It is all expertly chilling and exciting.
A modern variant of The Third Man is sponsored by that book's author (Graham Greene says, "The best spy story I have ever read") and it introduces on this side of the water pseudonymous Mr. Le Carré, who is a fine contrast to flamboyant Mr. Fleming and who proves here that one can be just as unnerving by being thoroughly undemonstrative.
This, then, with an adamant realism, cases the check points to and past the Brandenburg Gate when Leamas, an English agent, is presumably shelved so that he may become a paid defector and thereby determine how Mundt, his corresponding opposite and the second man in the Abteilung, has managed to dispose of too many of his people. Still, the personal equation cannot be entirely reduced to numbers, or ciphers; there is Leamas' attraction to a woman—a Communist—and Fiedler, Mundt's acolyte who turns apostate, so that eventually all are the victims of a ruthless revanchist plot. A domesday book of the Cold War and the lonely anonymity of the double agent.
It is all expertly chilling and exciting.Pub Date: Jan. 10, 1963
ISBN: 0802714544
Page Count: -
Publisher: Coward-McCann
Review Posted Online: Sept. 27, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1963
IN THE NEWS
SEEN & HEARD
Koryta has never been better than with this knuckle-biting thriller.
Slowly emerging from the coma she's been in since a black cargo van rammed the car she was using to transport a visiting professor, killing him, Maine college senior Tara Beckley is targeted by a ruthless young hit man.
After the driver of the van admits his guilt, police rule the collision a simple wreck. But it doesn't take long for insurance investigator Abby Kaplan, a former racer and stunt driver who knows how cars behave at high speeds, to determine that this was no accident. She responds emotionally to Tara and her family; Abby's boyfriend in Los Angeles was left in a coma after a reckless joy ride she took him on ended badly. The bad news for the bad guys, who are desperate to get their hands on a device that was in the professor's possession, is that Tara is now conscious and alert and able to communicate by moving her eyes. Dax Blackwell, the boyish, creepily calm gunman (whose father, Jack, an Australian assassin, died in Koryta's Those Who Wish Me Dead), must not only get past Abby to get to Tara, he also has to contend with Tara's fiercely protective sister, Shannon. It's a measure of how good this book is that the chilling, masterfully sustained suspense is only one of its standout achievements. Koryta never brushes off anyone's death; he makes you feel for the victims. The relationship between Tara and her sibling is beautifully nuanced, full of revealing details going back to their childhood. And Koryta’s (How It Happened, 2018, etc.) fans will surely appreciate the suggestion of a sequel.
Koryta has never been better than with this knuckle-biting thriller.Pub Date: May 14, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-316-29400-3
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 18, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2019
A well-crafted, increasingly tense page-turner.
Nina Garrity’s new boyfriend might not be all he seems.
More than a year ago, Nina’s husband, Glen, disappeared from his fishing boat on a Saturday morning, leaving behind evidence of a torrid affair and a drained bank account but no body. When Simon Fitch, the social studies teacher at her daughter’s middle school, comes into the picture, it seems like something is finally going right. When Nina and her kids move in with Simon, however, cracks in their relationship begin to appear. Nina decides to get a job to help support her family, but Simon is very much against it. Nina finds herself second-guessing a lot of her decisions in the face of his kind but firm resistance. Maggie, Nina’s daughter, absolutely hates Simon and refuses to play nice. Her son, Connor, is fine with the situation, but Maggie is convinced Simon has something out for their family. As time marches on and both Simon and Maggie reach the ends of their ropes, Nina has to decide whom to believe. In a twisty novel that never lets up, Palmer (Saving Meghan, 2019, etc.) has crafted a narrative that explores domestic violence and family trust in an interesting way. Switching between Nina's and Maggie’s points of view lets the reader see different sides to Simon, a character who doesn’t quite reveal himself until midway through the novel with a big, unexpected twist. Though it's sometimes frustrating how easily Nina lets Simon off the hook and Maggie’s voice doesn’t always sound quite right for a middle schooler, the way the novel always answers questions with more questions makes it hard to put down. Clues are cleverly laced throughout, keeping one guessing.
A well-crafted, increasingly tense page-turner.Pub Date: April 14, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-10749-7
Page Count: 384
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: Jan. 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
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