The Wall

Rating:
Summary: Too woolly to get to the grind
Review: The plot was disguised, but there were far too many different people who were not well introduced. This led to a very hasty ending. However, I would like to give it 4 stars, but the book didn't read well enough for that, so its 3.

Rating:
Summary: The first post-Cold War thriller
Review: This is the best new novel I've read this year. In a stunning display of bad timing, American intelligence officer, and Communist spy, Stuart Glemnick defects to the east on the same day that the Berlin Wall comes down. Comparisons to the thrillers of Le Carre, Deighton, and Graham Greene are apt, but only up to a point. As Stuart's brother Douglas and Stuart's German lover Uta chase Stuart from one collapsing Communist dicatorship to another, the novel is as much madcap picaresque as it is a thrilling manhunt. Brother Douglas is an exterminator from Dallas, and he is mistaken early on by a crazed CIA agent for a master terrorist named Jiri Klek. The result is a series of hilarious set pieces, as Douglas simultaneously looks for his brother, dodges assassination attempts, and cures hotels all the way across Central Europe of their silverfish infestations. Yes, there's a good deal of Le Carre here, but also a good deal of Pynchon and Delillo, with not a little of the satirical spirit of Candide thrown in. This is a wholly original and shamelessly entertaining book, the first real post-Cold War novel. I can't wait to read the author's next one.

Rating:
Summary: a great book
Review: very thrilling story beautifully told. spine tingling action in prose that is unforgettable. If you are interested in current history , you wil;l love this book.