this one book that warrants thorough perusal.

If you enjoyed the Bourne Identity and the Bourne Supremacy, you will definitely enjoy the Parsifal Mosaic. All of Ludlam's stories that reveal the plot later in the book are the best. Couldn't put this one down.

Once again Ludlum doesn't dissapoint.This book starts off fairly slow but the action and intensity pick up.Add in some classic suspense,a deadly killer,a dissapeared genius and a hero whose lifes gone to pieces due to circumstances beyond his control and you have an acton packed thrilling joyride!!Definetly Ludlum at his best!!

Any Ludlum fan would love this story, but the kindle version has so many mis-spelled words and incorrect words, that it made reading very difficult. The story deserved five stars. The kindle version barely deserved one star.