ktripp's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
jones11's review
5.0
I don't really read spy noels, but my favorite politics podcast recommended the book and I highly enjoyed. Would recommend.
kimberleyjay's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.25
atarbett's review
I give up. I made it to about the 60% mark. Generally if I make it that far, I’ll finish but I cannot take it anymore.
The story... has potential to be very interesting. But it never makes good on that potential. I probably could have put up with the lackluster pacing if it were not for 2 glaring flaws which piss me off:
- The Russian words. I get it. Russians are a big part of the story (albeit kind of stereotypical) but he peppers in Russian phrases in almost every page. Even that wasn’t the worst part. It was that he immediately translated the Russian phrase into English. Even if it was part of dialogue. Worst example:
I guaran-fucking-tee she didn’t not say “excuse me” twice. Either a) there’s enough context to guess the meaning of the Russian phrase, in which case leave out he translation. I’m not an idiot. Or b) the Russian phrase is so long and alien that I am completely thrown out of the narrative flow just trying to figure out how it’s pronounced. In which case, leave out the Russian. It ain’t that important.
- Second mortal sin: the fucking recipes. Every chapter ends with a recipe of some meal that was referenced in the preceding chapter. In an espionage thriller. Seriously. And it is GLARINGLY obvious that true author shoe-horned in a food scene in every chapter just so he had a recipe to share. In one chapter, a character’s FRIEND shows up. With LITERALLY NO PURPOSE except to share a recipe! This type of literary device might be cute in a cozy mystery about a chef. It has no place here and every time the characters decide they really have to cook something in the middle of their life-or-death debriefing, I wanted to throw the book across the room.
Final Verdict: I’ll watch the movie instead. At then it’ll be over in a couple hours.
The story... has potential to be very interesting. But it never makes good on that potential. I probably could have put up with the lackluster pacing if it were not for 2 glaring flaws which piss me off:
- The Russian words. I get it. Russians are a big part of the story (albeit kind of stereotypical) but he peppers in Russian phrases in almost every page. Even that wasn’t the worst part. It was that he immediately translated the Russian phrase into English. Even if it was part of dialogue. Worst example:
“Izvinite, excuse me, is there something wrong?” said Dominika in Russian.
I guaran-fucking-tee she didn’t not say “excuse me” twice. Either a) there’s enough context to guess the meaning of the Russian phrase, in which case leave out he translation. I’m not an idiot. Or b) the Russian phrase is so long and alien that I am completely thrown out of the narrative flow just trying to figure out how it’s pronounced. In which case, leave out the Russian. It ain’t that important.
- Second mortal sin: the fucking recipes. Every chapter ends with a recipe of some meal that was referenced in the preceding chapter. In an espionage thriller. Seriously. And it is GLARINGLY obvious that true author shoe-horned in a food scene in every chapter just so he had a recipe to share. In one chapter, a character’s FRIEND shows up. With LITERALLY NO PURPOSE except to share a recipe! This type of literary device might be cute in a cozy mystery about a chef. It has no place here and every time the characters decide they really have to cook something in the middle of their life-or-death debriefing, I wanted to throw the book across the room.
Final Verdict: I’ll watch the movie instead. At then it’ll be over in a couple hours.
jervonyc's review against another edition
1.0
Barely made it a third of the way through before putting it down. The writing is terrible to the point of distraction, the characters are not particularly interesting, and as such I lost patience finding out where the various plot threads would eventually lead. I have no idea why I bought this trilogy, but I'm not gonna waste my time finding out what happens.
deathcabforkatey's review against another edition
4.0
WHAT a cliffhanger! A thoroughly enjoyable spy novel that is reminiscent of Le Carre, with the addition of sex appeal and much easier to follow spy storylines. I really enjoyed how Matthews took the romance JUST to the point that it was tolerable. I'm not a fan of overly-romanticized female protagonists, and luckily I did not feel that way about Dominika. The plot is thrilling, with the twists and turns followable. One of the biggest problems I have with spy novels is that they get way too caught up in having to remember names/places/minor characters. But Matthews makes this a quick story - even though it's quite long (almost 18 hours of listening in an audiobook, almost 600 pages!) - because you're invested in Dominika and Nate's characters.
My biggest qualm was length, and not just length but basically it was like 1.5 books. A major plot point gets resolved about 60-70% through and then there's more buildup and a cliffhanger. Personally, not my preference. But it DOES make me want to read/listen to the second!
The audiobook is very well read, the narrator does slight inflections for different characters but nothing over-the-top (which would be unbearable with the Russian accents). Highly recommend!
Read if you like: thrillers, spy novels, cold war like spy plots, just a dash of romance, strong female characters.
My biggest qualm was length, and not just length but basically it was like 1.5 books. A major plot point gets resolved about 60-70% through and then there's more buildup and a cliffhanger. Personally, not my preference. But it DOES make me want to read/listen to the second!
The audiobook is very well read, the narrator does slight inflections for different characters but nothing over-the-top (which would be unbearable with the Russian accents). Highly recommend!
Read if you like: thrillers, spy novels, cold war like spy plots, just a dash of romance, strong female characters.
kwbat12's review
4.0
A very entertaining spy thriller with some interesting female characters throughout. I imagine the film will not be nearly as interesting as the book.
04reves's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.25