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Spycatcher (2011)

by Matthew Dunn(Favorite Author)

3.42 of 5 Votes: 1

ISBN

0062037676 (ISBN13: 9780062037671)

languge

English

genre

Fiction

publisher

William Morrow

series

Spycatcher

review 1: A contemporary action-thriller, Spartan is follows the mission of British super-spy William Cochrane as he races against time and impossible odds to stop a ruthless Iranian Revolutionary Guard commander from unleashing a sinister terror against the Western world. In a story that packs a cliched theme with even more familiar tropes, Mr.Dunn has created Wiilliam Cochrane ( also called Spartan) in the mould of an upright James Bond ( albeit a taciturn one with ghosts from his troubled past constantly gnawing at his fragile conscience) fused with some elements of many of Mr. Robert Ludlum’s he-men. The result is a sober, super-strong and value-driven operative with a strong nose for sniffing impending trouble and lightning reflexes, committed to the protection of the innoce... morent and defenceless. How very noble! The Ludlumesque narrative packs a lot of action from the first page with the crack team crisscrossing various European capitals, leaving a ghastly trail of injury and death wherever they go. Unlike most Ludlum thrillers however, the story is not rich in descriptions of places, situations and action manoeuvres, which makes it an easier and faster read. Considering Mr. Dunn’s experience in Intelligence, I expected a thicker, richer, cleverer and more intricate plot than the one presented. What starts off as a frothy promise sadly ends up tasting flat as Mr. Dunn ( or his editor) succumb to the commercial temptation of simplifying plots for the sake of creating an ‘ airport bestseller’ and possibly movie rights . The end is anti-climactically lame and is reminiscent of the final scenes of most Hollywood spy-thriller potboilers. If you are looking to catch a good spy story, this one is definitely not it.
review 2: Smart Hollywood spy stuff. Interesting plot and character arcs, supplemented by a lot of expendable near-genius iron man tough guy undercover military over-achievers. Chases, fights, interrogations, surveillance, countdowns, cat-and-mouse globetrotting. A vulnerable woman caught in the middle. Daddy issues! Builds on Robert Ludlum in a way one would expect from any capable author who is familiar with the evolution of Hollywood genre story-telling. The book seems mindful of a potential movie deal, and there's nothing wrong with that. I enjoy spy movies, including the action variety, and this book was a fun summer read in that style. A movie script would inevitably dumb down the smart parts, but the action scenes are there, ready to go. Fun, if you don't mind repeated shot-by-shot descriptions of super athletic, selflessly heroic, band of brother blood-and-guts hijinks, conducted with exacting military precision while overcoming massive injuries inflicted by an equally potent nemesis using the latest killing machine hardware... And I don't, I'm entertained, so I'll seek out the next in the series when I take my next trip to the beach. less

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