The Talbot Odyssey

Rating:
Summary: Not Shakespeare, but definetly entertaining
Review: "The Talbot Odyssey" is an intensely entertaining novel, that although doesn't challenge one intellectually, does present itself as more than suitable time filler. I have read all but two ("The Gold Coast" & "Spencerville") of DeMille's works and he is amongst my favourite authors. His ability to immerse his novels in pertinent and often necessary historical context (i.e. "Plum Island" & "By The Rivers Of Babylon") is a strong drawcard for me. Once again, DeMille manages to capture historical mystery and mold it into a fast-paced and gripping story with all the elements that make a successful and entertaining novel.

Rating:
Summary: Not to be believed
Review: As a DeMille fan, even I thought this a real stretch. I'm not sure how contracts work, but this had to be the last of a multi-book deal. I thought "General's Daughter" was hard to imagine, that was plausable compared to "Talbot's..." DeMille does not know how to write poorly - that would probably be like asking a good speller to make some mistakes, just to write faster. On the other hand the setting, circumstances, the private nature of a bunch of elderly, retired OSS types mounting an assault on a Russian country home in New Jersey - and having the CIA, NSA and lord knows how many more initials allow and even participate is odd in the extreme. The notion of EMP, or Electronic Pulse bringing down the USA is not new, I guess the first time I read it in popular fiction was in "View to Kill" - a James Bond thriller sometime in the 80's - I think they even made a movie of it. But if you like implausable plots, circumstance, and a body c! ount to rival any Terminator movie - this is for you. By unofficial count, before the book even got to the assault stage, not less than 17 or so folks met their just deserts - these were the 'more or less' good guys. You have folks being shot, thrown off buildings, pushed out of planes, whacked on the head with rubber mallets and then the fellow's plane being put on auto pilot, stabbed in the head with an ice pick (bartender), strangled, eating a tuft of his own hair that had cyanide on it, not to mention the mundane machine guns and pistols - all silenced. The sound of all the dead bodies falling must have been deafening. I was struck by the number of 'groin' shots - at least two were shot, one was bayoneted and while not killed, at least one woman was kicked there. During the assault, one lost count. At one point, it appeared that some 200 people had been poisoned because they were at a noisy party, and over 100 Russian dependents were gassed - sleeping gas. Whew! Even so! , the book kept you busy, just trying to remember who was d! ead, who was thought to be dead, but really not, etc. At some point or another, there seemed to be only two people who were not double or triple agents, our hero the cop/lawyer and a dead guy. Then the dead guy comes back to life and is the ultimate enemy. If I had it to do over, I would have preferred to have borrowed this book from someone or picked it up at the library. I certainly hope that this was just an 'early' novel - it was published in 1993, and not indicative of future direction - though I have read other reviews of more recent books that sound the same - "Mayday". I sure hope DeMille has enough money and can now take the time to get a little closer to reality in the future - but that's why they call this form of writing a 'novel' - it sure was that.

Rating:
Summary: The Talbot Odeyssey
Review: As with the other books written by Nelson DeMille he has NOT failed in keeping you glue to the book, and always wanting more. This is a exciting book, and recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Spellbinding!!!
Review: DeMille has done it again. I began to read this book because it was required for my book club. I quickly became entrenched in the doings of O'Brien, Abrams, and company. Definately worth the time!!! HIGHLY RECOMMEND

Rating:
Summary: Good Book
Review: DeMille is my favourite author and I really enjoy all of his books. Word of Honour is still my favourite followed by Plum Island and Gold Coast. One thing about Demille that I like is that each of his books are different. Talbot Odyssey is a 'spy' novel similar to Ludlum. Although it was a little more off-beat than his other novels it was filled with action and heroic efforts. The characters were interesting and the story kept you guessing (and paranoid. I wish there were more DeMille novels to read because he's spoiled me.

Rating:
Summary: countless flaws and bad logic
Review: have read all of demille's books, this is perhaps the worst one ever written by him. so many holes, countless flaws...the whole book just read like a poorly and blindly patched quilt. in order to give some twists to the plot and scenario, demille had thrown in so many nuts and bolts but simply failed to make all of them match or connet together properly. when you have read something happened in the former scenes, he later seemed to totally forgot what he had already written and the same situations came out almost like nobody knew it had already happened. nearly a half century's mole hunt just turned out to be more ridiculous page after page. i just wish that demille could re-read what he had written in this book and would not turn a blind eye to what he did to this lousy work-maybe the only one-by facing himself in the mirror, slapping his both cheeks for what he had done and, so poorly done. any viewer who gave high praises need to enroll in the logic 101 class pronto.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent spy thriller
Review: I am a big fan of Demille's and have read several of his books. This one, like Charm School, was excellent, exciting reading. Demille keeps you guessing until the very end. Highly recommend it!

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding!!!
Review: I feel that this is certainly one of Demille's best novels along with Word of Honor. The main character, Abrams, is inteligent and witty.

Rating:
Summary: First of all, beware of the cassette version ...
Review: I had the misfortune of checking out and listening to an abridged cassette version, and it was terrible. The featured actor would read the dialogues in such a monotone that one could hardly keep track of the genders of the speakers, let alone their identity. Then another reader would try to fit in a couple of chapters into a couple of sentences, sounding like a speed-read version of "Readers Digest." This was, by far, the worse audio-book I have ever heard.

Having said that, though the author may have been able to keep some captivated by his book though his terrific style, the plot is a mess. As has been mentioned, nearly everyone except the hero is a mole, a secret agent, a double agent, or even a triple agent, and nearly nobody "really" dies. If Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) didn't scare you, the fact that McCarthy was right, that our intelligent services WERE infiltrated to the top, might.

Of course EMP really does exist, but most of his teeth has been pulled by the time the book came out. [Or did you think that our long-line phone cables were replaced by fiber optics just to hear pin drops and to accommodate the Internet?]

Rating:
Summary: Not DeMille's best, but still a good read
Review: I had very high hopes for this book after reading The Charm School, and unfortunately this one didn't quite measure up. However, if you enjoy the spy-thriller genre, this book is a good investment of your time and money. You won't walk away saying it's the best you've ever read, but it will hold your attention and provide some good excitement along the way.