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pappas's review
1.0
First the backstory: A full-page ad for de Villier in the New Yorker caught my eye. I googled de Villiers and found an article in the NY Times “The Spy Novelist Who Knows Too Much’ which made an interesting case for de Villiers uncanny ability to predict actual events in his fiction. “Other pop novelists, like John le Carré and Tom Clancy, may flavor their work with a few real-world scenarios and some spy lingo, but de Villiers’s books are ahead of the news and sometimes even ahead of events themselves.” I thought I need to check him out. “Chaos in Kabul” seemed like a good place to start. My son-in-law is stationed there at the US Embassy.
“Chaos in Kabul” is without a doubt the worse book I’ve ever read. Stereotyped characters, absurd plot and sex scenes that must have been written by a horny eighth grade boy. There is nothing the least bit interesting about the title character. I couldn’t tell you a thing about Malko Linge, or what motivates him, nor even what he looks like. The other characters in the book are even more superficial.
Correct that, Linge is an idiot and a misogynist “He walked her to the door, knowing that he would get a little further next time. A conquer of this wise virgin would make a pleasant change from covert intelligence operations.”
I finished the book out of interest in my son’s Kabul post. Never learned much. There’s no excuse for you to read it.
“Chaos in Kabul” is without a doubt the worse book I’ve ever read. Stereotyped characters, absurd plot and sex scenes that must have been written by a horny eighth grade boy. There is nothing the least bit interesting about the title character. I couldn’t tell you a thing about Malko Linge, or what motivates him, nor even what he looks like. The other characters in the book are even more superficial.
Correct that, Linge is an idiot and a misogynist “He walked her to the door, knowing that he would get a little further next time. A conquer of this wise virgin would make a pleasant change from covert intelligence operations.”
I finished the book out of interest in my son’s Kabul post. Never learned much. There’s no excuse for you to read it.
usbsticky's review
5.0
Probably the best Malko Linge book I've read so far. As with all the M.L. books, they are a fast read, action packed, coitus packed and absent of any extraneous fluff. I found this more interesting than usual because it contained a lot of Afghani intrigue. Not being an expert, I don't know how much of the Afghani political commentary is accurate but it sure made for interesting reading. I learned about the different factions, the security forces operating there and day to day living on the streets in and out about town. It really did make me feel I'd spent a few weeks there.
Summary: The CIA tasks M.L. with offing President Karzai. As usual not a lot of things go right and we're along a ride dealing with mullahs, mercenaries and spies.
I really should deduct a star as there is at least 1 curious loose end and the story ends somewhat abruptly but I really enjoyed the novel and had a great time reading it. I highly recommend this series and it seems that you don't have to read it in order.
It seems that the author has written over a hundred Malko Linge books. Some were published in the 1970's and this current series of 6 has been recently translated. I definitely hope that the publishers will continue to publish the rest of the series because they are very good.
Edit: After I finished this review I took a look at the other reviews and have to agree with some of them. The sex scenes are gratuitous and a bit childish but I believe these books were written in a different time and different culture (French books translated into English) where things might be a bit different from today. I fast read through those as they seemed a bit monotonous and repetitive.
Some people compared these series to James Bond but I somewhat disagree. This series is better. The books are much faster reading and don't aim to be canonical works. They are just a great way to pass some time.
Stereotyped characters: Most of the characters did seem stereotypical but they are stereotypes for a reason. For example the mercenary Nelson Berry. I'm sure that mercs of that type do commonly exist but pretty much however you wrote him, the stereotype would exist as well. For example: the no nonsense merc, the loud mouth merc, the secretly penitent merc, the psycho merc, etc. I'm sure all of them would be considered "stereotypical" and "paper thin".
A lot of people seemed to give low ratings because of the way they felt about the plot, the way it was written or the portrayals which is all very fair, because I happened to give it a high rating for the same reasons.
Summary: The CIA tasks M.L. with offing President Karzai. As usual not a lot of things go right and we're along a ride dealing with mullahs, mercenaries and spies.
I really should deduct a star as there is at least 1 curious loose end and the story ends somewhat abruptly but I really enjoyed the novel and had a great time reading it. I highly recommend this series and it seems that you don't have to read it in order.
It seems that the author has written over a hundred Malko Linge books. Some were published in the 1970's and this current series of 6 has been recently translated. I definitely hope that the publishers will continue to publish the rest of the series because they are very good.
Edit: After I finished this review I took a look at the other reviews and have to agree with some of them. The sex scenes are gratuitous and a bit childish but I believe these books were written in a different time and different culture (French books translated into English) where things might be a bit different from today. I fast read through those as they seemed a bit monotonous and repetitive.
Some people compared these series to James Bond but I somewhat disagree. This series is better. The books are much faster reading and don't aim to be canonical works. They are just a great way to pass some time.
Stereotyped characters: Most of the characters did seem stereotypical but they are stereotypes for a reason. For example the mercenary Nelson Berry. I'm sure that mercs of that type do commonly exist but pretty much however you wrote him, the stereotype would exist as well. For example: the no nonsense merc, the loud mouth merc, the secretly penitent merc, the psycho merc, etc. I'm sure all of them would be considered "stereotypical" and "paper thin".
A lot of people seemed to give low ratings because of the way they felt about the plot, the way it was written or the portrayals which is all very fair, because I happened to give it a high rating for the same reasons.
simmoril's review
2.0
I don't normally expect too much from the fiction books that I read, and given how prolific a writer de Villiers was I understand that a certain amount of variance is to be expected between his novels. But in spite of all that, I truly feel like Chaos in Kabul missed the mark on a number of levels. The overall storyline to me felt very fractured; events came and went with little to no coherence between them. Subplots were started, explored, and then vanished without a trace. The ending felt incredibly rushed, which was surprising given that this is the longest de Villers novel I've read so far. But probably the biggest misgiving I have about this book is that it doesn't do the Malko Linge character any justice at all. For all the bungling and 'bad luck' he and his allies seemed unable to avoid, they read more like Maxwell Smart than James Bond, and I for one couldn't see a clear reason why. Inept protagonists, overly sadistic antagonists, and a supporting cast that can't decide who exactly they're supporting, skip this one unless you're trying to complete the set.
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