My rating:
add to my books
Loading...
Christopher's Ghosts
With ferocious suspense, masterful pacing, and a penetrating insight into the blood-soaked spectacle of 20th century Europe, McCarry delivers a haunting parable of a man confronted with the ghosts of an entire generation's brutal history.
Hardcover, 304 pages
Published
May 10th 2007
by Overlook Press
There is a good chance some of your friends read this book. Sign in to see!
sign in »
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
This book is currently not featured on any Listopia lists.
Add this book to your favorite list »
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
187)
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
view 1 comment
Bookmarks Magazine
added it
In his tenth book featuring CIA agent Paul Christopher, Charles McCarry delves into Christopher's past, answering some of the questions which have tantalized readers for decades. Overall, the critics were pleased with this latest addition to Christopher's story. Though they claimed it was not McCarry's best work, they repeatedly cited his elegant writing, fascinating characters, and his ability to elicit the utmost tension from every scene. They disagreed over the two parts of the book—the firs
...more
Jeanette
rated it
Well, I don't normally cry at the end of spy/thriller novels, but the last line of this one got me. There are a lot of Nazi-themed novels out there, but I really liked this one because it had a lot more depth regarding familial ties and personal histories of the characters.
Someone else's review here mentions how this author tells the story in 300 pages when other authors in the genre drag it out to 600 pages. I agree. I liked not getting bogged down in all the endless details of ...more
Someone else's review here mentions how this author tells the story in 300 pages when other authors in the genre drag it out to 600 pages. I agree. I liked not getting bogged down in all the endless details of ...more
See my review of Shelley's Heart for more detailed comments on McCarry's work.
This is the most recent of Mccarry's spy novels, and a return to the character of Paul Christopher, the man who remains a mystery despite everything that his author has said about him. It is also a return to the past, since at the end of Old Boys it was unlikely the aged Christopher had much adventure left in him.
The virtue of this book for fans of this character is the exposition and explanatio...more
This is the most recent of Mccarry's spy novels, and a return to the character of Paul Christopher, the man who remains a mystery despite everything that his author has said about him. It is also a return to the past, since at the end of Old Boys it was unlikely the aged Christopher had much adventure left in him.
The virtue of this book for fans of this character is the exposition and explanatio...more
The first half of the book I would give 4 stars. In the pre-WWII section, the author creates a powerful sense of foreboding and the inevitable that builds the suspense and tension to....not much. (Reminded me of classic Le Carre--The Spy Who Came in From the Cold and the Looking Glass War)
Then we move on to the post WWII period, this last third of the novel almost feels as if it was written by someone else, the atmosphere that was in the first half is gone and the slower pa...more
Then we move on to the post WWII period, this last third of the novel almost feels as if it was written by someone else, the atmosphere that was in the first half is gone and the slower pa...more
I loved the beginning. I loved the ending. A lot of stuff in the middle plodded along and there were too many holes. It was sad (aren't they all? You can't write about WWII without it being sad), and the characters were all very well developed. It was the characters, rather than the story, that kept me interested. They were all just so alive.
The jacket was misleading. It said that during WWII in Germany, an SS officer had committed an atrocious crime and then spent the rest of hi...more
The jacket was misleading. It said that during WWII in Germany, an SS officer had committed an atrocious crime and then spent the rest of hi...more
Not all of Paul Christopher's ghosts are the ones you'd expect. Not the best of the series, but a wonderful way to wrap the series. An astounding life story told over the course of 50 years and several novels. McCarry slowly gives you Paul's hidden moments - like so much hidden in Paul's life - that he shares with virtually no one. The fact that Paul chose such a life is itself fascinating, particularly when you fully understand what drove him to it. Did he really have a choice?
I forgot what great a spy story Charles McCarry writes. This one was no exception; it was great fun!
This is my second McCarry book featuring Paul Christopher and it starts during his childhood in the late '30s in Nazi Germany, chronicling those chilling days when lives could change or end on a soldier's whim.
As an avid espionage fan, I'm excited to have found this author and plan to make my way through all his novels.
As an avid espionage fan, I'm excited to have found this author and plan to make my way through all his novels.
This is the first McCarry book I've read. I enjoyed it and it read pretty easily.
Another solid entry in this series. Although this book stands on its own, it works better if you have read some of the other books about the main character, Paul Christopher, particularly those that reveal some of his family history.
McCarry's writing is economical and to the point; in the hands of certain other contemporary writers in this genre, McCarry's 300 pages would been padded out to 600. As one of the other reviewers noted, you read one of these books and you move on. He w...more
McCarry's writing is economical and to the point; in the hands of certain other contemporary writers in this genre, McCarry's 300 pages would been padded out to 600. As one of the other reviewers noted, you read one of these books and you move on. He w...more
Christopher's Ghosts by Charles McCarry (2007)
I enjoyed the first half of this book better than the second half.
Superbs as is anything Charles McCarry creates.
This book, Charles McCarry's most recent Paul Christopher mystery, takes the main character back to Berlin and forward to the 1960s, but puts him in contact with a childhood nemesis, Franz Stutzer.
We don't see much of Barnabas Wolkowicz, the super sleuth of other Paul Christopher books, but Paul is in fine espionage form.
We don't see much of Barnabas Wolkowicz, the super sleuth of other Paul Christopher books, but Paul is in fine espionage form.
I really really liked the first part of this novel! I had a more difficult time with the last half. I would like to read another Christopher book to give it another shot!
Its a (small) step up from a Tom Clancy or a John Grisham: The story was more complex and the characters a little more rich. All in all, it was the perfect book for a transatlantic flight.
And we thought we had baggage!
Nick
marked it as to-read
Bob
marked it as to-read
Viki
marked it as to-read
Debbie Hoffman
marked it as to-read
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
Readers Also Enjoyed
McCarry served in the United States Army, where he was a correspondent for Stars and Stripes, has been a small-town newspaperman, and was a speechwriter in the Eisenhower administration. From 1958 to 1967 he worked for the CIA, under deep cover in Europe, Asia, and Africa. However, his cover was not as a writer or journalist. He is married with four grown sons. His family is from The Berkshires a...more
More about Charles McCarry...
Share This Book
6 trivia questions
More quizzes & trivia...
