Hemingway's Notebook [Mass Market Paperback]

Bill Granger (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Twenty-five years ago in Cuba, Harry Francis played prankish games with Ernest Hemingway while working for the CIA. Now Harry lives and drinks on the Caribbean island of St. Michel, where rebels in the hills fight the government and where another former agent, Col. Ready, heads the army. Harry is rumored to have a notebook from his Cuba years that confirms the extent and stupidity of CIA involvement in the Bay of Pigs debacle. The CIA wants the notebook, as does R Section, a group set up by Kennedy in '61 to "watch the watchers." Ready wants the notebook too, and flushes another ex-agent, code-named November, from hiding, coercing him into going after it. The CIA, arm-in-arm with organized crime, launches an invasion of St. Michel by paramilitary exiles. November finds the notebook; R Section watches. Using them all to his own ends, Ready is a master player. But so is November, who needs to outplay the opposition to save the woman he loves. Truth, fiction and history peel in layers. Grainger, author of The November Man, has been compared to le Carre, Ludlum and Fleming. But this lean, suspenseful tale, peopled with compelling characters, has a drive and signature all its own. January 15
Copyright 1985 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Devereaux, an ex-CIA agent and one-time KGB target long since presumed dead, is actually hiding out in Switzerland. Discovered by Colonel Ready, another ex-CIA agent turned mercenary, Devereaux is blackmailed into joining the colonel on St. Michel, a Caribbean island which just happens to be overburdened with guerrillas in the hills, a mad president, and a bumbling local CIA agent. Colonel Ready runs the army and holds Devereaux's girlfriend as a hostage. There is so much rape, torture, murder, and general violence in this spy thriller that it actually gets in the way of the thin plot. The characters are equally thin and unappealing. Only for the largest fiction collections. Brian Alley, Sangamon State Univ. Lib., Springfield, Ill.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Warner Books (November 1, 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446302848
• ISBN-13: 978-0446302845
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,712,243 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars To coup or not to coup, that is the question, March 26, 2006

By 

Christopher Gwyn (over there) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hemingway's Notebook (Mass Market Paperback)

This is the 6th November Man thriller, and author Bill Granger has come up with a down and dirty tale of political puppets in the Caribbean. With brutal characterizations and in your face depictions of violence, this one is not for the squeamish. After faking his own death in the previous novel, "The Zurich Numbers", November aka Deveroux is tracked down in Switzerland by old nemesis Colonel Ready and is lured along with his lover, Rita Macklin to the island of St. Michel in the Caribbean. Colonel Ready is as evil as they come and is playing all sides in a power grab on the small island. With CIA, R Section and Cuban interests all colliding into a seething cauldron of violence, Deveroux must find a way to save Rita and himself from the clutches of Ready. Centering on a missing notebook, the story moves at a good, lively pace and Deveroux's ingenious revenge makes for a unsuspected and satisfying climax. What I like most about The November Man novels is the fact that the author gets the most out of every page and tells a fairly complex, interesting story in under 250 pages. If you have never read a November Man novel before, I would not reccomend starting with this one because it is in the middle of a multi-novel storyline. Read "Schism" and go forward in order from there.

1 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Goes Downhill After the Title, February 1, 2005

By 

Rob "Coolerking" (Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hemingways Notebook (Hardcover)

I like a clever mix of fact and fiction, but after plodding a couple of dozen pages into this, I did not want to turn the page any more. I tried a bit further on and was "rewarded" by reading 4-5 pages about whether one guy was going to kill the chicken of this other guy. He finally does, and what is the result? Nothing much.
My first mistake was not noticing the usual sign of overhype-comparing a contemporary work to real classics: Ian Fleming and John LeCarre. The other tip-off is the author is a reporter for the Sun-Times and UPI and his reviewers are fellow newspaper proletariat. Their profuse gushing over his skill raises an eyebrow since I've never heard of this guy. In all, 22 cents might not be too high a price for this, but remember, you'll have to pay postage also.