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The Shanghai Factor (2013)

by Charles McCarry(Favorite Author)

3.55 of 5 Votes: 1

ISBN

0802121276 (ISBN13: 9780802121271)

languge

English

genre

Fiction

publisher

Mysterious Press

review 1: 3 to 3.5ish. The super-smooth writing, and fascinating bits about China notwithstanding, I found it a bit, well, American. Maybe I haven't been reading too many spy novels of late (has anyone?) but I don't get the le Carre comparisons many people -- including Lee Child, on the blurb -- seem to be making. Perhaps this isn't a representative book, I do know he has a fairly popular series going, too. Might get around to it sometime.
review 2: This is my first McCarry title, although he writes the espionage books I like. I wonder if I would have enjoyed it more had I read it? The audio certainly emphasizes the cerebral over the action--it moves fairly slowly, with lots of intriguing detail but little action. I think my biggest problem was that I didn't like any of ... morethe characters--not that I must to enjoy a novel but in this case I found it made a difference; I didn't care about our unnamed spy's fate. Introspective and interior, polished prose, and a wonderfully projected sense of menace with danger always present from unknown sources. less

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