Moscow at Midnight

by Sally McGrane

Downsized by the CIA, Max Rushmore is re-hired by a private contractor—operating on a tightened budget in a world of ratcheting tensions—to return to Moscow and investigate the death of a beautiful nuclear waste disposal expert. But Max, whose non-transferable skills include never having met a Russian he couldn’t drink under the table, soon uncovers all sorts of could it be that she is not dead at all? So begins a game of cat-and-mouse that takes the agent across Russia as he follows his only a rare Siberian diamond. With all the breathless tension of classic espionage novels, Moscow at Midnight is both humorous and utterly enthralling—a fast-paced page-turner of the old school.

288 pages, Paperback

Published May 1, 2018

Reviews

[Ann Winter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Moscow at Midnight is a highly entertaining contemporary spy thriller. The fast-paced plot and the light, easy flow of the narrative are enhanced rather than weighed down by occasional poetic descriptions and McGrane’s skilful play with genre conventions.

Max Rushmore, a “downsized” CIA agent, is contracted to Moscow on an administrative errand which quickly spirals into a full-blown, self-generated truth-seeking mission. Max is old school, and we are subtly informed that the world, its secrets and its old ways of keeping them hidden have changed, leaving him stranded in the past.

The concept of linear time is central to the plot and all its dramatic reveals. An American woman has died in Moscow, an unconvincing reason is given, and Max is asked to sign off on the case. His habitual reflex, to follow the clues and solve the mystery, are also the reader’s, and the narrative gleefully mocks our expectations with its wry humour and clever, surprising twists. McGrane pays open tribute to Mikhail Bulgakov’s classic novel The Master and Margarita in her witty disruption of narrative time and convention.

McGrane’s style is deeply evocative. A taxi ride through Moscow reveals a “sudden, glittering borealis of church domes”, or a huge traffic jam with all cars “fitted with black-tinted windows, like a parade of the blind”. Washington Dulles airport has “the stale smell of fast food shops and broken people movers”, while the streets of St. Petersburg have “the unstable feeling of the swamps beneath [them]”. Her feel for Russian culture and colloquialism is deft and lightly worn, as is her sensitivity for the deep marks of twentieth century history on Russian collective memory.
Moscow at Midnight is a short novel at 250 pages. I would highly recommend it for a fun, entertaining read which raises questions in the reader’s mind long after the final page has been turned. A perfect gift!

[Mark Iliff · Rating 1 out of 5]

If espionage were a game of darts, the main protagonist, Max Rushmore, would be the dartboard. This is not espionage but klutzpionage: Max is a passenger throughout the story. Except in places where it’s less a story and more a series of implausible, inexplicable events, sometimes verging on full-blown whoo-whoo.

With two reviews likening McGrane to Le Carré, I had high hopes. They were misplaced. Le Carré should be deeply insulted.

[Ceil · Rating 3 out of 5]

This effort at an old-time Soviet espionage novel never quite finds its way. Lots of clever moments, as our hero, an aging American spy rapidly being put out to pasture whilst dealing with radiation poisoning, doggedly tracks down the super-weird evildoers in Russia. It's fun, and occasionally really engrossing, but it wanders off from time to time, as if the writer is trying to convey the drifting hero through an unfocused plot.

[Maureen Hetzel · Rating 3 out of 5]

The plot line seemed disjointed as more and more characters were introduced. And the focus on the science and demands of safe disposal of nuclear waste was too much for this reader. I am still not sure the role of the time travelers yet they were key with the denouement. Well written with evocative prose but I’m left feeling Outside not really understanding what happened.

[Andrei Muchnik · Rating 2 out of 5]

A real mess of a thriller that almost turns into a sci-fi novel, but not quite, by its end. Great observations about Russian life and Moscow are interspersed with completely unbelievable situations and plot twists. Definitely not a "le Carré" level.

[Matthew M · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wild ride of a spy story

I have never read a more mashup of characters, storylines, locales. The writing seemed to launch so many plotlines and characters, that I truly considered stopping. Never felt any connection nor understanding of motive of the main character.

[Ariela · Rating 2 out of 5]

The spy protagonist is an idiot. Everything just sort of seemed to “happen” to him with no explanation to the reader.