Loaded gun

by Francis Ryck

English, French (translation)

191 pages, Hardcover

First published September 6, 1971

Reviews

[Bryan Brassfield]

Yako is a KGB agent who gets busted by the British secret service. He turns against the KGB when they offer him a huge sum of money, a new identity and relocation to anywhere he wants to go. He chooses France. Unfortunately the KGB doesn’t give up that easily on traitors and Yako is constantly on the move. Along the way he takes in a stray dog and meets an American artist and a French woman. Paranoia starts to kick in when the KGB keeps popping up. Is the American artist or the French woman a spy? Is the new tracking device the Russians came up with implanted in the dog he found? Yako must figure it out quick and stay one step ahead before he winds up dead.

Those expecting a fast paced thriller will be disappointed in this book. It is very slow going and is more of a character study than an action packed thriller. The ending kind of has a dues ex machina moment when it looks like there is no way out for Yako when the KGB finally catches up to him. Things appear to be settled with a happy bittersweet ending, but this is quickly thrown away with a more tragic and slightly darker ending. The ending helped give it an extra star.

The parts with Yako and the dog are fantastic and end in tragedy which I wish the book would have dwelled on a bit more. Their friendship is a key part of most of the book so when a decision has to be made I wish they would have focused on Yako’s mindset afterwards. He seems to get over it pretty quickly and it just didn’t hit as much as it should have.

Overall I don’t think I could recommend tracking it down. I got my copy for a $1 so I felt it was worth that.

[Andrea]

Seems like I am the first one to leave a review on this book (maybe there are other editions of this book on goodreads). I don' t like to leave bad reviews or give bad ratings to any books, because I know someone worked on that and writing isn't easy,but boy oh boy am I disappointed in this book. This is a spy/crime novel about a KGB officer who is trying to escape its previous employer. There is also a dog involved (best part of the book) This book won a prize for the best spy novel in France in 1969. I think it's because there were no spy novels in France at the time if that's not the case, than I didn't read the same book as the jury. The novel is boring, slow and there is no suspense. Trust me, you could start reading it, come to the most exciting part and leave it and never wonder what had happened. Thank god it only cost 1 euro.

[Lorene Plat]

J'ai aimé cette histoire d'espionnage en pleine guerre froide.
Peut-on doubler le KGB et en réchapper?

[Creolecat]

The Silent One (1973)