The Secrets We Kept - Lara Prescott

 

Sometimes history sets down a series of events that include colorful characters, international espionage, romantic devotion, complicated and flawed heroines and heroes and it all sounds so fantastic, but when putting pen to paper, some of the magic of the real life humans does not get translated to the page. 

In theory, The Secrets We Kept should have been thrilling and heart breaking. And as a historically based novel about a famous author and his even more famous book, this novel should have been right at the top of my likes. But the rotating points of view and full chapters from a plural person narrator left two bland sides of a story that includes so much flavor individually.

So what happened? The Secrets We Kept centers around the publication of Boris Pasternak's Doctor Zhivago. An epic love story spanning events in Russia from the Russian Revolution through World War II. Given the breadth of time and characters included in Zhivago it's impossible to write a succinct plot summary but suffice it to say, Yuri Zhivago is a physician and a poet, he has hard times, falls in love with Lara, war and famine and etc., and death. This is Russian literature after all. You want weddings and happiness look up Jane Austen (not a dig, I adore her). 

Anyway, because Russia at the time Pasternak wrote Doctor Zhivago was the USSR and Stalin was in charge, this novel was never going to see the light of day. The book included descriptions of Salinism, Collectivization, the Great Purge, and Gulags, and apparently that was a little too on the nose for the Soviet government so they were absolutely not going to let this get published. Then along came an Italian publisher who obtained a copy and published it in Italy and then quickly licensed the book into 18 other languages. This should have made Pasternak richer than Dan Brown after the DaVinci code, but he wasn't about to be able to accept foreign money for a book he was not allowed to publish in the first place.

So powerful was the USSR's dislike of the book that the CIA obtained a copy, had a thousand printed and then handed them out at the 1958 Brussels world's fair. They also made sure a copy made it into the hands of the Nobel committee. All of this was unknown until the CIA declassified some documents in 2014. 

Pasternak was awarded the Nobel, much to his dismay, the USSR's embarrassment, and the CIA's enjoyment. He was forced under threat to turn the award down. Then Premier Krushchev banned the book (although he later read it and liked it, duh) and Pasternak was made to scrape by until he died of lung cancer in 1960. His mistress and inspiration for Lara was arrested and imprisoned for four years for crimes related to the publication of the book.

Yikes. Look at all this drama! What good breeding ground for a novel. Except, when dealing with known facts, trying to create intrigue is just not intriguing. When someone can easily google the outcome of a story, it makes it hard to build tension. I'm talking more about the outcome of the CIA operation here, which was a large portion of the book but lacked a lot of the emotional weight that the Russian portion contained with telling the story from Olga Ivinskaya's point of view. Tales of human woe always contain tension if done right, and I really did feel a lot of that in the Olga parts. 

But the novel as a whole missed the emotional impact it was going for. There are chapters that are really well written, but then they are broken up by points of view from others that create for an uneven and unsatisfactory narrative. 

3/5 Stars. 

A Foreign Country - Charles Cumming

Being an American and reading a British spy novel is so hilarious to me, because mostly it's "Wow, why would France try to compromise a British intelligence officer?" And then vaguely remembering that England and France have been at war far more in their history than they've been "friends". So, apologies in advance British friends for my absolute incredulity at the idea that France would go so far as to kill two of it's own citizens just to further its attempts at international espionage against a friendly nation.

Have I given enough away yet?

The beginning of this fairly formulaic thriller is a bit scattered. In A Foreign Country, a young au pair leaves following an affair with the father of the children she has been hired to care for. An elderly couple is brutally murdered while on vacation in Egypt. And a small strike force yanks a target off the night time streets of Paris. All to find ourselves with Thomas Kell, a man still in his prime, but hungover after a night of drinking. He's bereft of options following his ouster from MI6 (apparently for something I've seen James Bond do it basically every movie so this is an injustice).

But when the head MI6 officer in waiting goes on an extended vacation, he's pulled back in to find out what she's really up to. Kell is anxious to get back into the good graces of MI6, and also to make a little cash. So he agrees to this slightly skeasy role and follows Amelia Levene to Nice France and then to Tunisia. Now if Amelia is the name of the au pair from twenty years before it's not a coincidence. Looks like our girl grew up to be named as the next chief of MI6.

So it makes sense that her soon to be number 2 wants to find out what exactly she's doing taking a vacation right before taking the helm of MI6. Poor Thomas Kell has some affinity for Amelia, having worked with her before and liked her personally. But he seems less squeamish when going through her personal belongings in an unattended hotel room. Something is going on in Tunisia with the very young man Amelia is spotted spending time with.

In the meantime, some other young man is being held captive by some unsavory folks. I spotted the old switcheroo before Kell, but admittedly that was the author's intent. Recapping anything else will give too much away.

All in all this was a decent spy novel from an author I'd never heard of before but will likely read again.

3.5/5 Stars

Agent 6 - Tom Rob Smith

I hate to say this was my least favorite of the Leo Demidov books but it was although I may be more sad that the series has ended here. I really liked Leo and Raisa and their struggles to do what was right governed by a regime that cared little for the morality of the system within which its citizens operate. This book starts with their meeting and slingshots way into the future as Leo struggles to find out the real facts behind a family tragedy.

It's hard to see in Agent 6 that Leo has become powerless to move on and become a shell of himself. While certainly lacking autonomy and power in the second book, here Leo lacks the social capital to even find out simple facts behind a murder. And so he spirals down and into the back streets and opium haze of pre-war Afghanistan.

The breadth of time and space the novel takes up may have shot too wide. Leo is jolted out of complacency in Afghanistan by a threat to a police trainee and a civilian child. He is uncomfortable with the lessons he has inadvertently passed on to his trainee and by a thin margin, is able to broker a deal with Mujahideen to get them all out of the country. Once in America, Leo is unable to give up the thread of his long ago abandoned investigation. But this is really just the denouement of a character we first met callously telling a colleague to "get over" the murder of his child and then ruthlessly hunting down a man whose guilt was less than apparent.

Whereas Leo first loved nothing and was strictly obedient to doctrine, he comes to lose almost everything to be the man the people he loved wanted him to be. Was his life richer for it? He certainly suffered more but he also became an extremely principled person and at least I'd like to think, that has a value above measure.

3.5/5 Stars.

The English Spy - Daniel Silva

I always like spending time with Gabriel Allon, but I wonder just how many missions he has left in him. When The English Spy begins, Gabriel is anxiously awaiting the birth of his twins while restoring the Caravaggio he recovered a couple books ago. But well, in steps Graham Seymour after a Princess Diana type character is blown up on her yacht.

At the heart of the bombing is an ex-IRA rebel named Aemon Quinn (remember I listen to these things people so I'm sorry about the spelling). Turns out this is just one of the guys who captured and tortured Christopher Keller when he was an SAS man in Belfast. Aemon Quinn has been working on behalf of belligerent governments ever since. His plot pulls in both Keller and Gabriel.

Keller begins his transition back to life as an Englishman and away from his time as a paid assassin. There are a lot of "coincidences" and connections in this book which are a bit of a stretch, but Gabriel still runs a tight ship and a good operation. When he's the chief of the office I don't know how much more action his 60 year old body can take, but I guess I'll find out when I'm finally caught up with Silva's feverish writing pace. 

All in all, all the beloved characters are in this book and all the elements that make for a good Allon novel. But how much more gas does this favored spy have? Are the books making a turn to start following Keller instead?

3 1/2 / 5 Stars. 

The Heist - Daniel Silva

These Gabriel Allon books continue to deliver. The Heist was a bit slower than the last installment as I thought the two distinct story lines were a bit too far apart, but I really love Silva's ability to weave together history, art, and current events. 

The Heist begins with Gabriel in a church restoring an altarpiece. It's a wonderful shake back to those first Allon novels which found him doing the same thing. He's living in Venice, now with a pregnant Chiara and you can feel like, although he's back in this space, it's more of a last goodbye as he contemplates becoming Chief of The Office. 

But it seems his friends just can't stay out of trouble. His friend Julian Isherwood has stumbled on a dead body and of course Gabriel is asked by his friend in the Art Squad to take a look on behalf of the Italian Carabinieri. Gabriel discovers that the dead man was actually a stolen art dealer. Gabriel is asked to follow the trail of stolen art to find a missing Caravaggio, the Art Squad's number one target. 

What Gabriel discovers is that Bashar Al-Asad, the Syrian president, has been commissioning art thefts in order to create portable wealth should his regime topple. Not satisfied with a few recovered paintings, Gabriel uncovers a vast network of wealth tied to "Evil Incorporated." To infiltrate the network, Gabriel must call upon a female bank manager - a child of Syria and herself a victim of the regime. 

And of course he needs his team and some things don't go according to plan. The stakes don't seem too high for Gabriel in this one, we're not ever worried for his personal safety, but it is interesting seeing him undertake an operation with the understanding that the entire show will soon be his responsibility. He's going to be a father soon after all.

3.75/5 Stars. 

The English Girl - Daniel Silva

For me, reading a Gabriel Allon novel is like putting on a beloved winter coat. While it might not be the most stylish thing in the world, I feel warm and comfy and home. It's been a while since I read a Gabriel Allon thriller and I had almost forgotten how much I enjoy them. But I needed a new audio book from the library and The English Girl was available right away. 

In this story, Madeline Hart, a young English political party worker is on holiday on the island of Corsica when she is kidnapped. The British Prime Minister receives a vague ransom note and Gabriel is called in as a favor to Graham Seymour to find and rescue Madeline. 

Unfortunately, he's unable to find her in time and must then deliver $10M in ransom from the Prime Minister himself. In the meantime, Ari Shamron is demanding Gabriel finally take the job as the chief of the office, a position he has been circling around for some time. Going much further into the plot gives a little too much away. I was quite pleased with myself for figuring out some of the mystery early on. And the fact that no one in the story is quite what they seem should not be a surprise. 

So here I'm sitting at work, having finished up the book on the way into the office this morning and needing a book for the ride home. So I've decided to keep my ride with Gabriel going for just a little while longer before I switch out to something else. Because, well, I'm comfortable in this old coat of mine and it's not quite time to take it off.

3.5/4 Stars.