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Eddie Mancuso & Vasily Borgneff #1
Παιχνίδια θανάτου
«Tώρα λοιπόν ξέρουμε ο ένας τα μυστικά του άλλου», είπε ο Βααίλι Μπορνιέφ. «Είμαστε κι οι δυο κυνηγημένοι. Το ζήτημα είναι γιατί Γιατί οι Υπηρεσίες μας μας κυνηγούν να μας σκοτώσουν;»
«Για μένα είναι απλό», αποκρίθηκε ο Μανκούζο «επειδή θέλω να παραιτηθώ «Υπέβαλες παραίτηση;»
«Όχι,ήξερα πως δεν επρόκειτο να τη δεχτούν... και σκέφτηκα πως ο μόνος τρόπος ήταν να εξολοθρεύσω ολόκληρη την ομάδα».
«Κι εγώ το ίδιο. Κι η ομάδα είναι πενταμελής».
«Δηλαδή κάναμε τα ίδια σχέδια;»
«Ήταν η μόνη λύση».
Είναίκι οι δυο ειδικοί στην επινόηση πρωτότυπων φονικών συσκευών. Ο ένας είναι Ρώσος και δουλεύει για λογαριασμό της Κα-Γκε-Μπε. Ο άλλος Αμερικανός και δουλεύει για λογαριασμό της ΣΙΑ.
Θέλουν να παραιτηθούν, αλλά ήδη οι Υπηρεσίες τους το μυρίστηκαν και προσπαθσύν να τους σκοτώσουν. Πώς θα ξεφύγουν;
Είναι βέβαια κι οι δυο διαβολεμένοι, αλλά πώς τα βγάζει κανείς πέρα με μια ΣΙΑ και μια Κα-Γκε-Μπε; Αν συνεργαστούν ίσως...
«Για μένα είναι απλό», αποκρίθηκε ο Μανκούζο «επειδή θέλω να παραιτηθώ «Υπέβαλες παραίτηση;»
«Όχι,ήξερα πως δεν επρόκειτο να τη δεχτούν... και σκέφτηκα πως ο μόνος τρόπος ήταν να εξολοθρεύσω ολόκληρη την ομάδα».
«Κι εγώ το ίδιο. Κι η ομάδα είναι πενταμελής».
«Δηλαδή κάναμε τα ίδια σχέδια;»
«Ήταν η μόνη λύση».
Είναίκι οι δυο ειδικοί στην επινόηση πρωτότυπων φονικών συσκευών. Ο ένας είναι Ρώσος και δουλεύει για λογαριασμό της Κα-Γκε-Μπε. Ο άλλος Αμερικανός και δουλεύει για λογαριασμό της ΣΙΑ.
Θέλουν να παραιτηθούν, αλλά ήδη οι Υπηρεσίες τους το μυρίστηκαν και προσπαθσύν να τους σκοτώσουν. Πώς θα ξεφύγουν;
Είναι βέβαια κι οι δυο διαβολεμένοι, αλλά πώς τα βγάζει κανείς πέρα με μια ΣΙΑ και μια Κα-Γκε-Μπε; Αν συνεργαστούν ίσως...
286 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1978
27 people are currently reading
123 people want to read
About the author
Clifford Irving
54 books69 followersClifford Irving was the author of 20 published books & just released 12 of his works as Kindle/Nook eBooks; he was currently writing a memoir called Around the World in 80 Years.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
December 27, 2017
Most people remember Clifford Irving, who died recently, as the author of the so-called Autobiography of Howard Hughes, a fraud that landed him in jail for a time. However, before and after that incident, Irving enjoyed a 50-year career as a journalist and novelist, specializing in a wide variety of thrillers. One of these was the Cold War espionage novel, The Death Freak, written in 1976, the first book Irving wrote after his release from prison. The book is somewhat like the little girl with a curl: when it's good, it's very, very good, but when it's bad, it's nearly horrid.
The Death Freak is a variation on the swapping murders theme invented by Patricia Highsmith in the classic, Strangers on a Train. In Irvng’s novel, both American and Soviet intelligence agencies have clandestine black ops departments that engage in occasional wet work assignments when needed. However, since it’s often essential that the deaths they arrange not look like murders, they each employ a specialist (sort of a variant on James Bond’s Q) who devises ways of killing people in an easy-to-administer but virtually undetectable manner. Eventually, both specialists, American Eddie Mancuso and Russian Vassily Borgneff, decide to retire, and their agencies determine that the two specialists know too much and decide to retire them first. That proves easier said than done, since Mancuso and Borgneff designed all the deadly gadgets at the agencies’ disposal. The two join forces and go after the department higher-ups, and, to make it easier for them to approach their targets without arousing suspicion, Mancuso agrees to eliminate the higher-ups in the Russian agency while Borgneff does the same to the Americans.
The first three-quarters of The Death Freak consists primarily of a series of elaborate assassination schemes that Mancuso and Borgneff pull off, employing a variety of extremely lethal gadgets (my favorite was a child’s balloon, given out at a carnival, that deflates hours later, unleashing toxic gas on the inhabitants of a house, including one of the agency officials). Obviously, this sort of material isn’t for everyone, and the book also contains some rather graphic sexual encounters and some racial slurs as well (language standards in the 1970’s were a bit more relaxed that they are today). But for those not offended by such material, it’s rather entertaining to see Mancuso and Borgneff pull off schemes straight out of episodes of Mission Impossible.
Although almost every single character in The Death Freak is a cold-blooded killer, it’s somewhat easy to root for Mancuso and Borgneff as underdogs on an intellectual antihero level. But author Irving, in my view, makes the mistake of trying to humanize his protagonists and portray them as likable on a moral level as well (despite the fact that innocent victims often become collateral damage in their schemes). Unfortunately, he doesn’t do a very good job of it, leading to some very strange and nearly ridiculous sequences. An encounter in a Mexican bar, in which a drunk Eddie gets in an argument with a jealous Mexican general, makes no sense, since it occurs at a time when Eddie would be trying to keep as low a profile as possible. Worst of all is the endgame finale, in which the author attempts to inject a sense of decency and morality by giving a character a crisis of conscience about 300 pages too late.
It's unfortunate that those sequences, especially the ending, put a damper on the rather ghoulish fun in the first part of The Death Freak. The author has a good bit of satiric fun pointing out the similarities between the ways in which U.S. and Soviet intelligence conduct business, along with interoffice intrigue that goes on in each agency as people jockey for positions as vacancies occur. And each agency has its own supercomputer, one that spits out the probabilities of various eventualities and helps the agency determine its strategy. Such a storyline wouldn’t raise an eyebrow today, but the notion of running these various probability models was rather new in 1976. And, in 1976 or today, watching a couple of clever men outwit the computers and heavy-handed government officials is still entertaining.
Overall, The Death Freak is worth a read for those who enjoy this type of material and are not offended by the nature of some of the content. It’s not Irving’s best work, and the ending definitely sags, but the plotting out of the various assassinations is quite clever, involving at least a couple of scenarios most readers probably haven’t encountered before. Don’t freak out, but at those times when it’s at its best, this is a killer of a book.
The Death Freak is a variation on the swapping murders theme invented by Patricia Highsmith in the classic, Strangers on a Train. In Irvng’s novel, both American and Soviet intelligence agencies have clandestine black ops departments that engage in occasional wet work assignments when needed. However, since it’s often essential that the deaths they arrange not look like murders, they each employ a specialist (sort of a variant on James Bond’s Q) who devises ways of killing people in an easy-to-administer but virtually undetectable manner. Eventually, both specialists, American Eddie Mancuso and Russian Vassily Borgneff, decide to retire, and their agencies determine that the two specialists know too much and decide to retire them first. That proves easier said than done, since Mancuso and Borgneff designed all the deadly gadgets at the agencies’ disposal. The two join forces and go after the department higher-ups, and, to make it easier for them to approach their targets without arousing suspicion, Mancuso agrees to eliminate the higher-ups in the Russian agency while Borgneff does the same to the Americans.
The first three-quarters of The Death Freak consists primarily of a series of elaborate assassination schemes that Mancuso and Borgneff pull off, employing a variety of extremely lethal gadgets (my favorite was a child’s balloon, given out at a carnival, that deflates hours later, unleashing toxic gas on the inhabitants of a house, including one of the agency officials). Obviously, this sort of material isn’t for everyone, and the book also contains some rather graphic sexual encounters and some racial slurs as well (language standards in the 1970’s were a bit more relaxed that they are today). But for those not offended by such material, it’s rather entertaining to see Mancuso and Borgneff pull off schemes straight out of episodes of Mission Impossible.
Although almost every single character in The Death Freak is a cold-blooded killer, it’s somewhat easy to root for Mancuso and Borgneff as underdogs on an intellectual antihero level. But author Irving, in my view, makes the mistake of trying to humanize his protagonists and portray them as likable on a moral level as well (despite the fact that innocent victims often become collateral damage in their schemes). Unfortunately, he doesn’t do a very good job of it, leading to some very strange and nearly ridiculous sequences. An encounter in a Mexican bar, in which a drunk Eddie gets in an argument with a jealous Mexican general, makes no sense, since it occurs at a time when Eddie would be trying to keep as low a profile as possible. Worst of all is the endgame finale, in which the author attempts to inject a sense of decency and morality by giving a character a crisis of conscience about 300 pages too late.
It's unfortunate that those sequences, especially the ending, put a damper on the rather ghoulish fun in the first part of The Death Freak. The author has a good bit of satiric fun pointing out the similarities between the ways in which U.S. and Soviet intelligence conduct business, along with interoffice intrigue that goes on in each agency as people jockey for positions as vacancies occur. And each agency has its own supercomputer, one that spits out the probabilities of various eventualities and helps the agency determine its strategy. Such a storyline wouldn’t raise an eyebrow today, but the notion of running these various probability models was rather new in 1976. And, in 1976 or today, watching a couple of clever men outwit the computers and heavy-handed government officials is still entertaining.
Overall, The Death Freak is worth a read for those who enjoy this type of material and are not offended by the nature of some of the content. It’s not Irving’s best work, and the ending definitely sags, but the plotting out of the various assassinations is quite clever, involving at least a couple of scenarios most readers probably haven’t encountered before. Don’t freak out, but at those times when it’s at its best, this is a killer of a book.
December 27, 2017
Most people remember Clifford Irving, who died recently, as the author of the so-called Autobiography of Howard Hughes, a fraud that landed him in jail for a time. However, before and after that incident, Irving enjoyed a 50-year career as a journalist and novelist, specializing in a wide variety of thrillers. One of these was the Cold War espionage novel, The Death Freak, written in 1976, the first book Irving wrote after his release from prison. The book is somewhat like the little girl with a curl: when it's good, it's very, very good, but when it's bad, it's nearly horrid.
The Death Freak is a variation on the swapping murders theme invented by Patricia Highsmith in the classic, Strangers on a Train. In Irvng’s novel, both American and Soviet intelligence agencies have clandestine black ops departments that engage in occasional wet work assignments when needed. However, since it’s often essential that the deaths they arrange not look like murders, they each employ a specialist (sort of a variant on James Bond’s Q) who devises ways of killing people in an easy-to-administer but virtually undetectable manner. Eventually, both specialists, American Eddie Mancuso and Russian Vassily Borgneff, decide to retire, and their agencies determine that the two specialists know too much and decide to retire them first. That proves easier said than done, since Mancuso and Borgneff designed all the deadly gadgets at the agencies’ disposal. The two join forces and go after the department higher-ups, and, to make it easier for them to approach their targets without arousing suspicion, Mancuso agrees to eliminate the higher-ups in the Russian agency while Borgneff does the same to the Americans.
The first three-quarters of The Death Freak consists primarily of a series of elaborate assassination schemes that Mancuso and Borgneff pull off, employing a variety of extremely lethal gadgets (my favorite was a child’s balloon, given out at a carnival, that deflates hours later, unleashing toxic gas on the inhabitants of a house, including one of the agency officials). Obviously, this sort of material isn’t for everyone, and the book also contains some rather graphic sexual encounters and some racial slurs as well (language standards in the 1970’s were a bit more relaxed that they are today). But for those not offended by such material, it’s rather entertaining to see Mancuso and Borgneff pull off schemes straight out of episodes of Mission Impossible.
Although almost every single character in The Death Freak is a cold-blooded killer, it’s somewhat easy to root for Mancuso and Borgneff as underdogs on an intellectual antihero level. But author Irving, in my view, makes the mistake of trying to humanize his protagonists and portray them as likable on a moral level as well (despite the fact that innocent victims often become collateral damage in their schemes). Unfortunately, he doesn’t do a very good job of it, leading to some very strange and nearly ridiculous sequences. An encounter in a Mexican bar, in which a drunk Eddie gets in an argument with a jealous Mexican general, makes no sense, since it occurs at a time when Eddie would be trying to keep as low a profile as possible. Worst of all is the endgame finale, in which the author attempts to inject a sense of decency and morality by giving a character a crisis of conscience about 300 pages too late.
It's unfortunate that those sequences, especially the ending, put a damper on the rather ghoulish fun in the first part of The Death Freak. The author has a good bit of satiric fun pointing out the similarities between the ways in which U.S. and Soviet intelligence conduct business, along with interoffice intrigue that goes on in each agency as people jockey for positions as vacancies occur. And each agency has its own supercomputer, one that spits out the probabilities of various eventualities and helps the agency determine its strategy. Such a storyline wouldn’t raise an eyebrow today, but the notion of running these various probability models was rather new in 1976. And, in 1976 or today, watching a couple of clever men outwit the computers and heavy-handed government officials is still entertaining.
Overall, The Death Freak is worth a read for those who enjoy this type of material and are not offended by the nature of some of the content. It’s not Irving’s best work, and the ending definitely sags, but the plotting out of the various assassinations is quite clever, involving at least a couple of scenarios most readers probably haven’t encountered before. Don’t freak out, but at those times when it’s at its best, this is a killer of a book.
The Death Freak is a variation on the swapping murders theme invented by Patricia Highsmith in the classic, Strangers on a Train. In Irvng’s novel, both American and Soviet intelligence agencies have clandestine black ops departments that engage in occasional wet work assignments when needed. However, since it’s often essential that the deaths they arrange not look like murders, they each employ a specialist (sort of a variant on James Bond’s Q) who devises ways of killing people in an easy-to-administer but virtually undetectable manner. Eventually, both specialists, American Eddie Mancuso and Russian Vassily Borgneff, decide to retire, and their agencies determine that the two specialists know too much and decide to retire them first. That proves easier said than done, since Mancuso and Borgneff designed all the deadly gadgets at the agencies’ disposal. The two join forces and go after the department higher-ups, and, to make it easier for them to approach their targets without arousing suspicion, Mancuso agrees to eliminate the higher-ups in the Russian agency while Borgneff does the same to the Americans.
The first three-quarters of The Death Freak consists primarily of a series of elaborate assassination schemes that Mancuso and Borgneff pull off, employing a variety of extremely lethal gadgets (my favorite was a child’s balloon, given out at a carnival, that deflates hours later, unleashing toxic gas on the inhabitants of a house, including one of the agency officials). Obviously, this sort of material isn’t for everyone, and the book also contains some rather graphic sexual encounters and some racial slurs as well (language standards in the 1970’s were a bit more relaxed that they are today). But for those not offended by such material, it’s rather entertaining to see Mancuso and Borgneff pull off schemes straight out of episodes of Mission Impossible.
Although almost every single character in The Death Freak is a cold-blooded killer, it’s somewhat easy to root for Mancuso and Borgneff as underdogs on an intellectual antihero level. But author Irving, in my view, makes the mistake of trying to humanize his protagonists and portray them as likable on a moral level as well (despite the fact that innocent victims often become collateral damage in their schemes). Unfortunately, he doesn’t do a very good job of it, leading to some very strange and nearly ridiculous sequences. An encounter in a Mexican bar, in which a drunk Eddie gets in an argument with a jealous Mexican general, makes no sense, since it occurs at a time when Eddie would be trying to keep as low a profile as possible. Worst of all is the endgame finale, in which the author attempts to inject a sense of decency and morality by giving a character a crisis of conscience about 300 pages too late.
It's unfortunate that those sequences, especially the ending, put a damper on the rather ghoulish fun in the first part of The Death Freak. The author has a good bit of satiric fun pointing out the similarities between the ways in which U.S. and Soviet intelligence conduct business, along with interoffice intrigue that goes on in each agency as people jockey for positions as vacancies occur. And each agency has its own supercomputer, one that spits out the probabilities of various eventualities and helps the agency determine its strategy. Such a storyline wouldn’t raise an eyebrow today, but the notion of running these various probability models was rather new in 1976. And, in 1976 or today, watching a couple of clever men outwit the computers and heavy-handed government officials is still entertaining.
Overall, The Death Freak is worth a read for those who enjoy this type of material and are not offended by the nature of some of the content. It’s not Irving’s best work, and the ending definitely sags, but the plotting out of the various assassinations is quite clever, involving at least a couple of scenarios most readers probably haven’t encountered before. Don’t freak out, but at those times when it’s at its best, this is a killer of a book.
May 10, 2015
"Παιχνίδια θανάτου", εκδόσεις Bell.
Το αγόρασα χθες σχεδόν τυχαία από το Μοναστηράκι με 1 ευρώ και το διάβασα σε μια μέρα, έτσι μικρό και ψυχαγωγικό που ήταν. Πολύ ωραία πέρασα όση ώρα κράτησε, όμως η κεντρική ιδέα της ιστορίας μου φάνηκε κάπως τραβηγμένη και μερικά κομμάτια της πλοκής όχι και τόσο ρεαλιστικά.
Πως έχει η ιστορία: Από την μια μεριά έχουμε τον Έντι Μανκούζο που δουλεύει για έναν ειδικό τομέα της CIA και από την άλλη τον Βασίλι Μπορνιέφ που δουλεύει στον αντίστοιχο τομέα της KGB. Και οι δυο είναι ειδικοί στο να φτιάχνουν πατέντες και φονικά δηλητήρια. Όλως τυχαίως θα αποφασίσουν την ίδια στιγμή ότι ήρθε καιρός να αποσυρθούν, κάτι που όμως δεν θα δέχονταν με τίποτα οι Υπηρεσίες τους. Έτσι και οι δυο αποφάσισαν να στραφούν εναντίον των λιγοστών ανωτέρων τους που γνώριζαν την δουλειά που έκαναν. Οι δυο τους θα γνωριστούν και θα συνεργαστούν για καλύτερα αποτελέσματα. Θα τύχει όμως να γνωρίσουν την ίδια γυναίκα. Η συνέχεια εκρηκτική...
Η ιστορία βασίζεται σε κάποιες συμπτώσεις και αυτό πρέπει να το δεχτεί ο αναγνώστης, για να απολαύσει το βιβλίο. Προσωπικά είμαι λάτρης των κατασκοπευτικών θρίλερ των δεκαετιών του '70 και του '80 και το βιβλίο αυτό είναι ένα χαρακτηριστικό δείγμα της εποχής και του είδους. Έχει άφθονη δράση, τρελά σκηνικά και διάφορα φονικά gadgets, όπως και τραβηγμένη απ'τ'αυτιά πλοκή (όχι σε ακραίο σημείο πάντως) και όχι τόσο καλά σκιαγραφημένους χαρακτήρες. Η γραφή μου φάνηκε αρκετά καλή και ευχάριστη, με χιούμορ εδώ και 'κει.
Γενικά, πρόκειται για ένα θριλεράκι με μπόλικη δράση και τρέλα, που όμως δεν είναι για όλα τα γούστα. Ούτε Τζον Λε Καρέ είναι, για παράδειγμα, ούτε Φρέντερικ Φορσάιθ. Άνετα θα το χαρακτήριζα σαν παλπ κατασκοπευτικό θρίλερ, ίσως με μια σατιρική διάθεση απέναντι στο είδος. Έπειτα από σκέψη, θα πάρει τελικά 4 αστεράκια στο Goodreads. (7.5/10)
Το αγόρασα χθες σχεδόν τυχαία από το Μοναστηράκι με 1 ευρώ και το διάβασα σε μια μέρα, έτσι μικρό και ψυχαγωγικό που ήταν. Πολύ ωραία πέρασα όση ώρα κράτησε, όμως η κεντρική ιδέα της ιστορίας μου φάνηκε κάπως τραβηγμένη και μερικά κομμάτια της πλοκής όχι και τόσο ρεαλιστικά.
Πως έχει η ιστορία: Από την μια μεριά έχουμε τον Έντι Μανκούζο που δουλεύει για έναν ειδικό τομέα της CIA και από την άλλη τον Βασίλι Μπορνιέφ που δουλεύει στον αντίστοιχο τομέα της KGB. Και οι δυο είναι ειδικοί στο να φτιάχνουν πατέντες και φονικά δηλητήρια. Όλως τυχαίως θα αποφασίσουν την ίδια στιγμή ότι ήρθε καιρός να αποσυρθούν, κάτι που όμως δεν θα δέχονταν με τίποτα οι Υπηρεσίες τους. Έτσι και οι δυο αποφάσισαν να στραφούν εναντίον των λιγοστών ανωτέρων τους που γνώριζαν την δουλειά που έκαναν. Οι δυο τους θα γνωριστούν και θα συνεργαστούν για καλύτερα αποτελέσματα. Θα τύχει όμως να γνωρίσουν την ίδια γυναίκα. Η συνέχεια εκρηκτική...
Η ιστορία βασίζεται σε κάποιες συμπτώσεις και αυτό πρέπει να το δεχτεί ο αναγνώστης, για να απολαύσει το βιβλίο. Προσωπικά είμαι λάτρης των κατασκοπευτικών θρίλερ των δεκαετιών του '70 και του '80 και το βιβλίο αυτό είναι ένα χαρακτηριστικό δείγμα της εποχής και του είδους. Έχει άφθονη δράση, τρελά σκηνικά και διάφορα φονικά gadgets, όπως και τραβηγμένη απ'τ'αυτιά πλοκή (όχι σε ακραίο σημείο πάντως) και όχι τόσο καλά σκιαγραφημένους χαρακτήρες. Η γραφή μου φάνηκε αρκετά καλή και ευχάριστη, με χιούμορ εδώ και 'κει.
Γενικά, πρόκειται για ένα θριλεράκι με μπόλικη δράση και τρέλα, που όμως δεν είναι για όλα τα γούστα. Ούτε Τζον Λε Καρέ είναι, για παράδειγμα, ούτε Φρέντερικ Φορσάιθ. Άνετα θα το χαρακτήριζα σαν παλπ κατασκοπευτικό θρίλερ, ίσως με μια σατιρική διάθεση απέναντι στο είδος. Έπειτα από σκέψη, θα πάρει τελικά 4 αστεράκια στο Goodreads. (7.5/10)
Read
November 15, 2020A look into the spy world where two very different, yet very much alike individuals whose lives are spent killing the enemy meet each other, not by chance, but by their desired destinies. A strange but strong friendship ensues. Both are in love with the same woman--a woman who is far more deadly than either of them. This keeps you guessing as to how this will turn out. Who will win the woman, or will anyone? Will they both walk away from their "careers"? If you like a 'sit-on-the-edge' of your seat read, this is it.
August 3, 2017
Good book except for the part with the black guy with the mask on (cringes).
Want to read
February 17, 2020Synopsis: Chalice, a stunning blonde, brings the leading agents from the CIA and the KGB together in Mexico - Eddie Mancuso and Vasily Borgneff.
Read
June 14, 2025rwr review
July 16, 2017
2.4. A pair of inventors of "unusual killing devices", one for the Russians and the other for the Americans, covertly join forces against their respective counterintelligence agencies. What commences is a romp of chapters depicting quirky deaths of spies. The death count mounts to nearly two dozen, James Bond meets Flint on steroids. Nothing intellectual in this "espionage" novel co-authored by Clifford Irving and Herbert Burkholz. Some over-the-top sexual antics and psychotic characters make you wonder about what make the authors tick.
February 23, 2016
This book is phenomenal! The suspense, the unexpected twists, and of course the intertwined love story will hold onto your attention with a tight grip. Imagine two spies running around trying to kill each other only to learn they are being hunted by their own employers. The ingenious ways they corner each other and their clever escapes are fascinating and fun to read. And of course in the middle of all this action and suspense there is Chalice who is mystifying, sexy, and frightening.
June 5, 2016
So this book is your average 1980's spy novel, except for the fact that now both sides are teaming up to take out both sides. Sounds complicated? It kinda is. The best spies from both sides (US and Soviet) have decided to go rogue, together. Their plan is to take out their superiors and to eventuelly live a normal life.
While the plot sounded good, I still felt it wasn't more than average. Wouldn't recommend reading it, unless you stumble upon a copy of the book.
While the plot sounded good, I still felt it wasn't more than average. Wouldn't recommend reading it, unless you stumble upon a copy of the book.
February 12, 2011
I really liked this book. It was a smart, thrilling, spionage-story about two agents who have to cooporate for their own survival. The thing is though, that one is from America and the other is from Russia. You just have to like the characters in this book cause theyre awesome. And the story is awesome as well. I just couldnt stop reading this one.
June 1, 2015
Stock men's adventure of the 70s/80s variety. The politics are predictable, the racial aspects cringingly dated, and the sex enticingly shallow. Distinguishing this story are the technical elements: both rival protagonists are experts in unusual methods of killing, capable of constructing elaborate booby-traps or poisons for their respective masters (the CIA, the KGB).
June 4, 2014
Saving the ending
Saving the ending
The story was a good one. Not too difficult to figure out the eventual end run. However- you know there will be another Eddie Mancuso story showing up somewhere.
Saving the ending
The story was a good one. Not too difficult to figure out the eventual end run. However- you know there will be another Eddie Mancuso story showing up somewhere.
February 4, 2010
Started out slowly, but got better. Definitely not Irving's best work, but enjoyable, nevertheless. A somewhat original take on the hunted and the hunters.
Want to read
May 24, 2014This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 21, 2014
One of my most favourite thriller novels! Why isn't this a movie!?
May 20, 2015
Wickedly fun. Full of action, twists and turns. A fast read.
July 4, 2015
A true Irving
When you want good character development, mystery. Intensity, intrigue and well written, he has it
I personally do not care for the detailed sexual descriptions.
When you want good character development, mystery. Intensity, intrigue and well written, he has it
I personally do not care for the detailed sexual descriptions.
March 14, 2017
One of my all time favourites but that was yonks ago, not sure how I would rate it on re-reading it today. For gadget freaks like myself I suppose.
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