The Wall

Rating:
Summary: Too woolly to get to the grind
Review: Brings the descriptive color of James Lee Burke to the days of the wall's collapse and a complex understanding of the conflict, confusion and disillusion in the surround. Having been in Berlin, Budapest and Prague in those months, I commend his insight. Extraordinary descriptive language and use of metaphor. Similar qualities to the superlative "Bombay Ice."

Rating:
Summary: Excellent piece of historical fiction
Review: I am not a huge fan of spy novels, but this book kept me riveted from the beginning. At times the book did seem a bit like Forrest Gump, in that the characters just happened to end up at ground zero of all the most chaotic events surrounding the Wall's fall. However, to successfully capture the feel and madness of the time, Marks must do this. The book is excellent and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in Cold War history.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent piece of historical fiction
Review: I am not a huge fan of spy novels, but this book kept me riveted from the beginning. At times the book did seem a bit like Forrest Gump, in that the characters just happened to end up at ground zero of all the most chaotic events surrounding the Wall's fall. However, to successfully capture the feel and madness of the time, Marks must do this. The book is excellent and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in Cold War history.

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing Read
Review: I found this book while on vacation in a beach house and I was looking forward to a good book to escape with. Too bad this wasn't the book. The plot was weak -- too cliched and too convenient. ...And Styles?? Jiri must not be that good of a terrorist if his two attempts on Styles still haven't finished the job. Maybe I missed something since most reviewers enjoyed the book. But as a German and History teacher, this novel really left something to be desired.

Rating:
Summary: Dissapointing
Review: I was expecting big things from this thriller, set amidst the fall of the Berlin Wall and subsequent uprisings in Eastern Europe--and found it all rather disappointing in the end. One problem is that there were way too many characters bouncing around all over the place, and while some felt real, far too many others were simply too cardboard for me (especially the main villain Styles, and the spunky young reporter Jodie). Marks does manage to introduce the reader to the major events of those months, and captures the aura fairly well--but at the expense of any kind of plausibility in many of the characters' actions, and certainly at the expense of the weak plot. Although strong on atmosphere, overall comparisons to Greene and LeCarré are way off-track.

Rating:
Summary: Racist?
Review: No, The Wall isn't racist, a Hollywood establishment that hasn't seen fit to greenlight a movie based on this amazing thriller centered on a black hero is. Denzel, Will Smith, don't you pay guys to find properties like this for you!
If you love Tom Clancy or those other frequent flyer authors, move on. What John Marks has accomplished in this epic, globe-trotting tour-de-force is a combination of J R R Tolkien and Martin Cruz Smith that no one else could have dreamt up. Shoot outs with Commies in the Mountains of Mordor, that's what this book has, and if some amateur reviewers didn't get it, thank god the professionals at Publishers Weekly did.
I only hope this guy writes another novel before the tiresome twits get him down.

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing Read
Review: Rewarding reading for those interested in Eastern Europe and the reunification of Germany. Terrific characters and authentic atmosphere. A great start by a talented writer.

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.