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Paul Christopher #2
The Tears Of Autumn
Threatened by Kennedy's assassins and by his own government, secret agent Christopher follows the scent of his suspicion—one breath behind the truth, one step ahead of discovery and death.
"As soon as he began publishing fiction more than three decades ago, Charles McCarry was recognized as a spy novelist of uncommon gifts" wrote Charles Trueheart in The Washington Post. Tears of Autumn, McCarry’s riveting novel of espionage and foreign affairs, was a major bestseller upon its first publication in 1975. Spun with unsettling plausibility from the events surrounding the assassination of John F. Kennedy, and featuring Paul Christopher, it’s a tour de force of action and enigma. Christopher, at the height of his powers, believes he knows who arranged the assassination, and why. His theory is so destructive of the legend of the dead president, though, and so dangerous to the survival of foreign policy that he is ordered to desist from investigating. But he is a man who lives by, and for, the truth—and his internal compunctions force him to the heart of the matter. Christopher resigns from the Agency and embarks on a tour of investigation that takes him from Paris to Rome, Zurich, the Congo, and Saigon.
275 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 1, 1974
About the author
Charles McCarry
32 books334 followersMcCarry served in the United States Army, where he was a correspondent for Stars and Stripes, was a small-town newspaperman, and was a speechwriter in the Eisenhower administration. From 1958 to 1967 he worked for the CIA, under deep cover in Europe, Asia, and Africa. However, his cover was not as a writer or journalist.
McCarry was editor-at-large for National Geographic and contributed pieces to The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and other national publications.
McCarry was best known for a series of books concerning the life of American spy Paul Christopher. Born in Germany before WWII to a German mother and an American father, Christopher joins the CIA after the war and becomes one of its most effective spies. After launching an unauthorized investigation of the Kennedy assassination, Christopher becomes a pariah to the agency. The books are notable for their historical detail and depiction of spycraft, as well as their careful and extensive examination of Christopher's relationship with his family, friends, wives, and lovers.
Otto Penzler of The Mysterious Bookshop has called McCarry's The Miernik Dossier the greatest espionage novel ever written. McCarry was also a favorite of critics at The Wall Street Journal.
McCarry was editor-at-large for National Geographic and contributed pieces to The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and other national publications.
McCarry was best known for a series of books concerning the life of American spy Paul Christopher. Born in Germany before WWII to a German mother and an American father, Christopher joins the CIA after the war and becomes one of its most effective spies. After launching an unauthorized investigation of the Kennedy assassination, Christopher becomes a pariah to the agency. The books are notable for their historical detail and depiction of spycraft, as well as their careful and extensive examination of Christopher's relationship with his family, friends, wives, and lovers.
Otto Penzler of The Mysterious Bookshop has called McCarry's The Miernik Dossier the greatest espionage novel ever written. McCarry was also a favorite of critics at The Wall Street Journal.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 247 reviews
April 20, 2014
”There are dogs and kids, great books and great paintings and good music all over the White House,” he said. “It’s human again, the way it must have been under Franklin Roosevelt.”
The power of John F. Kennedy didn’t just rest in his Hollywood good looks, or his youthful vibrancy or his beautiful wife or his inspiring speeches, but that he exuded this idea that anything seemed possible. Even something as crazy as landing an American on the moon. He was tougher than he looked. During the Cuban Missile Crisis he held firm and it was Nikita Khrushchev who blinked. The war against the spread of communism was heating up in Southeast Asia and Vietnam was becoming a country that more and more Americans could find on a map.
Ngo Dinh Diem, the brother with the camera ready suits.
Ngo Dinh Diem and his brother Ngo Dinh Nhu are having PR problems. The country was destabilizing under their rule. They had more enemies than friends. The war against the North was going poorly. Buddhist monks were lighting themselves on fire in the street in protest against their dictatorship. These were all plenty of problems to deal with, but when the United States started to see the brothers as an impediment in the war against communism it would prove to be the final straw. The Americans gave the go ahead to a group of generals to take control of the country. A coup d’etat happened on November 2nd, 1963 when Diem and Nhu are riddled with bullets. The country celebrates.
Ngo Dinh Nhu, he was the cool, badass brother.
Not Paul Christopher. He is a long serving CIA operative who doesn’t have to dig too deep into the data to know the United States changed the game. Assassinations breed assassinations and Christopher fears that hearing the first shoe drop will quickly be followed the thump of the second shoe. It is even bigger than he could have expected.
President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas on November 22nd, 1963. It had been 62 years since the last presidential assassination. President William McKinley was shot and killed in 1901. There was a lot of problems with the trip to Texas. First of all Dallas was a known hostile city to the president. The secret service wanted him in a closed car, but Kennedy was trying to win over voters. He wasn’t going to do that by putting his light under a bushel. The crowds of people needed to see him and be swept away by the visual promise of Camelot.
In the emotion of the moment Paul Christopher discovers something about himself.
”You’re crying. Would you like to pray with me?”
“No, Father. I don’t believe.”
“It’s a frightful thing.”
Christopher thought the priest was talking about his rejection of faith. “For some,” he said.
“For all. President Kennedy was a great man. That death should come like that to him--he was like a young prince.”
“Yes, it’s a great shock.”
“You must have loved your President.”
“I love my country,” Christopher said.
“It’s the same thing, perhaps.”
“Ten minutes ago I wouldn’t have said so, Father. Now I think you’re right.”
I remember as a child when I was reading through the encyclopedia set that some shady salesman had sold my parents when I was still too young to read them, and had come across the entry about John F. Kennedy. I asked my mom why John F. Kennedy was assassinated.
She started crying. It was as raw for her in the mid-1970s as it was the day it happened.
The budding investigative reporter part of my developing personality sensed I was on to a big story. She was at Ma Bell working a switchboard when it happened. Anybody alive at the time can tell you where they were when it happened. “I don’t know why they killed him, but they took him from us.”
That look on LBJ’s face gives me a chill every time I see it. As if he is calculating something nefarious. Bundy said after working for both presidents that Kennedy was most worried about looking stupid. Johnson was most worried about being looked on as a coward.
We don’t know what Kennedy would have done if he had lived. McGeorge Bundy insists that Kennedy was not going to escalate the war in Vietnam. Some theorists think that may have been why he was killed. Big contractors knew that LBJ would be more amenable to getting things rocking and rolling in Vietnam. It could have been the mob after his brother Bobby had harassed them in court case after court case. It could have been Cubans who felt betrayed over the Bay of Pigs. It could have been the Russians for any number of reasons. The Vice President wasn’t particularly fond of Kennedy either. John had amassed a lot of enemies in a very short presidency.
Paul Christopher thinks it has to do with the Diem and Nhu assassinations. He starts to investigate, puts together a pretty compelling case and submits it to his superior. His superior submits it to the Johnson administration.
Jack Ruby shooting Lee Harvey Oswald. What did you know Lee?
Wait. What are you doing. This Kennedy Dallas mess had been wrapped up in a big bow after Jack Ruby shot Lee Harvey Oswald. Christopher is told to desist, take a vacation, sort out his priorities.
He quits.
He keeps digging until he has all the pieces assembled.
One thing I like about Charles McCarry novels is that he always works into the storyline the books that Paul Christopher is reading.
”In the darkened lobby of a hotel, Christopher drank mineral water and read the two Simenons, dirty and swollen by the rainy climate, that he had bought from a street vendor.”
Lee Harvey Oswald may not have known anything, but damn I wish we’d had a chance to find out what he did know. The alarming number of people connected to the Kennedy Assassination who died shortly afterwards and under sometimes bizarre circumstances makes my conspiracy flag unfurl. The majority of Americans still believe that it was a conspiracy to kill John F. Kennedy.
Maybe we just don’t want to believe that a lone nut job can change the world.
I grabbed this off the shelf after watching the documentary style film Parkland which was excellent. I still read books about Kennedy and the assassination. I watch films. I watch clips. I read articles. I put it aside, but ever so often I unearth it like a dog’s favorite bone and gnaw on it some more. I guess I’m still the 8 year old boy wanting to know who made my momma cry.
The power of John F. Kennedy didn’t just rest in his Hollywood good looks, or his youthful vibrancy or his beautiful wife or his inspiring speeches, but that he exuded this idea that anything seemed possible. Even something as crazy as landing an American on the moon. He was tougher than he looked. During the Cuban Missile Crisis he held firm and it was Nikita Khrushchev who blinked. The war against the spread of communism was heating up in Southeast Asia and Vietnam was becoming a country that more and more Americans could find on a map.
Ngo Dinh Diem, the brother with the camera ready suits.
Ngo Dinh Diem and his brother Ngo Dinh Nhu are having PR problems. The country was destabilizing under their rule. They had more enemies than friends. The war against the North was going poorly. Buddhist monks were lighting themselves on fire in the street in protest against their dictatorship. These were all plenty of problems to deal with, but when the United States started to see the brothers as an impediment in the war against communism it would prove to be the final straw. The Americans gave the go ahead to a group of generals to take control of the country. A coup d’etat happened on November 2nd, 1963 when Diem and Nhu are riddled with bullets. The country celebrates.
Ngo Dinh Nhu, he was the cool, badass brother.
Not Paul Christopher. He is a long serving CIA operative who doesn’t have to dig too deep into the data to know the United States changed the game. Assassinations breed assassinations and Christopher fears that hearing the first shoe drop will quickly be followed the thump of the second shoe. It is even bigger than he could have expected.
President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas on November 22nd, 1963. It had been 62 years since the last presidential assassination. President William McKinley was shot and killed in 1901. There was a lot of problems with the trip to Texas. First of all Dallas was a known hostile city to the president. The secret service wanted him in a closed car, but Kennedy was trying to win over voters. He wasn’t going to do that by putting his light under a bushel. The crowds of people needed to see him and be swept away by the visual promise of Camelot.
In the emotion of the moment Paul Christopher discovers something about himself.
”You’re crying. Would you like to pray with me?”
“No, Father. I don’t believe.”
“It’s a frightful thing.”
Christopher thought the priest was talking about his rejection of faith. “For some,” he said.
“For all. President Kennedy was a great man. That death should come like that to him--he was like a young prince.”
“Yes, it’s a great shock.”
“You must have loved your President.”
“I love my country,” Christopher said.
“It’s the same thing, perhaps.”
“Ten minutes ago I wouldn’t have said so, Father. Now I think you’re right.”
I remember as a child when I was reading through the encyclopedia set that some shady salesman had sold my parents when I was still too young to read them, and had come across the entry about John F. Kennedy. I asked my mom why John F. Kennedy was assassinated.
She started crying. It was as raw for her in the mid-1970s as it was the day it happened.
The budding investigative reporter part of my developing personality sensed I was on to a big story. She was at Ma Bell working a switchboard when it happened. Anybody alive at the time can tell you where they were when it happened. “I don’t know why they killed him, but they took him from us.”
That look on LBJ’s face gives me a chill every time I see it. As if he is calculating something nefarious. Bundy said after working for both presidents that Kennedy was most worried about looking stupid. Johnson was most worried about being looked on as a coward.
We don’t know what Kennedy would have done if he had lived. McGeorge Bundy insists that Kennedy was not going to escalate the war in Vietnam. Some theorists think that may have been why he was killed. Big contractors knew that LBJ would be more amenable to getting things rocking and rolling in Vietnam. It could have been the mob after his brother Bobby had harassed them in court case after court case. It could have been Cubans who felt betrayed over the Bay of Pigs. It could have been the Russians for any number of reasons. The Vice President wasn’t particularly fond of Kennedy either. John had amassed a lot of enemies in a very short presidency.
Paul Christopher thinks it has to do with the Diem and Nhu assassinations. He starts to investigate, puts together a pretty compelling case and submits it to his superior. His superior submits it to the Johnson administration.
Jack Ruby shooting Lee Harvey Oswald. What did you know Lee?
Wait. What are you doing. This Kennedy Dallas mess had been wrapped up in a big bow after Jack Ruby shot Lee Harvey Oswald. Christopher is told to desist, take a vacation, sort out his priorities.
He quits.
He keeps digging until he has all the pieces assembled.
One thing I like about Charles McCarry novels is that he always works into the storyline the books that Paul Christopher is reading.
”In the darkened lobby of a hotel, Christopher drank mineral water and read the two Simenons, dirty and swollen by the rainy climate, that he had bought from a street vendor.”
Lee Harvey Oswald may not have known anything, but damn I wish we’d had a chance to find out what he did know. The alarming number of people connected to the Kennedy Assassination who died shortly afterwards and under sometimes bizarre circumstances makes my conspiracy flag unfurl. The majority of Americans still believe that it was a conspiracy to kill John F. Kennedy.
Maybe we just don’t want to believe that a lone nut job can change the world.
I grabbed this off the shelf after watching the documentary style film Parkland which was excellent. I still read books about Kennedy and the assassination. I watch films. I watch clips. I read articles. I put it aside, but ever so often I unearth it like a dog’s favorite bone and gnaw on it some more. I guess I’m still the 8 year old boy wanting to know who made my momma cry.
December 25, 2016
McGarry is growing on me as nearly as worthy as le Carre and Deighton for enthralling espionage tales set during the Cold War. In this second in the series, CIA spy Paul Christopher comes to suspect that the assassination of JFK was masterminded by a Vietnamese faction in retaliation for the American’s facilitation of the coup associated with the assassination of the dictator Diem a few weeks earlier on November 2, 1963, which put in place a more pliable dictator for America’s global war against communism, Thieu. Christopher’s insight is founded on his deep knowledge of the power structure there and their ancient traditions for avenging wrongs done to a clan member. However, the political head of the agency, upon hearing of the agent’s request to pursue the matter, shuts him down. Just the concept that a third world country could topple the head of the mighty U.S. is too dangerous politically even to ponder. The theory that the Cubans could pull it off in response to the Bay of Pigs invasion would be equally damaging to the American’s reputation in the world, and the more plausible prospect the Oswald was a KGB operative held the seeds to war. The story that Oswald was a lone madman was the only solution to be adhered to. Christopher resigns and goes off-reservation with his own resources to investigate the truth.
Christopher bids farewell to his woman in Rome and pursues leads from contacts and sources he has leverage with in far-flung places such as Paris, Switzerland, and the Congo, and then he homes in on various members of Diem’s family in Vietnam. He is not quite James Bond, but his courage and skills in the face of danger and set-backs at every turn were fascinating and thrilling to experience. Spies from his own former agency are being used to thwart and put him out of commission. Luckily, an agent who has been both friend and competitor helps him along the way. The complex intrigue among factions in Vietnam and atmospheric details of life in this mysterious and dangerous society were nicely done. I recommend the review by Jeffrey Keeten for a more in-depth background and coverage of this tale.
Christopher bids farewell to his woman in Rome and pursues leads from contacts and sources he has leverage with in far-flung places such as Paris, Switzerland, and the Congo, and then he homes in on various members of Diem’s family in Vietnam. He is not quite James Bond, but his courage and skills in the face of danger and set-backs at every turn were fascinating and thrilling to experience. Spies from his own former agency are being used to thwart and put him out of commission. Luckily, an agent who has been both friend and competitor helps him along the way. The complex intrigue among factions in Vietnam and atmospheric details of life in this mysterious and dangerous society were nicely done. I recommend the review by Jeffrey Keeten for a more in-depth background and coverage of this tale.
June 2, 2013
The Tears of Autumn is a ripping yarn! In less than 300 paperback pages, Charles McCarry reveals - via the CIA super-spy hero, Paul Christopher - that almost everyone you can think of as likely candidates for killing President John F. Kennedy in Dallas in 1963 was in some way involved. But - and it's a big BUT - there is absolutely no evidence to show that any American intelligence agency of any kind was in any way involved in this conspiracy. Despite the subject, McCarry writes very prettily, just like LeCarre. I believe that, at heart, both men long to be be famous poets. McCarry's hero has even had a book of poetry published. He's also fluent in umpteen languages, never carries a weapon and seems to know everyone in the spying business. All the women in his travels east and west are beautiful and - like James Bond - he visits many exotic (and some not very exotic) locations. However, some of the people he talks with have an unfortunate habit of dying soon afterwards. In a very short time, Paul Christopher travels to many countries, talks to a score or more "suspects" and puts together a case for the prosecution which would satisfy any investigation into President Kennedy's assassination. All the while he manages to dodge most of the the attentions of various baddies who are out to stop him. Throughout the story there are some wonderful one-liners (although I'm almost certain he pinched one of them from ELO's 1973 song "Showdown"). At the conclusion of this wonderful spy thriller, I asked myself could it be that McCarry - who worked for the CIA for almost a decade - might have a vested interest in his conclusion that "The Agency" was definitely NOT involved? As an infamous Englishwoman once said: "Well he would say that, wouldn't he?"
July 8, 2013
"THE TEARS OF AUTUMN" is a compelling, well-crafted novel centered on Paul Christopher, a CIA Special Agent who has served in the Agency since the 1950s. When the story begins, it is October 1963 and Christopher is involved in deep cover work in South Vietnam. Weeks later, in the aftermath of President Kennedy's assassination, Christopher leaves the CIA and, on his own, armed only with his skills, a facility for languages, and a theory as to who killed Kennedy and why, pursues leads from Saigon, to the Congo, and Europe, to bring to light the assassins of the President. This puts Christopher at odds with both the government and the assassins, who would like to see him neutralized.
This book shows Christopher to be a very complex, fascinating, multi-faceted person, one who with a highly developed sense of duty, honor, and ethics. is also open to love. Normally, I tend to avoid novels about CIA spies and operations because they are "Johnny-Come-Latelys" in the spy game and I much prefer reading stories about British, French, Russian and other assorted European spies. But "THE TEARS OF AUTUMN" packs quite a punch and has an assortment of characters not unlike those found in the best works of John le Carré. (When I was a few pages in, I was hooked and could hardly contain myself, so anxious to see how McCarry would spin this tale. TERRIFIC STUFF.)
This book shows Christopher to be a very complex, fascinating, multi-faceted person, one who with a highly developed sense of duty, honor, and ethics. is also open to love. Normally, I tend to avoid novels about CIA spies and operations because they are "Johnny-Come-Latelys" in the spy game and I much prefer reading stories about British, French, Russian and other assorted European spies. But "THE TEARS OF AUTUMN" packs quite a punch and has an assortment of characters not unlike those found in the best works of John le Carré. (When I was a few pages in, I was hooked and could hardly contain myself, so anxious to see how McCarry would spin this tale. TERRIFIC STUFF.)
October 10, 2008
I listened to, rather than read this book and it was so good that I rushed out and bought The Miernik Dossier (the first of the Paul Christopher series) and have plans to read each and every book in the series. What intrigued me was yet another JFK assassination theory. I'm not a conspiracy theory nut, but I am interested, and never did believe in either the single-bullet theory nor that of the lone gunman. And as much as I loved Oliver Stone's JFK, well, let's just say that it was a lot of theories rolled into one. Here, McCarry gives us one more theory to contemplate.
When Paul Christopher hears that JFK has been assassinated in Dallas, he immediately knows who did it and why. At a time when Lee Harvey Oswald was considered both the mastermind and crazed lone gunman of Kennedy's assassination, nobody higher up wants to even consider the alternatives. But Christopher knows, and embarks on a journey filled with danger and intrigue to prove it, even if only to himself.
Tears of Autumn is an intelligent read, and doesn't insult anyone's intelligence. The assassination plot is quite plausible, without being in your face about it, and the author's fine writing makes you believe that these events could have happened in the way he posits.
The characters are very believable; the action is nonstop, and the writing is incredible. If you are at all interested in the JFK assassination, or in Vietnam, or if you just want a quality read, then I can definitely and most highly recommend this book.
When Paul Christopher hears that JFK has been assassinated in Dallas, he immediately knows who did it and why. At a time when Lee Harvey Oswald was considered both the mastermind and crazed lone gunman of Kennedy's assassination, nobody higher up wants to even consider the alternatives. But Christopher knows, and embarks on a journey filled with danger and intrigue to prove it, even if only to himself.
Tears of Autumn is an intelligent read, and doesn't insult anyone's intelligence. The assassination plot is quite plausible, without being in your face about it, and the author's fine writing makes you believe that these events could have happened in the way he posits.
The characters are very believable; the action is nonstop, and the writing is incredible. If you are at all interested in the JFK assassination, or in Vietnam, or if you just want a quality read, then I can definitely and most highly recommend this book.
May 21, 2016
While I didn't enjoy reading this book as much as The Miernik Dossier, this one introduces us more to the central character of Paul Christopher (and his women.. and his poetry.) Set in Vietnam and Thailand (and parts of Africa, Europe, and the USA!) right around the assassination of JFK, it was a different angle of those events. I am really loving these 1970s spy novels, right up my alley.
April 13, 2017
After reading DeLillo's Libra, twice, I found it hard to imagine anyone matching, much less surpassing, his fictional take on JFK assassination. McCarry does not match DeLillo, but he does foretell, by 16 years, my favorite line in Libra: "A fact is innocent until someone wants it. Then it becomes intelligence." The main tension in McCarry's telling is that no one, or no one who really matters, wants the intelligence born of those facts.
The plot gets a bit convoluted at times -- as another reviewer commented, I, too, found myself wondering, 'Ok, now why is Christopher hanging out in a hut in Africa getting drunk with a Cuban officer fomenting revolution?' -- but overall this is a worthy contribution to the sub-genre. (I hear Stephen King's take on JFK is quite good.) This is my second McCarry novel -- after The Miernik Dossier -- and I like him well enough to read more, as much for the quality of his prose as for his vision of spy world.
The plot gets a bit convoluted at times -- as another reviewer commented, I, too, found myself wondering, 'Ok, now why is Christopher hanging out in a hut in Africa getting drunk with a Cuban officer fomenting revolution?' -- but overall this is a worthy contribution to the sub-genre. (I hear Stephen King's take on JFK is quite good.) This is my second McCarry novel -- after The Miernik Dossier -- and I like him well enough to read more, as much for the quality of his prose as for his vision of spy world.
June 13, 2016
Charles McCarry is a less well-known spy novelist than le Carre or Deighton, but belongs in the same conversation even if "Tears of Autumn" was the only book he published. McCarry's protagonist Paul Christopher is somewhere between super human (e.g. ability to pick up almost any language--even tonal ones--in a month or two) and all-too-human (e.g. his feelings for his Australian lover). The pace is fast, the settings described in sufficient detail to convince the reader that McCarry knows them firsthand and JFK's assassination is the number one conspiracy of modern times.
Where McCarry really shines is in the nuanced plotting and layered reveals that keep the reader riveted even if the basics of Christopher's take on Kennedy's murder have been known almost from the outset.
"Tears of Autumn" stands alongside the best of spy novels of the modern era.
Where McCarry really shines is in the nuanced plotting and layered reveals that keep the reader riveted even if the basics of Christopher's take on Kennedy's murder have been known almost from the outset.
"Tears of Autumn" stands alongside the best of spy novels of the modern era.
March 5, 2016
This is a really excellent spy thriller. At the beginning of the book, President Kennedy is assassinated, and an American spy, Paul Christopher, immediately knows who and why ordered the killing.
The rest of the book involves him traveling all over the world in an effort to prove what he believes to be true. There is great suspense and non-stop action throughout, and by the end of the book, you will probably be pondering,as I am, just how persuasive his theory is. Highly recommended. And I can't wait to get to the other books in the series.
The rest of the book involves him traveling all over the world in an effort to prove what he believes to be true. There is great suspense and non-stop action throughout, and by the end of the book, you will probably be pondering,as I am, just how persuasive his theory is. Highly recommended. And I can't wait to get to the other books in the series.
December 1, 2023
very very good. it is the first i read of Mccarry and i will go on. clever, great writing and interesting plot.
May 11, 2019
My review of my second time reading this book (my initial review from 2019 is below this one.)
Recently I have been reading The Pentagon Papers as research. I came to the point in that book, November 1, 1963, when a coup led by South Vietnamese military generals was staged to remove South Vietnamese President Diem. Within a couple days, Diem and his brother were assassinated while trying to escape from his palace. American President John F Kennedy was assassinated just 21 days later, on November 22, 1963. As I was wading through all the events of that month in the Pentagon Papers, I remembered I had read a spy novel that included a startling premise as to what was behind the Kennedy assassination: that it was planned and conducted from South Vietnam.
Neither in The Pentagon Papers nor in any of the theories, which persist to this day, nor in the official Warren Commission findings released in 1964, was there even a hint of such a thing. Thankfully my husband remembered the book we had both read: The Tears of Autumn. Therefore, I reread McCarrry’s book to refresh in my mind the premise of a South Vietnamese involvement in Kennedy’s death. Sure enough, it is all laid out quite convincingly. It even relates how the spy in the book had his report burned in the fireplace of the Oval Office, with the reasons for ignoring the spy’s findings given by LBJ’s “right-hand man.”
I realize that it is now 63 years later, and life moves on. Who cares? I did some internet searching to see if there was any hint anywhere of McCarry’s theory being taken seriously. I found nothing, not even in the limited number of reviews of his book. I realize The Tears of Autumn is fiction, though the author was an undercover operative for the CIA before he began writing. All I can say is that McCarry presents a tightly constructed narrative.
Well, I can say more. The American people were kept in the dark for years about our government’s involvement in Vietnam. The Pentagon Papers revealed much that was not known by the general public before its publication in 1971. I realize that sensitive security information cannot be broadly released. I also think that in a democracy, the voting public needs to know enough in order to elect their leaders.
A thorny problem for sure and one that has been with us probably since the formation of the United States government. For all my life, which began just after WWII and the dropping of two atomic bombs on Japan, I feel I have lived with a sense of threat or doom as concerns our great country. These days we live with the threat of the annihilation of life on our great planet. Sometimes I find more truth in fiction than I do in the news. That is why I read both fiction and nonfiction. I feel we need all the stories.
My review from 2019:
I only learned about Charles McCarry because he passed away in February of this year. When I discovered he wrote spy thrillers, I got The Tears of Autumn for my husband, who found it great. The series features Paul Christopher, a secret agent. McCarry was a former undercover operative for the CIA before he began writing. I had to read it!
Christopher has a pretty good idea who arranged the assassination of JFK and the book tells the story of how he went about verifying his suspicions. Due to his many years in the system he has contacts all over the world and his superiors in the agency trust him. It is a startling theory about one of our country's unresolved mysteries and a well written, highly suspenseful read. When Paul Christopher presents his findings, the powers that be decide to keep it secret.
I am not into conspiracy theories but then again I find some of them plausible. This one, especially in light of our current political scene, made me ponder how much regular citizens actually know about what goes on. If you like such stories, you should read this one.
Recently I have been reading The Pentagon Papers as research. I came to the point in that book, November 1, 1963, when a coup led by South Vietnamese military generals was staged to remove South Vietnamese President Diem. Within a couple days, Diem and his brother were assassinated while trying to escape from his palace. American President John F Kennedy was assassinated just 21 days later, on November 22, 1963. As I was wading through all the events of that month in the Pentagon Papers, I remembered I had read a spy novel that included a startling premise as to what was behind the Kennedy assassination: that it was planned and conducted from South Vietnam.
Neither in The Pentagon Papers nor in any of the theories, which persist to this day, nor in the official Warren Commission findings released in 1964, was there even a hint of such a thing. Thankfully my husband remembered the book we had both read: The Tears of Autumn. Therefore, I reread McCarrry’s book to refresh in my mind the premise of a South Vietnamese involvement in Kennedy’s death. Sure enough, it is all laid out quite convincingly. It even relates how the spy in the book had his report burned in the fireplace of the Oval Office, with the reasons for ignoring the spy’s findings given by LBJ’s “right-hand man.”
I realize that it is now 63 years later, and life moves on. Who cares? I did some internet searching to see if there was any hint anywhere of McCarry’s theory being taken seriously. I found nothing, not even in the limited number of reviews of his book. I realize The Tears of Autumn is fiction, though the author was an undercover operative for the CIA before he began writing. All I can say is that McCarry presents a tightly constructed narrative.
Well, I can say more. The American people were kept in the dark for years about our government’s involvement in Vietnam. The Pentagon Papers revealed much that was not known by the general public before its publication in 1971. I realize that sensitive security information cannot be broadly released. I also think that in a democracy, the voting public needs to know enough in order to elect their leaders.
A thorny problem for sure and one that has been with us probably since the formation of the United States government. For all my life, which began just after WWII and the dropping of two atomic bombs on Japan, I feel I have lived with a sense of threat or doom as concerns our great country. These days we live with the threat of the annihilation of life on our great planet. Sometimes I find more truth in fiction than I do in the news. That is why I read both fiction and nonfiction. I feel we need all the stories.
My review from 2019:
I only learned about Charles McCarry because he passed away in February of this year. When I discovered he wrote spy thrillers, I got The Tears of Autumn for my husband, who found it great. The series features Paul Christopher, a secret agent. McCarry was a former undercover operative for the CIA before he began writing. I had to read it!
Christopher has a pretty good idea who arranged the assassination of JFK and the book tells the story of how he went about verifying his suspicions. Due to his many years in the system he has contacts all over the world and his superiors in the agency trust him. It is a startling theory about one of our country's unresolved mysteries and a well written, highly suspenseful read. When Paul Christopher presents his findings, the powers that be decide to keep it secret.
I am not into conspiracy theories but then again I find some of them plausible. This one, especially in light of our current political scene, made me ponder how much regular citizens actually know about what goes on. If you like such stories, you should read this one.
August 26, 2012
McCarry – like John LeCarre and Daniel Silva – is known as one of those authors who “gets it right” with his spy yarns. The Tears of Autumn is his second novel and the second to feature his series character Paul Christopher, a CIA agent active during the 1950s and 1960s. In this installment, Christopher decides to solve the JFK assassination. Nothing like swinging for the fences, eh?
Even though Christopher flirts with super-agenthood – speaking multiple languages, near-photographic memory, dangerously handsome, culturally sensitive, etc. – he’s not a one-man killing machine like his counterparts in spy thrillers (which this isn’t). He doesn’t carry a gun, hardly kills anyone at all, and talks (or buys) his way into and out of trouble rather than blowing up things. This is spy work closer to how spies really work. The old-school (pre-9/11) received spy wisdom was if you kill someone, you’ve blown your cover and you’re done.
McCarry’s depiction of Christopher’s stops in this 1963-64 travelogue (D.C., Saigon, Paris, Rome, Zermatt) are atmospheric and evocative without slowing things down; his settings remind me of Alan Furst’s, lightly drawn but presenting enough detail to feel authentic. Similarly, Christopher’s spycraft is described with confidence without descending into textbookism. Since McCarry was a CIA case officer for several years, we have some assurance that what his characters do is as real as he could get past the CIA’s censors.
The downside? This novel is emotionally chilly; even when Christopher is supposed to be contemplating his internal demons or an unexpected chance at love, it feels as if he’s doing it because he thinks he’s supposed to rather than because he’s compelled to do it. It’s also fairly short and travels in a straight line. Christopher formulates a theory about the JFK assassination (which he doesn’t share with us) at the beginning and follows it without many twists or turns straight through to being proven right. This isn’t a thriller (Our Hero isn’t often in imminent mortal danger) nor is it a mystery; it’s a spy procedural, an exercise in watching a skilled operative do his thing, step-by-step, in a turbulent time. It’s fascinating, but it’s neither moving nor exciting.
The Tears of Autumn is almost British in its reserve, LeCarre with an American protagonist. If you want explosions and global conspiracies, there are plenty of other authors to turn to. If you want to see an ideal real-world covert agent do his job at the height of the Cold War and want to go places other than London and Berlin, McCarry’s your man.
Even though Christopher flirts with super-agenthood – speaking multiple languages, near-photographic memory, dangerously handsome, culturally sensitive, etc. – he’s not a one-man killing machine like his counterparts in spy thrillers (which this isn’t). He doesn’t carry a gun, hardly kills anyone at all, and talks (or buys) his way into and out of trouble rather than blowing up things. This is spy work closer to how spies really work. The old-school (pre-9/11) received spy wisdom was if you kill someone, you’ve blown your cover and you’re done.
McCarry’s depiction of Christopher’s stops in this 1963-64 travelogue (D.C., Saigon, Paris, Rome, Zermatt) are atmospheric and evocative without slowing things down; his settings remind me of Alan Furst’s, lightly drawn but presenting enough detail to feel authentic. Similarly, Christopher’s spycraft is described with confidence without descending into textbookism. Since McCarry was a CIA case officer for several years, we have some assurance that what his characters do is as real as he could get past the CIA’s censors.
The downside? This novel is emotionally chilly; even when Christopher is supposed to be contemplating his internal demons or an unexpected chance at love, it feels as if he’s doing it because he thinks he’s supposed to rather than because he’s compelled to do it. It’s also fairly short and travels in a straight line. Christopher formulates a theory about the JFK assassination (which he doesn’t share with us) at the beginning and follows it without many twists or turns straight through to being proven right. This isn’t a thriller (Our Hero isn’t often in imminent mortal danger) nor is it a mystery; it’s a spy procedural, an exercise in watching a skilled operative do his thing, step-by-step, in a turbulent time. It’s fascinating, but it’s neither moving nor exciting.
The Tears of Autumn is almost British in its reserve, LeCarre with an American protagonist. If you want explosions and global conspiracies, there are plenty of other authors to turn to. If you want to see an ideal real-world covert agent do his job at the height of the Cold War and want to go places other than London and Berlin, McCarry’s your man.
October 16, 2019
Maybe 3 stars if a stand-alone, but I rounded down because this was just such a disappointing follow-up to McCarry's quirky but delightful debut, The Miernik Dossier.
This time around (four years after the events in Miernik), Paul Christopher investigates the Kennedy assassination, since he alone in all the world understands what really happened:
The explanation struck like a bell in Christopher's mind. He knew who had arranged the death of the President...All his life, Christopher's unconscious had released images and he had learned to trust this trick of his mind. He often knew what men had done before they confessed their acts to him.*
He then "goes rogue" and leaves the organization - unnamed, but obviously the CIA - traveling first to Saigon for fully half the book, but then globe-hopping between Rome, Switzerland, Rhodesia and Paris to assemble the pieces of his conspiracy theory. Long story short (and SPOILER for anyone who's still thinking of reading this - which at this point should be no one), everyone killed Kennedy - the Russians, the Cubans, the Mafia, the Vietnamese...
I dunno...maybe this book was written in the early years of conspiracy fiction and so was still original and surprising, but today it just reads as a confusing mess.
Unlike the epistolic Miernik, which was told through a series of incident reports, cable traffic, interview/interrogation transcripts, police logs, etc., Autumn is a straight-forward third person narrative, and as a result the character or Christopher comes off as a different person than in the first book (at least IMHO), where he was just one of many players.
Anyway - having also recently read (and been disappointed by) the much later The Shanghai Factor, think I'm done with McCarry for a while. Which is too bad, because he's a good writer and he certainly knows his tradecraft and global hotspots. Will probably give him another shot down the road, but for now it's on to (hopefully) bigger and better things.
* Okay, why do CIA case officers-turned-writers insist on giving their protagonists such unnecessary super powers? Jason Matthews did the same thing in Red Sparrow by inexplicably giving Dominika the ability to "see colors," which had zero to do with the story. Isn't being a spy/killer/sex machine enough for either of these guys??
This time around (four years after the events in Miernik), Paul Christopher investigates the Kennedy assassination, since he alone in all the world understands what really happened:
The explanation struck like a bell in Christopher's mind. He knew who had arranged the death of the President...All his life, Christopher's unconscious had released images and he had learned to trust this trick of his mind. He often knew what men had done before they confessed their acts to him.*
He then "goes rogue" and leaves the organization - unnamed, but obviously the CIA - traveling first to Saigon for fully half the book, but then globe-hopping between Rome, Switzerland, Rhodesia and Paris to assemble the pieces of his conspiracy theory. Long story short (and SPOILER for anyone who's still thinking of reading this - which at this point should be no one), everyone killed Kennedy - the Russians, the Cubans, the Mafia, the Vietnamese...
I dunno...maybe this book was written in the early years of conspiracy fiction and so was still original and surprising, but today it just reads as a confusing mess.
Unlike the epistolic Miernik, which was told through a series of incident reports, cable traffic, interview/interrogation transcripts, police logs, etc., Autumn is a straight-forward third person narrative, and as a result the character or Christopher comes off as a different person than in the first book (at least IMHO), where he was just one of many players.
Anyway - having also recently read (and been disappointed by) the much later The Shanghai Factor, think I'm done with McCarry for a while. Which is too bad, because he's a good writer and he certainly knows his tradecraft and global hotspots. Will probably give him another shot down the road, but for now it's on to (hopefully) bigger and better things.
* Okay, why do CIA case officers-turned-writers insist on giving their protagonists such unnecessary super powers? Jason Matthews did the same thing in Red Sparrow by inexplicably giving Dominika the ability to "see colors," which had zero to do with the story. Isn't being a spy/killer/sex machine enough for either of these guys??
March 1, 2014
Pretty good fast paced thriller of events from September 1963 to November 1963 that takes place in Vietnam, and the US, and on the trail of leads Christopher travels to Saigon, Paris, Rome, and the Congo.
July 4, 2018
Compelling lead character with a wildly improbable thriller. The roller coaster is fun, while you can suspend disbelief.
May 17, 2021
Second in the Paul Christopher series with more action than the first, but plenty of smart talk also. Christopher has a pretty fair idea about who is responsible for the Kennedy assassination and then he goes off-piste around the world trying to prove it. There's still at least one plot hole left unanswered about why the brains behind it would want it kept secret, but this was super engaging, globe-trotting spy stuff that was not afraid to get grubby. I had a look at the rest of the series which jump forward and backward in time and include 20 years that Christopher spends in a Chinese prison which I do not fancy at all, so this may be the end of the road for me, but it was good, 70s, paranoid, conspiracy theory nonsense.
June 8, 2013
Charles McCarry comes highly recommended from friends and literary blurbs that call him a master of the (spy novel) genre and compare him to LeCarre. This is the first book in the Paul Christopher series, but likely my last.
The problem for me isn't the characters, although some were maddeningly one-dimensional, but the plot which bounces from a Thai family dynasty to defecting Russian agents to Fidel's Cuba to post-colonial Africa, Chicago Mobsters and even a midget super thief who breaks in to homes by climbing down the chimney.
Conspiracy theorists will love this orgy of JFK assassination plots, and the political and spy worlds are expertly rendered, but for me there was just too much to read and too little to grab on to.
The problem for me isn't the characters, although some were maddeningly one-dimensional, but the plot which bounces from a Thai family dynasty to defecting Russian agents to Fidel's Cuba to post-colonial Africa, Chicago Mobsters and even a midget super thief who breaks in to homes by climbing down the chimney.
Conspiracy theorists will love this orgy of JFK assassination plots, and the political and spy worlds are expertly rendered, but for me there was just too much to read and too little to grab on to.
June 15, 2018
ম্যাকক্যারিকে আমেরিকান লে ক্যারে বলা হয়। এ জন্যই বইটা নিয়ে খুব বেশি উৎসাহী ছিলাম। আমার কথা শুনে বুঝতে পারার কথা, আমি আশাহত। ম্যাকক্যারি ম্যাকক্যারিই, লে ক্যারে না। স্পাই জনরায় লে ক্যারের চেয়ে সমৃদ্ধ লেখক আর আসেন নাই। আসবেন বলে মনেও হয় না।
বইটা কেনেডি অ্যাসাসিনেশন নিয়ে রচিত। পড়তে আরাম আছে, তরতর করে আগায়। তবে কাহিনী কোন দিকে মোড় নিচ্ছে তা কয়েক মাইল আগে থেকে বুঝতে পারা যায়। যার জন্য যে থ্রিলটা আপনি এক্সপেক্ট করছেন, ওটা আর পাবেন না। তবে ব্যাপারটা হলো যে ম্যাকক্যারি ভালো লেখক, তার ন্যারেটিভ অনেক স্মুথ। আপনি কোথাও আটকাবেন না। আমার মনে হয়, এটা অনেক বড় গুণ।
বইটা কেনেডি অ্যাসাসিনেশন নিয়ে রচিত। পড়তে আরাম আছে, তরতর করে আগায়। তবে কাহিনী কোন দিকে মোড় নিচ্ছে তা কয়েক মাইল আগে থেকে বুঝতে পারা যায়। যার জন্য যে থ্রিলটা আপনি এক্সপেক্ট করছেন, ওটা আর পাবেন না। তবে ব্যাপারটা হলো যে ম্যাকক্যারি ভালো লেখক, তার ন্যারেটিভ অনেক স্মুথ। আপনি কোথাও আটকাবেন না। আমার মনে হয়, এটা অনেক বড় গুণ।
December 17, 2016
McCarry is about the best less known suspense writer out there and probably the only American who comes near John LeCarre. This is one of his early novels, reminds me of the Spy Who Came in From the Cold, both shorter novels who were followed by larger even bolder works which do not overshadow the greatness of these earlier novels. This one is about the Kennedy Assassination, entirely timely today.
March 18, 2012
This was not a fast paced thriller but an excellently written spy novel that was filled with tension throughout and had one of the better fictional explanations for the JFK assassination. Listened to the audio version read by Stefan Rudnicki
December 15, 2015
A wonderfully written espionage novel that mines the motives of the characters in ways that deepens the plot and adds emotional complexity to the story.
April 29, 2026
First-rate and gripping spy thriller, written in 1975, with a highly plausible theory about the Kennedy assassination. I've read other novels on this topic, including Ellroy's wild American Tabloid and Don DeLillo's cerebral book on Oswald Libra, but this one actually kinda rings the most true, as far as conspiracy theories go. The author, McCarry, was in the CIA at the time, so who knows.
In any event, this is the second book I've read by McCarry, the first being The Miernik Dossier, and while that book was kinda quirky and funny in places, this one is all business, as Paul Christopher, the American spy featured in the first book, takes center stage here as he goes off the grid, without the authority of his superiors, to investigate his theory about the assassination. How he is able to figure out in nearly an instant what everyone else has spent the past 60 years trying to uncover involves perhaps a necessary suspension of disbelief, but that aside, everything else feels entirely plausible.
Whether any of it is true or just plain fiction, McCarry is a pretty great writer, definitely in the higher ranks of spy novelists, and I'm glad I checked him out, as he seems to be somewhat forgotten except amongst genre enthusiasts. He writes well about human relationships, and is not afraid to make his hero look ruthless -- the ruthlessness is a feature, not a bug.
I dunno if I'll continue with McCarry, only because I have so much else to read, but these first two books in the series were totally worth it. As with the last book I read, Len Deighton's The Ipcress File: A Harry Palmer Novel, there's some dated language, and as with Deighton he doesn't do as well with the women characters, but fortunately it's not nearly as bad as Ipcress was in that respect.
All in all, a suspenseful, interesting read, and an easy recommendation for fans of spy thrillers.
In any event, this is the second book I've read by McCarry, the first being The Miernik Dossier, and while that book was kinda quirky and funny in places, this one is all business, as Paul Christopher, the American spy featured in the first book, takes center stage here as he goes off the grid, without the authority of his superiors, to investigate his theory about the assassination. How he is able to figure out in nearly an instant what everyone else has spent the past 60 years trying to uncover involves perhaps a necessary suspension of disbelief, but that aside, everything else feels entirely plausible.
Whether any of it is true or just plain fiction, McCarry is a pretty great writer, definitely in the higher ranks of spy novelists, and I'm glad I checked him out, as he seems to be somewhat forgotten except amongst genre enthusiasts. He writes well about human relationships, and is not afraid to make his hero look ruthless -- the ruthlessness is a feature, not a bug.
I dunno if I'll continue with McCarry, only because I have so much else to read, but these first two books in the series were totally worth it. As with the last book I read, Len Deighton's The Ipcress File: A Harry Palmer Novel, there's some dated language, and as with Deighton he doesn't do as well with the women characters, but fortunately it's not nearly as bad as Ipcress was in that respect.
All in all, a suspenseful, interesting read, and an easy recommendation for fans of spy thrillers.
July 28, 2022
In my teens and twenties, I'd plunge greedily into novels as if throwing myself into the sea. Total immersion. I'd lay my hands on everything I could find by a succession of authors, such as Tolstoy, Hemingway, C.S. Forester, Faulkner, Graham Greene, Sartre. For weeks I'd walk around in a daze, captivated by the dialogue, the description, the syntax, the characters, the atmosphere of the imaginary worlds they'd created. During my final school exams I had a thing about Neville Shute's novels. I read 10 of them in rapid succession, one a day, hiding each book from the library on my knees and under my desk. Needless to say, I failed everything and had to sit the exams all over again. The older I get, the less this happens. I'm not so impressionable and more cynical, I suppose. Few contemporary novels have this impact. Maybe it's me or possibly they're just not that good, or both.
But it's happened with a new discovery, and I don't know why I didn't get to Charles McCarry's espionage novels before.
They remind me of one of his contemporaries, Patrick White, the great Australian author. I'm not sure why, but I think it's the elegance of his style and the depth of his characters. McCarry's novels are wonderfully well-written. They are also funny, witty and scary. Like a tide coming in, the plot creeps gently up on the reader, almost unnoticed, until it overwhelms. McCarry knows his Rome, Paris, his Middle East and his Congo. He knows the hotels, the restaurants, the food and drink. Or it feels as though he does because he's so convincing. He writes well and amusingly about sex and beautifully about love - or the lack of it. Some of the work shows its age because it's politically incorrect by the standards of today (Israel has to be defended and Arabs are all terrorists), but not so much so as to spoil the tales for the reader.
Will some alert publisher with a nose for excellence please reissue all his novels so I don't have to search in vain for McCarry's books in second-hand stores?
But it's happened with a new discovery, and I don't know why I didn't get to Charles McCarry's espionage novels before.
They remind me of one of his contemporaries, Patrick White, the great Australian author. I'm not sure why, but I think it's the elegance of his style and the depth of his characters. McCarry's novels are wonderfully well-written. They are also funny, witty and scary. Like a tide coming in, the plot creeps gently up on the reader, almost unnoticed, until it overwhelms. McCarry knows his Rome, Paris, his Middle East and his Congo. He knows the hotels, the restaurants, the food and drink. Or it feels as though he does because he's so convincing. He writes well and amusingly about sex and beautifully about love - or the lack of it. Some of the work shows its age because it's politically incorrect by the standards of today (Israel has to be defended and Arabs are all terrorists), but not so much so as to spoil the tales for the reader.
Will some alert publisher with a nose for excellence please reissue all his novels so I don't have to search in vain for McCarry's books in second-hand stores?
May 15, 2017
'The Tears of Autumn' is supposedly a classic espionage novel by one of the genre's greats, Charles McCarry. I still can't believe I hadn't heard of either until about a month ago. I'm glad I'm finally on the bandwagon!
The Tears of Autumn was published in 1974, when both the war in Vietnam and the assassination of JFK were still pretty fresh in everyone's mind. In the novel, Paul Christopher, a CIA 'lone-wolf' spy, begins to form an idea on who was responsible for Kennedy's death and wants to investigate in his own inimitable way. His superiors don't see how the dots connect so he's literally cut loose to go at it totally off the books. The plot follows him as he bounces between continents (which was a lot more complicated to do in those days) and begins to build and solidify his case. He encounters more than his fair share of really bad characters and deadly situations along the way and survives a number of harrowing close-calls. In the end, Christopher proves his theory but to what end?
Since belatedly 'discovering' McCarry I've learned that he's one of the guys who has been considered the American version of LeCarre. I can certainly see why. His writing is flawless, dialogue is strong, and unlike a few of LeCarre's earlier novels there doesn't seem to be any 'dating' of the style. Tears of Autumn was written at least 43 years ago and is still fresh, although the action is a little slower paced than more recent efforts.
Tears of Autumn is a wonderful example of the spy novel of the post-war era. I loved it and will continue to get further into McCarry's catalog.
The Tears of Autumn was published in 1974, when both the war in Vietnam and the assassination of JFK were still pretty fresh in everyone's mind. In the novel, Paul Christopher, a CIA 'lone-wolf' spy, begins to form an idea on who was responsible for Kennedy's death and wants to investigate in his own inimitable way. His superiors don't see how the dots connect so he's literally cut loose to go at it totally off the books. The plot follows him as he bounces between continents (which was a lot more complicated to do in those days) and begins to build and solidify his case. He encounters more than his fair share of really bad characters and deadly situations along the way and survives a number of harrowing close-calls. In the end, Christopher proves his theory but to what end?
Since belatedly 'discovering' McCarry I've learned that he's one of the guys who has been considered the American version of LeCarre. I can certainly see why. His writing is flawless, dialogue is strong, and unlike a few of LeCarre's earlier novels there doesn't seem to be any 'dating' of the style. Tears of Autumn was written at least 43 years ago and is still fresh, although the action is a little slower paced than more recent efforts.
Tears of Autumn is a wonderful example of the spy novel of the post-war era. I loved it and will continue to get further into McCarry's catalog.
March 1, 2018
Actual rating: 3.5 stars.
I'm late coming to Charles McCarry, having missed reading him the first time around (this novel was written in 1974). Reviews gave me the impression he's on the same plane as John le Carre, the great espionage novelist. After reading "The Tears of Autumn," I think he's a more of a refined and elevated Ian Fleming, his character Paul Christopher an American James Bond.
I don't compare Christoper to Bond in the superficial sense. Christoper's a behind-the-scenes CIA agent, a modest man who doesn't live lavishly. There are no bespoke suits from Savile Row, no fancy cars, not even any brand names if you don't count the Rolex he wears. Where he is like Bond is in doing covert work all around the world, in knowing the right suspects to call upon when he needs help doing something shady or off the books, in having ready access to unlimited travel money and fake passports. And more to the point, he's a bit of a superhero. His boss, like Bond's, gives him absolute freedom to act alone, and he owes his triumphs to no one else.
Le Carre's characters have the Circus behind them, with its army of minders. There's very little of that here. A point of similarity with le Carre is that Paul Christopher has a conscience, a la George Smiley, but without the depth of character le Carre gives his characters. McCarry does a good job capturing the early 60s feel of Saigon, maybe as well as le Carre captured the 50s and 60s feel of Berlin, and there are other points of comparison as well. But le Carre's spies are believable, and McCarry's isn't. That is the big difference to me, and the reason I compare Paul Christopher to James Bond.
"The Tears of Autumn" has a great hook in that it explores a possible motive behind JFK's assassination. It's a page-turner, and despite dealing with 50- and 60-year-old events does not feel dated at all. I enjoyed reading it. I can't put Charles McCarry on the same tier as John le Carre, though.
I'm late coming to Charles McCarry, having missed reading him the first time around (this novel was written in 1974). Reviews gave me the impression he's on the same plane as John le Carre, the great espionage novelist. After reading "The Tears of Autumn," I think he's a more of a refined and elevated Ian Fleming, his character Paul Christopher an American James Bond.
I don't compare Christoper to Bond in the superficial sense. Christoper's a behind-the-scenes CIA agent, a modest man who doesn't live lavishly. There are no bespoke suits from Savile Row, no fancy cars, not even any brand names if you don't count the Rolex he wears. Where he is like Bond is in doing covert work all around the world, in knowing the right suspects to call upon when he needs help doing something shady or off the books, in having ready access to unlimited travel money and fake passports. And more to the point, he's a bit of a superhero. His boss, like Bond's, gives him absolute freedom to act alone, and he owes his triumphs to no one else.
Le Carre's characters have the Circus behind them, with its army of minders. There's very little of that here. A point of similarity with le Carre is that Paul Christopher has a conscience, a la George Smiley, but without the depth of character le Carre gives his characters. McCarry does a good job capturing the early 60s feel of Saigon, maybe as well as le Carre captured the 50s and 60s feel of Berlin, and there are other points of comparison as well. But le Carre's spies are believable, and McCarry's isn't. That is the big difference to me, and the reason I compare Paul Christopher to James Bond.
"The Tears of Autumn" has a great hook in that it explores a possible motive behind JFK's assassination. It's a page-turner, and despite dealing with 50- and 60-year-old events does not feel dated at all. I enjoyed reading it. I can't put Charles McCarry on the same tier as John le Carre, though.
November 4, 2025
I don't know if I'm an espionage thriller guy... When it's fictionalized, especially older iterations, I can feel the patriarchal tropes oozing from them even if the espionage itself is interesting. I also feel particularly incredulous when the author, like McCarry, is an ex-intelligence officer. What are the intentions here?
A complicated, if interesting and original, plot of the Kennedy assassination that almost completely expunges the U.S of responsibility and also claims that Oswald was still technically a lone gunman even if he'd been activated by someone else. Whether I "believe" it isn't really the point, though I wasn't really engaged until this plot started unwinding in the tail end of the novel and will say it was an interesting way to think of it. The point moreso is why McCarry implicates who he does (the Vietnamese, Cubans, and KGB) and why he pleads ignorance for others (the CIA and FBI, the White House, basically all American institutions). He doesn't shy away from the (probable, documented) facts that we've done similar things in other countries, and yet the idea that we were involved in anyway of similar activity on our own soil is only allowed in so much as we covered it up to keep public interest in the Vietnam War.
As a novel on its own I would argue it's pretty boring and if I wasn't a JFK pilled scholar studying the narratives of this stuff extensively I do not know if I would've finished ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
A complicated, if interesting and original, plot of the Kennedy assassination that almost completely expunges the U.S of responsibility and also claims that Oswald was still technically a lone gunman even if he'd been activated by someone else. Whether I "believe" it isn't really the point, though I wasn't really engaged until this plot started unwinding in the tail end of the novel and will say it was an interesting way to think of it. The point moreso is why McCarry implicates who he does (the Vietnamese, Cubans, and KGB) and why he pleads ignorance for others (the CIA and FBI, the White House, basically all American institutions). He doesn't shy away from the (probable, documented) facts that we've done similar things in other countries, and yet the idea that we were involved in anyway of similar activity on our own soil is only allowed in so much as we covered it up to keep public interest in the Vietnam War.
As a novel on its own I would argue it's pretty boring and if I wasn't a JFK pilled scholar studying the narratives of this stuff extensively I do not know if I would've finished ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
November 8, 2017
(4.5) Having read dozens of JFK conspiracy theories, I was prepared to be bored by the "revelations" in this one but McCarry offers a unique take on the Kennedy assassination filtered through the lens of a cynical international operative. The story is gripping and the spycraft is engaging without being oversaturated (looking at you, Quiller Memorandum). I enjoyed The Miernik Dossier when I read it a few years ago, though I wasn't a fan of the format. In the meantime, I've heard dozens of voices praising Charles McCarry's work. I shouldn't have put it off for so long and will be reading another of his sooner than later.
May 5, 2022
A fun espionage thriller. Set in Saigon, Paris, USA and the Congo. The language and descriptive details gives life to the story and characters, each with their own personally and animation. It was slow at times as the mystery and trail unfolded, but still intriguing. I definitely what to see what the hero, Paul Christoper gets into next.
January 12, 2018
A novel that has an entirely new solution to the who killed JFK debate. Fascinating, and way too plausible
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