The Lion by Nelson DeMille
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Which is the greatest Cat-n-Mouse chase story of all times? It’s surely the one that took place between a cat named Tom and a mouse named Jerry. I loved watching them when I was a kid, and today, when i can safely say that I have grown up, a little bit, I still enjoy their antics. But, would I have enjoyed them had their show ran for say 90 mins? No, then it would have turned boring. Definitely I wouldn’t have liked watching Tom create booby traps, one after another for jerry to fall into and Jerry annoying Tom and escaping time and time again, with no plot whatsoever and within a same setting for a period of 90 mins. No wonder their shows had a running time of max 10 mins and always featured a different setting and a new storyline with the central theme of Cat-n-mouse game intact.

THE LION by Nelson DeMille was a similar story, a Cat-n-mouse chase with some add-ons like high male testosterone infused in both the Cat(Asad Khalil) and Mouse(John Corey). Everyone was out there to show how macho they are, how bad mouthed they can be. Corey was out there to prove that he is a knight in the shining armor, whose injured wife won’t come in front of him in his quest for duty. Who, like every typical American hero, must have a dumb guy-cum-political aspirant-cum-no gooder as his boss. Who must have a personal animosity with the bad guy, the bad guy must kill someone close to him, and the book being a typical DeMille book must be HUGE. Yess, this was NDM’s version of Tom and Jerry garnished with a lot of macho antics, dead bodies, Libya-Al Qaeda-Terrorist, Islamic fanaticism, and no plot whatsoever.

But, then what made this book get 3 stars? Well, beside all the faults this book had one big point in its favor. Its pace. Frankly I am not a big fan of the John Le Carre type of spy fiction, where everything happens too slow and the book is itself written in a style which shouts of pseudo-literarism. I need and love speed in thrillers, and this book had plenty. Yess although at times the macho-ness, the dialogues, the characters seemed over the top, but the pace made me race through those areas without letting me devote much time upon the faults that existed. In a way, this is a clever book without much plot but with a lot of pace which after finishing it leaves the reader like me, with a peculiar sense of satisfaction from reading a very mediocre spy thriller.


View all my reviews

Mrs. Pollifax on Safari by Dorothy Gilman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Somehow for a long time, I have got disconnected with the spy fiction genre. It’s strange but in fact it was this genre and the writings of Frederick Forsyth, Colin Forbes and Robert Ludlum that made me realise my unhealthy addiction towards thrillers. But, somehow I don’t feel the same affinity with the modern spy thrillers. With their over use of gadgets and other technology I feel left out. And also the whole concept of one man fighting terrorist and uncovering political conspiracy over and over again without his cover as a spy being blown, is not digestible. For me a spy thriller served as standalone novel is the best way.

Mrs. Pollifax and her “spy” thrillers though fall in the category of a series, but still manage to hold my attention till the last page. The reasons being, a fast plot with a nice twist in the end, a very modern style of writing without extra long paras or flowery language. Even the methods used by Mrs. Pollifax to solve the crime or ferret out the criminal are traditional without much emphasis on the use of gadgets. And, lastly for the protagonist, Mrs. Pollifax herself. Not a spy in the traditional sense, much more of a information collector in this book, she gets embroiled in the thick of things and uses her skills a\to come out of the whole affair unharmed and victorious. For me she represents a perfect example of what Miss Marple would have been like had she lived in USA in the 1980s.

Though not as well read in recent times as these books by Dorothy Gilman should be, the writer and her series does form an integral part of any crime fiction lover’s bibliography. A thoroughly enjoyable and fast read, like most of the books in the series.



View all my reviews

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John le Carré
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Can someone tell me why this book is considered to be a masterpiece of spy fiction??? I mean the reader gets "DROPPED" in the middle of nowhere called "A PLOT", with a protagonist who is too lazy or too laid back to care, along with me the reader, about whats going on. And by the end, when the mole gets pointed out, I dont know how or which points or clues pointed him out.

For me SPY FICTION = A FORM OF CRIME FICTION..

So, if these books don't have CRIME -> DETECTION -> CLUES SEARCH -> CATCHING THE MOLE, instead has confusing jargon, innumerable "spies" who have no link whatsoever to the plot, and a desperate attempt from the author to make spy fiction read like a booker winner, I call it PRETENTIOUS and tend to skip it, and make it a point of not reading the author's work again.

Give me a Bob Ludlum, or a Frederick Forsyth any day. Yes, unlike Le Carre their books might never be found in the hands of so-called serious readers, but atleast they live up to their name of spy thrillers. The books are thrilling.


View all my reviews

The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax by Dorothy Gilman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Whenever one comes across a spy thriller, one comes to expect a book stuffed with action, men fighting over secret messages, high ranking officials giving orders, and higher ranking officials being revealed as spies. And, if it is a modern day spy thriller, add to all the above a bevy of gadgets and an over-the-top protagonist. And, for these reasons I had moved away from spy thrillers in recent times. Somehow the prospect of reading about gadgets and dashing heroes don’t appeal to me.

And, for this reason I enjoyed reading THE UNEXPECTED MRS. POLIFAX, by Dorothy Gilman. The book was set in the times of the cold war, the protagonist Mrs. Emily Polifax was no muscle bound Adonis, but rather an old lady, bored with life, who walks up to the CIA headquarters to apply for the job of a Spy. The action takes place, at first, in Mexico, then in the Eastern European nation of Albania. This point got a huge thumbs up from me, as for me no Cold War spy thriller is complete without an Eastern European setting.

The plot and setting reminded me of Alistair MacLean books. This was more of an adventure with the good and the bad being segregated and clearly defined right from the beginning. The scope for suspense was low. But nevertheless Gilman managed to create a book, which was a page turner. And has not lost its charm even 50 years after it got published.


View all my reviews

The Kill List by Frederick Forsyth
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

“Move aside boys, make way for the MAN”
This is the exact impression I had while I was storming through the book called “THE KILL LIST” by the legendary Frederick Forsyth. Time and time again as he had proved earlier, he again proved why Lee Child remarked about THE DAY OF THE JACKAL “This was the book that broke the mould” The books is cat and mouse chase between an American colonel and a Jihadist Cleric. I guess telling more would give away the plot. And with this book he proved again why he stands as a man, in a crowd of thriller “boys” novelists.

Accepted that KILL LIST was no JACKAL. But, it isn’t a dud either, in fact its a taut and fast paced thriller, which involved huge amount of research (as is the case with every Forsyth book), but never did seem to be out of place. And here lies one of his fortes; Forsyth has that uncanny style of incorporating the non-fiction or the research part into a spy thriller in a way that it never becomes too taxing on the reader. As Elmore Leonard in one of his essays regarding tips to writers had said that, “skip the part which the readers tend to skip.” For that the writer must be well aware of what the readers do skip. Forsyth, in my opinion knows that too much on facts and paragraphs in a fast paced thriller will make the reader skip those pages. The reader wants action and speed; he doesn’t want to be burdened with endless facts. But then how can a political thriller be sound and strong without the facts. Be it the endless committees and hit men of the KGB and CIA in the Cold War novels, or be it the various clans and faction of a Jihadist Terror Group. The facts are needed, and Forsyth presents them in a way that they become essential to the reader, that stops him from skipping those pages. In fact they become exciting and interesting to read.

Another one of his forte, he still churns out standalones in a time where crime fiction is infested with series authors. Make no mistake, I am a huge fan of crime series, but somehow my affection for them is limited to detective fiction, and I really dont enjoy spy fiction with a character reappearing as the protagonist time after time. It’s not justifiable, I guess. How can a spy or a political assassin perform time after time again without ever being compromised. It cant happen. And, here is where Forsyth scores big, he writes standalones and creates worship-able protagonists for that single book. Hardly ever has he used the same protagonist more than twice. One for certain was Mike Martin who appeared in the Afghan and the Fist of God. And, another was Paul Devereaux. I guess it takes a Man to create a brand new HERO for every book and make them stand in the tallest way possible. It’s not a cup of tea for the boys.

Why 4 stars then, instead of 5? Two reasons, First the ending came too fast. And, Second,the protagonist almost had a cake walk. The book never gave a single upper hand to the villain. Now that is something I don't enjoy, and this is appearing time after time in his recent works. I love a duel between the two warriors where both the parties have the same ammunition to blast each other to kingdom come, and that creates tension as there comes a situation where anyone can win, as it used to be in his earlier works. Here it was absent. Barring these two points the book was flawless.

So, is Forsyth my favorite spy novelist? Yes he is. For me he is the high priest. I never had any affection for Le Carre’s style, I mean why read a spy thriller if I it is slow and reads like a work of mainstream fiction, I will read mainstream fiction instead. And this is Le Carre’s problem, his book BORES me to death. Neither they are fast, nor do they interest me. So, with Ludlum gone, and Follet not writing spy fiction anymore Forsyth reigns supreme.

View all my reviews