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92nd out of 120 books
—
16 voters
The Talbot Odyssey
by
Nelson DeMille (Goodreads Author)
IT STARTED AS A SIMPLE SPY HUNT.
IT BECAME A DESPERATE BATTLE TO SAVE THE WEST.
For forty years Western intelligence agents have known a terrible secret: the Russians have a mole -- code-named Talbot -- inside the CIA. At first Talbot is suspected of killing European agents. Then a street-smart ex-cop uncovers a storm of espionage and murder on the streets of New York, while...more
IT BECAME A DESPERATE BATTLE TO SAVE THE WEST.
For forty years Western intelligence agents have known a terrible secret: the Russians have a mole -- code-named Talbot -- inside the CIA. At first Talbot is suspected of killing European agents. Then a street-smart ex-cop uncovers a storm of espionage and murder on the streets of New York, while...more
Paperback, 544 pages
Published
July 1st 1991
by Grand Central Publishing
(first published 1976)
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I love Demille, but I didn't love this one.
Having essentially completed the Demille canon, I was disappointed with The Talbot Odyssey after my family promised me it was a "really good" one. The first 100 pages required two readings and I was still unsure what was going on and where the book was going. There are too many seemingly-unrelated incidents, story lines and characters that don't make a whole lot of sense until you're half way through the damn book. This hide-the ball approach does pay o...more
Having essentially completed the Demille canon, I was disappointed with The Talbot Odyssey after my family promised me it was a "really good" one. The first 100 pages required two readings and I was still unsure what was going on and where the book was going. There are too many seemingly-unrelated incidents, story lines and characters that don't make a whole lot of sense until you're half way through the damn book. This hide-the ball approach does pay o...more
Oct 09, 2010
Benjamin Thomas
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
thriller,
thriller-spy
The Talbot Odyssey by Nelson DeMille was the final book I had selected for my trip to South Africa. I know I can always count on a DeMille novel in case any of the others weren't keeping me going. This is also the one I read in two parts, the first 3/4ths on the 18 hour plane ride back home (plus connection times and airport waiting times), and the last 1/4th after completing the prior novel. If that isn't clear as mud then you haven't been paying attention.
Nelson DeMille novels, as I mentioned,...more
Nelson DeMille novels, as I mentioned,...more
It's funny, rating this. I would describe this book as "OK" but if I give it two stars it would give the wrong impression. This is "OK" for a Nelson DeMille book. But that just means it isn't his best - and, like pizza, even when it's not the best, "It's still pizza man! And who doesn't love pizza? Right?" My point is that Nelson DeMille is awesome and bits of his sarcasm and humor and wit and smarts and sly political statments and laughing at bureaucrats and such are on display here, but not en...more
I will start by saying I love Nelson Demille. I started with his John Corey books and am now reading his other books, This was written in 1984, and he has improved. The main protagonist, Tony Abrams is in the wise cracking NY cop mode we have come to love, but the story was long and complicated. I listened to the audio books and it took me about 6 weeks because I don't drive much. The evil guys were a tad "too evil" and good guys kept getting killed. Though I rated it a 3, I still would reccomme...more
I like Nelson DeMille and I'm surprised sometimes at the quality he can turn out, considering his high rate of production, but The Talbot Odyssey is right out of the can. Even the title sounds like an Eric von Lustbader potboiler, and that pretty well describes the book. Flat stereotyped heroes and villains, a plot that's been done a hundred times, etc. I made it about halfway and just lost interest.
I could read this book over and over again! There was never a dull moment and It was played out wonderfully. It was a mystery book so you always wondered what was going to happen next. The characters were played out great. You had the characters who you hated, and then the ones that you loved. It was great, I would recommend this book to everyone.
One of my favorite authors, not one his better books. I was forewarned about the number of characters, so I really concentrated on them & their descriptions as they were introduced. It wasn't a big problem (try keeping up with the characters in War & Peace!) My main complaint was that the end of the book (last 100-150 pages) was too complicated & extremely improbable. There's no way all these diverse characters could've coordinated their various tasks in the short amount of time they...more
Jul 13, 2012
BoekenTrol
marked it as to-read
·
review of another edition
Recommended to BoekenTrol by:
hema-verf
The Stichting Overal in Nijmegen cleared out some shelves. I received part of the books from hema-verf in a book box in Castricum. Thanks!
Since this is not an SF-book (like I thought looking at the cover) but 'just' a thriller / espionage, I just can't let it leave without reading this book. So it stays with me for a while
Since this is not an SF-book (like I thought looking at the cover) but 'just' a thriller / espionage, I just can't let it leave without reading this book. So it stays with me for a while
This is another one of those books for which I wish there was a fractional rating system. This is a great story but does not rate a "5" nor does it rate a "4" I would give it a 4.6.
This story starts out slow - in fact, I thought about discarding it through the first 100 or so pages. Then it really picked up and I could not stop.
Another great plot from Demille.
This story starts out slow - in fact, I thought about discarding it through the first 100 or so pages. Then it really picked up and I could not stop.
Another great plot from Demille.
Well structured but dry as chalk dust in the desert. The gigantic cast gets overwhelming and requires a flow chart. If this was my first DeMille book, I doubt I'd have read more but a decent example of how a writer can grow and become far more entertaining...it just didn't happen yet for this example.
To me this book was a dry at times and fast paced at other. Great character development, story line, and plot. I figured out most of what was going on in the book when the author dropped the Odyssey hint. I have read better and faster pace Russian Spy Novels. Not one of favorite Nelson Demille book,but the author is really good writer.
Quite a complex, clandestine tale that I had a hard time following at times. Still, there were some interesting theories and was not disappointed with Nelson DeMilles entertaining descriptions of the action and character interactions. Not his best by far tho.
This book took me forever to read because I just couldn't get into it. The plot jumped around making it confusing, there were a bunch of characters introduced all over the place and none of them were really likeable, and people kept switching from good to bad and back to good again (and possibly back to bad again). I didn't really care what happened until the last 50 pages. And then the story just ended without any wrap up.
Die Story in "Wolfsbrut" ist extrem verworren. Man weiß nie mit Sicherheit, wer eigentlich auf welcher Seite steht. Aber gerade das macht dieses Buch sehr lesenswert und spannend zumal es sich in Teilen so liest, als sei es ein guter Film.
By now we've heard enough stories about electromagnetic pulse weapons that they've lost some of their novelty, and I'm not sure how the Soviets knocking out every electric machine in the US would mean they got to declare the next president, but this is still a fun cold war spy book.
Oct 02, 2011
Jayw
added it
NYPD detective is called in to help ancient OSS veterans battle Russian plan to end the US once and for all. Mole hidden since WW2 tilts the playing field towards the Russians in this Space Invaders/Asteroid era thriller
I really like Nelson DeMille's sense of humour.
The credibility got a little stretched toward the end, but the plot was well worked and intricate: we thought about the ins-and-outs for days after finishing. If was refreshing having a book that tied up all the lose ends, but still left room for digging.
The credibility got a little stretched toward the end, but the plot was well worked and intricate: we thought about the ins-and-outs for days after finishing. If was refreshing having a book that tied up all the lose ends, but still left room for digging.
I read the John Corey novels (Plumb Island, The Lion's Game, Night Fall and Wild Fire) first. I enjoyed them so much that I went back and started to read all of DeMille's other novels. Tony Abrams really reminds me of John Corey, with his witty smart-assed comments. The book was a bit uneven. There were parts that dragged, and other parts that I couldn't wait to turn the page. The agent, double agent, triple agent scenarios seemed a bit contrived. I never felt that I was bought in to the motives...more
A good read if your are a fan of Clancy. Plenty of Russian vs. American intelligence (spying) intrigue and the normal about of quick wit and one liners I have grown accustomed to from DeMille. Also a quick read, which is nice.
I found the Talbot Odyssey to be quite enjoyable. About the time I thought I had figured out the important points, I was surprised to find I'd missed something. At least I thought I had but at the end I found that I was correct on some of the plot points. It just took a while to find that out. I did not read the book, but listened to it in MP3 format.
Interesting subject matter - I recently heard on the radio that this is a possibility of what actually ends the world as we know it. Another great book Nelson DeMille.
DeMille is so good that even his so-so books are highly readable. I'm not a fan of stories that involve fictional presidents of the United States or ordinary schnooks who find themselves in save-the-world-from-catastrophe situations but DeMille makes it work as well as anyone could.
I usually love DeMille and this should have been a favorite of mine due to the subject matter, ( I was a Soviet Studies major), however I found myself wishing the book would just end. DeMille brings us back to the Cold War, the Russians are planning to destroy America without firing a shot, but using a large electronic pulse to destroy all electronics using micro chips. But it is a confusing world of traitors, spies, double and triple agents. Too many people to keep track of and they keep changi...more
Dumber than a daytime soap opera. Had a hard time believing this was really by DeMille because he is capable of much better than this.
Dated material but you still can't beat a Demille thriller. I always find it easy to get into one of his books.
This was an epic, I began thinking it was written by Cecil B. DeMille! You need a decoder ring to figure things out.
Great adventure read, a bit dated but Mr DeMille's writing, plot and byzantine intrigues is a great escape.
One of DeMille's earliest novel's, reading it reminded me that it's been over 2 decades since the demise of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War. DeMille's plot brought back the tension and danger of the US - Soviet relations and the real and constant threat of nuclear war. And, DeMille's dry humor doesn't disappoint.
Good story, a little too much use of DeMille's ussual expression... Riiigggghhhht.
Not as funny as his other books, but still a good read. very interesting story also.
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Nelson Richard DeMille was born in New York City on August 23, 1943 to Huron and Antonia (Panzera) DeMille. He moved as a child with his family to Long Island. In high school, he played football and ran track.
DeMille spent three years at Hofstra University, then joined the Army and attended Officer Candidate School. He was a First Lieutenant in the United States Army (1966-69) and saw action as an...more
More about Nelson DeMille...
DeMille spent three years at Hofstra University, then joined the Army and attended Officer Candidate School. He was a First Lieutenant in the United States Army (1966-69) and saw action as an...more
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Nov 01, 2012 06:20pm
Apr 08, 2013 08:03pm