Old Boys: none - Hardcover

McCarry, Charles

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0297847651 ISBN 13: 9780297847656

Publisher: W&N, 2004

Synopsis

Charles McCarry is considered by many to be a master of spy fiction

In his magnificent new novel - his first for almost a decade - McCarry returns to the world of Paul Christopher, the crack intelligence agent who is as skilled at choosing a fine wine as he is at tradecraft, at once elegant and dangerous, sophisticated and rough-and-ready. As the novel opens, Christopher, ageing but fit, is dining with his cousin Horace, also an ex-agent. The delicious dinner is uneventful. A day later Christopher has vanished. The months pass; peculiarly, his ashes are delivered by a Chinese official to the American consulate in Beijing. A memorial service is held in Washington.

But Horace is not convinced that Christopher is dead and, enlisting the support of four other retired colleagues, he gets the Old Boys back in the game. Beginning with a photo of a woman's hand holding a centuries- old scroll, once in the possession of the Nazis and now sought by the American government as well as Muslim extremists, Horace Christopher and the Old Boys travel the globe. Harrassed by American intelligence, hunted by terroists, their search takes them from Xinjiang to Brazil, from Rome to Tel Aviv, Budapest to Moscow. Their mission: to find Paul Christopher and the unspeakably dangerous truth.

About this title

Review:

everything Charles McCarry fans might look for in his books is firmly in place. Yes, this is a welcome return by a master. (Barry Forshaw DAILY EXPRESS)

I can't recall a book which delivers such riches - including a perfect ending - with such consummate cool. This is a novel which makes you want to climb inside it and pull the pages over your head. Absolute bliss! (Philip Oakes THE LITERARY REVIEW)

Certainly McCarry has lost none of his fire, and there are enough sparks of the old Christopher magic to make one long for the glorious days of the Cold War. (Michael Carlson THE SPECTATOR)

It is insights such as this that earn Charles McCarry his A-1 rating as a writer and make his relative secrecy among readers a cause for much regret. (Mark Lawson THE GUARDIAN)

'he deserves to be famous and his books bestsellers....... McCarry's thrillers really thrill, his political insight is praised by senior politicians and his erudition, experience and good writing turn spy stories into literature (Jessica Mann THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH)

he is a good writer who, as a former spy himself, knows exactly what he talks about. (THE ECONOMIST)

Literate, witty and genuinely exciting. (Myles McWeeney IRISH INDEPENDENT)

Book Description:

Return of the American le Carré with his first spy novel for more than a decade.

About this edition

• Publisher: W&N
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0297847651
• ISBN 13: 9780297847656
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 476