Review:John Le Carre's real world of espionage is sometimes banal, often tedious, sometimes ludicrous but infinitely more engaging than hyperactive fiction. It is a world in which inadequate people struggle to achieve something that becomes harder and harder to believe in. It's about secrets and the people who guard them and those who try to release them. As Le Carre said when the Cold War ended, the game goes on, only the characters change. Mission Song was as engrossing and satisfying as anything... Read more

Review:purchased after watching the recent BBC series of the same name - there is a lot more context and background than is possible in a TV show - also the ending in the (original) book is more plausible. Gripping story, and a most enjoyable work from the old master Read more

Review:This is a complex book. And an extremely slow one. It works because the way it languidly develops many uncommon themes:

- The protagonist is a person without any ideologies or loyalties. This is what makes him a perfect spy, as he is someone without any ambitions for the self as well. He leads a remarkable life of random twists and turns - that are a product of circumstances and never of any design - spanning all five Cold War decades and in a handful of era-defining geographies.
- At ... Read more

Review:Lest anyone get the wrong impression, let me explain my review headline. I compare this book to a hotdog, because it has a very good story trapped between two pieces of bland bread.
The first hundred or so pages move at a glacial pace, and the author's disjointed manner of storytelling soon becomes confusing and annoying. LeCarre spends a lot of pages to give us a great understanding of the three main players, but I don't know if it is all worth it.
The middle 130-160 pages of the b... Read more

Review:Classic Le Carre. Style and story line follows the classic story genre we love from the original Smiley books. Le Carre adapts the story to the times, adds the flair of English understatement and political backstabbing of Whitehall. I found this to be one of those fast moving, can't put it down, books. Le Carre's prose is spell binding. Made me want to reach out and re-read the Smiley classics. If you love the early Le Carre I think you will love this. Le Carre did get into trouble when he was i... Read more

Review:This begins with a brilliant, virtuoso first 100 pages as Osnard meets the eponymous tailor to have a suit fitted and they banter back and forth. It's the best part of the book and since it occupies the first quarter or so, everything after fails to quite live up to it. There are still plenty of clever moments and shady, ambiguous characters but this ended up dragging for me towards the end. Loving that sucking on the teeth though! Read more

Review:Once again, Catherine Coulter has written a great book in the FBI series continuing with her main characters. Her books are always easy to read and hard to put down. Finished this one in about 2 days. If you've enjoyed her previous FBI books, you'll love this one! Read more

Review:I used to love the Scarpetta novels, but the last few were boring. They are obviously just knocked out with the hope of turning it into a movie, and riding the coattails of the older books, which were great. Read more

Review:These were the first three books in the Jack Reacher series. If I hadn't seen the movie with the shorter version of Jack Reacher (Tom Cruise) I probably would've missed out. At any rate, lots of action...if you like action and adventure, and you haven't started the Reacher series, you'll want to start with these. Read more

Review:I've read every book Robert B. Parker has written. In Jesse Stone he takes the cake. I believe I may leave Spencer and Hawk for Jesse. Stranger in Paradise is the best yet. As usual, excellent character development. You feel you know the man personally and empathise with his problems. I especially like Suit and Molly. Keep on Robert B. and I will keep on buying. Read more