books:

	The Miernik Dossier Charles McCarry Overlook Hardcover, 2005 - 276 pages average customer review:based on 14 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Related as a collection of dossier notes written by the five characters, the novel reveals a complicated web in which each spins his or her own deception: each is a spider, and each is a spy...and the Miernik Dossier is a thorough-going masterpiece.

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First of this Outstanding Series

This the first book in this exceptional, albeit short, series about the fictional American spy Paul Christopher and his cohorts. Luckily, the earlier books have now been reissued and are available. Set in the Cold War era, which may seem long ago, the earlier novels are so well crafted that they are still great reads today and more than relevant.


Tears of Autumn

I found the Tear of Autumn to be a page turner with a satisfying twist at the end. McCarry writes clearly and in a highly readable manner. Great Author.


A real page-turner

A few months ago, I read a book called "Old Boys," an exciting and emotionally involved spy novel about several retired CIA agents. I liked it so much that I sought the author's first novel, originally published in 1973 and recently brought back into print. The Miernick Dossier takes place in 1959 at the height of the Cold War. Written as a collection of reports, transcripts of intercepted phone calls, and other evidence of the spy trade, the story involves a collection of mismatched people of different nationalities, some of whom may or may not be spies or double agents, traveling by car from Switzerland to the Sudan. Many twists and turns abound, and you have to guess who is telling the truth and who isn't. Like "Old Boys," this book is a real page-turner, and the characters are well-drawn and surprisingly real. With the adventure centering around the disruption of a Muslim country, the book didn't even seem dated. I looked forward to reading another book by McCarry. One note: this reprinted edition from the Overlook Press was obviously OCR'd from an old edition, and the proofreading was absolutely terrible. It made me mad. This is a quality book from a quality author, and it deserved to be typeset properly. In the future, I'm going to look for older editions of the old work and not buy the reprints from Overlook Press.

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The Miernik Dossier

I enjoyed this book very much. I liked the way the various journals, reports and communications tied the plot together and the suspense was also very well done. This book reminded me of "My Cousin Rachel" by Daphne DuMaurier. I do not think that someone who likes lots of action would enjoy this book because it is slow actioned with the gradual building up of suspense. Definitely, a good "Who Done It?"


Just never catches fire

This story reads as though I was listening to a good garage band. You know the sound -- worth the cover charge at a local club on a Saturday night, but not a band where you'd run out and buy their CD(s).

First, the plot is weak. The Russians are backing a Sudanese liberation group. Who cares. Not much impact there. Second, there simply isn't enough mystery about which characters are up to no good. During the group's trip from Switzerland to the Sudan, I was waiting for the story to change gears, and then change gears again as we reached the end. Realistic espionage stories aren't supposed to have lots of action. They grab hold of you by weaving together the cat-and-mouse mental aspects of spywork. Unfortunately, those aspects weren't developed nearly to the degree that I like.

Still, if you like this genre, give The Miernik Dossier a try. For what it's worth, I'll be reading The Tears of Autumn next.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3

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