Brookes' third and possibly final novel to feature Philip Mangan sends the beaten-down rogue spy out in high style while...
Having abandoned people he cared about and compromised his humanity since becoming a spy, British journalist Philip Mangan finds a chance to redeem himself when he meets a Chinese-American teenager targeted by Beijing for her genius in the field of artificial intelligence.
Mangan crosses paths with the teen, Pearl Tao, in Suriname. He has traveled to the South American country from Indonesia in an attempt to hide from his MI6 superiors in London. Pearl's parents, who, unbeknownst to her, are Chinese spies, told her they were going to Paramaribo, the capital of Suriname, on vacation. But they are there to make contact with Chinese sources to whom they have promised to deliver Pearl's research. Roughly treated by her untrustworthy, panicky father, she begins to fear for her well-being. Mangan first sees Pearl and her parents in the company of a local lawyer he suspects of having ties to Chinese military intelligence. After chatting with the girl, Mangan instinctively knows she needs his help. But first, he needs to convince her that he's on her side. With the murder—could it have been by MI6?—of an American agent specializing in Chinese affairs and the fatal poisoning of his wife, the plot thickens. Brookes (Spy Games, 2015, etc.) writes in his acknowledgments that this is the final chapter for Mangan, his manipulative London boss Val Hobko, and his troubled handler and one-time lover, Trish Patterson. If so, they'll be sorely missed. In the tradition of Graham Greene, the book is a work of deep moral reckoning and a gripping thriller. As affecting as the story is, the dominant emotion it evokes is fear. Having been shot at, beaten to a pulp, imprisoned, and betrayed in Brookes' trilogy, Mangan has reason to shake in anticipation of the next shock to his system. That Brookes makes the darkest challenges his spy faces utterly believable is a testament to his skill as a novelist.
Brookes' third and possibly final novel to feature Philip Mangan sends the beaten-down rogue spy out in high style while introducing a terrific new character in a teenager trapped in her own secretive life.Pub Date: Oct. 31, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-316-50349-5
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Redhook/Orbit
Review Posted Online: Nov. 13, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Bulky, balky, talky.
In an updated quest for the Holy Grail, the narrative pace remains stuck in slo-mo.
But is the Grail, in fact, holy? Turns out that’s a matter of perspective. If you’re a member of that most secret of clandestine societies, the Priory of Sion, you think yes. But if your heart belongs to the Roman Catholic Church, the Grail is more than just unholy, it’s downright subversive and terrifying. At least, so the story goes in this latest of Brown’s exhaustively researched, underimagined treatise-thrillers (Deception Point, 2001, etc.). When Harvard professor of symbology Robert Langdon—in Paris to deliver a lecture—has his sleep interrupted at two a.m., it’s to discover that the police suspect he’s a murderer, the victim none other than Jacques Saumière, esteemed curator of the Louvre. The evidence against Langdon could hardly be sketchier, but the cops feel huge pressure to make an arrest. And besides, they don’t particularly like Americans. Aided by the murdered man’s granddaughter, Langdon flees the flics to trudge the Grail-path along with pretty, persuasive Sophie, who’s driven by her own need to find answers. The game now afoot amounts to a scavenger hunt for the scholarly, clues supplied by the late curator, whose intent was to enlighten Sophie and bedevil her enemies. It’s not all that easy to identify these enemies. Are they emissaries from the Vatican, bent on foiling the Grail-seekers? From Opus Dei, the wayward, deeply conservative Catholic offshoot bent on foiling everybody? Or any one of a number of freelancers bent on a multifaceted array of private agendas? For that matter, what exactly is the Priory of Sion? What does it have to do with Leonardo? With Mary Magdalene? With (gulp) Walt Disney? By the time Sophie and Langdon reach home base, everything—well, at least more than enough—has been revealed.
Bulky, balky, talky.Pub Date: March 18, 2003
ISBN: 0-385-50420-9
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2003
SEEN & HEARD
Chavez delivers a fraught if flawed page-turner that attempts too many twists.
A good Samaritan incurs a psychopath’s wrath in this debut thriller.
Veterinarian Cassie Larkin is heading home after a 12-hour shift when someone darts in front of her car, causing her to dump her energy drink. As she pulls over to mop up the mess, her headlights illuminate a couple having a physical altercation. Cassie calls 911, but before help arrives, the man tosses the woman down an embankment. Ignoring the dispatcher’s instructions, Cassie exits the vehicle and intervenes, preventing the now-unconscious woman’s murder. With sirens wailing in the distance, the man warns Cassie: “Let her die, and I’ll let you live.” He then scrambles back to the road and flees in Cassie’s van. Using mug shots, Cassie identifies the thief and would-be killer as Carver Sweet, who is wanted for poisoning his wife. The Santa Rosa police assure Cassie of her safety, but the next evening, her husband, Sam, vanishes while trick-or-treating with their 6-year-old daughter, Audrey. Hours later, he sends texts apologizing and confessing to an affair, but although it’s true that Sam and Cassie have been fighting, she suspects foul play—particularly given the previous night’s events. Cassie files a report with the cops, but they dismiss her concerns, leaving Cassie to investigate on her own. After a convoluted start, Chavez embarks on a paranoia-fueled thrill ride, escalating the stakes while exploiting readers’ darkest domestic fears. The far-fetched plot lacks cohesion and relies too heavily on coincidence to be fully satisfying, but the reader will be invested in learning the Larkin family’s fate through to the too-pat conclusion.
Chavez delivers a fraught if flawed page-turner that attempts too many twists.Pub Date: Feb. 18, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-06-293617-2
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Morrow/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Nov. 24, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
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