Charm School

Rating:
Summary: One of the best cold-war stories ever.
Review: No cold-war story has ever gripped me more than this book. It is shockingly realistic

Rating:
Summary: From Russia with Love
Review: This was a very good book. I listened to it on CD. It takes place in Russia and involves the KGB and CIA going up against each other. It's just one more good read by DeMille that deals with a novel idea having to do with these two agencies. I recommend it. It will keep you guessing until the end as to what the outcome will be.

I hate to read books where you can guess the ending, but keep reading thinking there will be a twist and there is none.

Rating:
Summary: Best book I have ever read.
Review: I am an avid reader, I loved this book. I first got hooked with the Generals daughter (before it was a movie. (BLah on the movie) ......Charm school is a book that I can not keep in my personal library, because I give it to any one who wants to read. It is captivating and informative on the russian language, scenery and just totally a great all encompassing read. Either get it for yourself or for any one who likes to read.

Rating:
Summary: Compelling
Review: This is the first book by DeMille I've read, and I enjoyed it. After having read the reviews on amazon I'd assumed when I started the book that I was about to delve into a mile-a-minute suspense thriller, and while there is certainly that aspect to it, there are definitely a lot of quiet, ruminative moments in the book. DeMille really tries to impart a feel of the character and history of Russia here, and he is at least partially successful. I have never been to Russia, but after reading the book I feel a small step closer to understanding something about the country, especially about the country's Soviet past.

Ultimately the book falls short, though, because in the last third of the book DeMille suddenly changes tone. It's like we're reading a whole new book -- now we get the action-packed, faintly absurd type of plot twists one associates with these types of books. After so much interesting, subtle stuff at the beginning of the book, this transition was jarring. This wasn't a *bad* part of the book, it just didn't mesh too well with what came before it.

The characters are pretty well drawn, though they didn't seem to grow or change much throughout the book. I liked Col Hollis's bitter sarcasm, but the fact that he employed it all the time, no matter the circumstances, got a little tiresome. It would have been more interesting if DeMille had made Hollis really scared just *once*. Same goes for most of the other characters.

All in all though, the book was very good, and I can recommend it to anyone. It is certainly compelling -- you will find yourself reading nonstop, late into the night.

Rating:
Summary: Don't Read the Authors New Forward
Review: What was he thinking? He gave away the entire plot in the new forward. In it he also suggested that The Charm School was the best Cold War thriller ever (that's an eye-roller). Even if the mystery hadn't been blown in the forward, the plot is run of de mille (sorry). Another Demille book where a middle aged police/ military man who recently lost his wife attracts an attractive young girl with a daddy complex. Mrs Demille must be wondering what that's all about. Furthermore, all of the characters are jerks so it's difficult to care about any of them. If The Charm School were 300 pages shorter it may have deserved 3 or 4 stars.

Rating:
Summary: top espionage novel
Review: I was holed up in an aunt and uncle's house in Canada, dead of winter, frozen world. All I had to do (besides talk to my aunt) was read this book. Locked myself in a room, and, boy, did I have the right book. Have read lots of espionage novels: LeCarre, Ambler, Forsyth, Fleming, Follett. This ranks in the top five easily. Avoids the ultra-cynical main character quality of some other DeMille books. And it's plot-driven, not wordy and overwritten.
Also see: The Key to Rebecca, The Fourth Protocol, Smiley's People, and all James Bond.

Rating:
Summary: One of My Favorites!
Review: Great book - well worth reading and re-reading. You hit the ground running on page one and never stop. Even with all of the political changes since the book was written, it's a keeper - masterful, suspenseful, full of style and intellect.

Rating:
Summary: This espionage thriller captures your interest & keeps it!
Review: This is my first DeMille novel and it was a great one. DeMille provides an interesting cast of characters with careful detail to setting. The climax comes within the walls of the "charm school" (where Russians are taught to imitate Americans). Although this is not my normal genre of reading, I found this novel to be a great choice and know that it will keep your interest.

Rating:
Summary: More than just a spy thriller, a bit of politics too...
Review: DeMille is one of my favorite authors for a reason, he simply writes very well. Action, romance, intrigue, murder, love, hate, it's all here, plus, he gets in, just subtly enough at times, how horrible a system of government totalitarianism/collectivism is. Oh, and he makes a few jabs at our own system too, but he sizes things relatively.

Now why do I think all that's important? Well, an action thriller/spy novel in the Ludlum/Clancy type is good enough, but I think DeMille is able to bring just a bit of humor and sarcasm to his characters that takes them a cut above par. They live and breathe just a bit more and they love and hate just a bit more. In their actions and words, they make a case for certain truths, and in this novel, they show us plainly how the end result of communism (or similar systems, but the USSR in particular here) is just how Ayn Rand showed (one of her novels has Kira slowly bleeding to death, shot in the back, at its end). DeMille, writing less as a "realist" and more of a "larger than life" novelist, still is able to bring some basic and often forgotten truths to the page.

But don't let all that talk of politics scare you off from reading this page turner fictional story, it's a great spy thriller with all the trimmings and a great story line, I just happen to think it's much more. If you enjoy this type of fiction, I give this a strong recommendation, if you're new to this type of work, but think you might enjoy a spy thriller with lots of action and a bit of romance, give it a try, I'm betting you'll enjoy the ride.

Rating:
Summary: Wow - what a book
Review: No comments needed - really good - may be from another era but relevant and interesting forever.