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The Secret Lovers (Paul Christopher #03)
A nervous courier delivers the handwritten manuscript of a dissident Russian novel to Paul Christopher early one morning in West Berlin. Minutes after the handoff, the courier’s spine is neatly snapped by an impact with a passing black sedan. Meanwhile in Rome, Christopher's wife Cathy takes a famous film director as a lover to stir her husband out of the stoicism that def...more
Hardcover, 320 pages
Published
November 23rd 2006
by Overlook Hardcover
(first published 1977)
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This is a pretty good spy novel from the depths of the cold war. If you like these sorts of books it is a solid representation of the genre with all the details of tradecraft and gritty urban struggles.
Unlike "The Tears of Autumn" the main thrust of the story falls flat making it hard to care for the outcome of the plot's twists and turns. Also the main character's wife is just awful and I wish he had divorced her in earlier books. She works a lot better as a rough memory he can use to scare the...more
Unlike "The Tears of Autumn" the main thrust of the story falls flat making it hard to care for the outcome of the plot's twists and turns. Also the main character's wife is just awful and I wish he had divorced her in earlier books. She works a lot better as a rough memory he can use to scare the...more
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Oct 07, 2008
Karen
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
thriller,
review-books
Charles McCarry was a CIA officer operating under deep cover in Europe, Asia and Africa during the Cold War. That background undoubtedly has had a profound impact on the "tradecraft" that he describes in his books. His spies move through their allotted tasks with a surety that makes the espionage aspects extremely realistic and believable. There's a lot more to THE SECRET LOVERS than the spying element however. The book heads rapidly into personal territory, taking the reader voyeuristically int...more
This McCarry Christopher spy novel originally was published in 1977, and recent reissued in hardback. The story places Paul Christopher living in Rome and operating in Africa, Europe and elsewhere. Wife Cathy is an integral part of the storyline - the spy op is a bit convoluted to follow, but Christopher is torn between his wife and his work.
Again, the Paul Christopher character is one of the best realized fictional spies, operating without cover in all types of roles.
Again, the Paul Christopher character is one of the best realized fictional spies, operating without cover in all types of roles.
As almost everyone else who reviewed this book as said, Christopher's relationship with his wife is ridiculous and very annoying and almost ruins the book.
Also I get that the characters are ultra sophisticated, I don't need to know exactly what they are drinking in every scene.
Those two quibbles take away from what is otherwise a pretty solid spy novel.
Also I get that the characters are ultra sophisticated, I don't need to know exactly what they are drinking in every scene.
Those two quibbles take away from what is otherwise a pretty solid spy novel.
I read this after the Miernik Dossier to get some back story on Paul Christopher. There's quite alot on his marriage to Cathy, most of it very irritating. The last part of the book makes it all worth it! It's got more twists and turns than Coney Island's Cyclone.
Another Paul Christopher novel. Paul meets one of his agents, who is then killed by a car in front of his eyes. He sets out to unmask the plotters and uncovers a tale of revenge that stretches back to the Spanish civil war.
Another great addition to the Paul Christopher series with some very interesting and engaging new characters.
The Secret Lovers: A Paul Christopher Novel (Paul Christopher Novels) by Charles McCarry (2006)
This is such an interesting and involving story I realized in the middle of the first paragraph that I read it about four years ago, before beginning to list my readings here. McCarry is a master at creating environment - physical, emotional, temporal - right up there with Alan Furst.
A wonderful author writes about my favourite secret agent, Paul Christopher.
One of my favorites; one of the few works of modern espionage which can be taken as direct and illuminating romantic/psychological fiction. It really does stay in the mind longer more poignantly as a romance than as a spy story. You might think only John leCarre writes personality-based espionage. But no: Deighton does too (in the Bernard Samson series) and Charles McCarry does it here. This tale is particularly excellent and beautiful; with rich prose and haunting imagery. Worth coming back to...more
A fun spy novel I read at the beach. I thought the writing was good but the plot never really engaged me much. That said, the ending was better than I was expecting. The personal side-story was almost as engaging as the main spy plot. I would read another book by McCarry, but would go after one of his better known ones.
May 17, 2013
Nica
marked it as to-read
May 10, 2013
Michael
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Jane
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Apr 22, 2013
Pranab Mukherjee
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Apr 17, 2013
Zach
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Apr 09, 2013
Maureen
marked it as to-read
Mar 30, 2013
Elihu
marked it as to-purchase
Mar 29, 2013
Andy Green
marked it as to-read
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
paperback-fiction-i-own
Mar 28, 2013
Mcf
marked it as to-read
Mar 15, 2013
Nathan
marked it as to-read
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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 ar...more
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