Secret Father is a suspenseful drama of family and politics set in Cold War Berlin. Missed signals, cloaked motives, false postures, and panicked r...
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reviews
Apr 13, 2010
Steve
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Jan 12, 2009
Sarah
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I admire James Carroll's grasp of the historical facts and complicated moral and cultural nuances of the Vietnam War and the Cold War, and appreciate his attempts to deliver these things in a non-history major friendly way (ie, a novel). The first part of this novel works very well as a historical thriller- lots of tension, father-son relationship exploration, etc. It all falls apart though, with action that seems to lead to a fizzle, rather than any shocking bang, slightly uncomfortable sex
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Jan 12, 2011
Marguerite
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This offering from James Carroll pushed all the right buttons: A compelling story, interesting characters, crisp and sometimes memorable writing. Even better, I'm familiar with the events and place after having lived in Wiesbaden (the Russian Chapel was visible from our apartment) and elsewhere in Germany during the Cold War and the construction of the Berlin Wall. The pace and tension remind me of those days. Almost all of the details are perfect. The only thing I didn't like was the changing p
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Apr 18, 2009
Jennifer
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This was a very readable novel that was part thriller and part father-son relationship analysis in the historical context of 1960's Berlin, right before the wall was built. The book started a little slowly and then became more interesting as more details of the mystery were revealed. The ending felt a little unsatisfying, perhaps because it tried to tie together too many loose ends in too little time. I did like how the metaphor of spying and lack of trust applied to both personal and politic
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Feb 14, 2011
It took me a while to get into this but once it got going it was very good. The shifting of voices between Paul (the father) and Micheal (the son) was disconcerting at first and the little asides to Ulrich's son, the future reader of this, don't always sound good. But once the flow of plot gets moving, it moves along very well. Some of the twists I expected but the ending was never as I expected. Well done, I'll enjoy reading more of his fiction
Aug 09, 2011
The writing is good, but the story just wasn't going anywhere for me. I couldn't finish this one.
Jul 12, 2008
Stephanie
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Set in 1961 in Berlin, the story follows 3 teenagers who go to East Berlin for a big Commie rally. International incident happens, and oh by the way the one kid is the son of a major political figure - can't remember if he was a spy or military (maybe both?) - I actually read this about 4 years ago, but I just found it in my car and wanted to capture it because just seeing the cover brought back the feeling I had of loving reading it. And my friend loved it too - so clearly I need to re-read it!
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Jun 15, 2009
Connie
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This is the second book I have read from this author. I enjoyed it. Look forward to reading more of his work.
Sep 29, 2008
Nan
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Though this one is as compelling as a mass-market page-turner, it is anything but formulaic, and it doesn't depend on a reader's latent paranoia to sustain interest.
May 14, 2008
Jeanne
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Wonderful novel set(mostly)in Berlin in the early 60's, just before the wall went up. Very hard to put down!
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