This spy novel was written by the same guy who did the writing for the movie Spy Game with Robert Redford and Brad Pitt. I really enjoyed the movie, and this book serves as a prequel for what we saw play out during the movie.
Although the book does contain a few surprises and provides some detailed backstory for the events of the movie, the writing style and some other issues kept me from really enjoying it.
Most of the book is filled with characters explaining the past, and relating episodes to other characters. You have character #1 explaining a conversation between character #3 and #4 to character #2, with plenty of pithy comments interspersed. These dialogs were confusing to read, especially with the author’s habit of making in-sentence diversions to show how clever the speaker is.
I thought there were few likable characters in this book. Most were showing how clever they were or measuring their dicks against each other with drinking contests and smartass comments. The majority of the main events are related after the fact, and so the events we actually witness are just a couple of guys drinking whiskey and talking, which is boring even in real life.
Apparently there are two more books in the series, but I don’t think I’ll be reading them.
Next I am reading Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir – the second book in the series of Space Necromancer Lesbians. Hopefully it will be as good as the previous book in the series.
