The Last Spymaster [Audiobook, CD, Unabridged] [Audio CD]

Gayle Lynds (Author), David Colacci (Reader)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 30, 2006

Charles "Jay" Tice was a spy's spy. The chief of the CIA's elite Clandestine Services, he was a legend throughout the world of international intelligence. But secretly he was also a traitor, reputedly selling information that will seriously compromise the security of the United States for decades to come. Since his treachery was exposed, Tice has been kept under strict surveillance in a maximum security prison. Then one morning, his cell is discovered empty. Jay Tice has vanished - without tripping an alarm or leaving any trace of his passing. Elaine Cunningham is a hunter - a CIA operative who specializes in finding people who don't want to be found. Young, gifted and a maverick, she is assigned to track Tice and bring him to ground before he disappears forever. But as she matches wits in a perilous game with one of the greatest spymasters of all time, she discovers there is far more at stake than an old spy's last run for freedom. Lurking in the shadows are other hidden players with their own lethal agendas and, from Geneva to Washington, Berlin to New York City, a deadly conspiracy is coalescing. With only a few hours to go, and the future of millions in the balance, she must uncover the truth behind the legend of the last spymaster.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Colacci brings the perfect resonance to his reading of Lynds's latest and best espionage thriller. Jay Tice is a legendary spymaster from the Cold War era, one of the last of the old school CIA operatives. However, his distinguished career ended in disgrace when he was sentenced to life in prison for treason against the U.S. Tice is a model prisoner for years until he escapes. Elaine Cunningham, a CIA agent headed toward the end of her career, is assigned to track him down. Her hunt will take her into the darkest corners of the spy game, where nothing is what it seems and death can come at the hands of a friend as easily as those of an enemy. Colacci offers a capital performance, handling the mounds of expositional narrative and spy technospeak with ease. He's just as adept with his characterizations as he slips effortlessly from one character or accent to another. Colacci and Lynds make an excellent combination for lovers of spooks and spies.
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Review

 "Today's finest espionage writer unleashes an instant classic!"
--Lee Child

 

"A sizzling thrill ride!"--Steve Berry

 

"Nerve-tingling…will keep you turning the pages well into the night."--Vince Flynn

 

"As high octane as they come"--Chicago Tribune

 

"Plentiful tradecraft and relentless danger combine with some clever plot twists for an entertaining read." --The Economist
 
"Lynds [is] superbly gifted…. Her narrative skills and her character-creation engine are as high octane as they come."--Chicago Tribune
 
"[A] classic espionage thriller."--Publishers Weekly
 "Lynds' books have long been acclaimed for their authenticity in describing the covert world, and this one is no different. The Last Spymaster is filled with rich characters and details ripped from the world of espionage...reminiscent of the work of Robert Ludlum or Frederick Forsyth."--Chicago Sun-Times

"The Queen of the international spy thriller is back with her best novel yet!  The Last Spymaster is tremendous…great plotting, fascinating characters, amazing technical accuracy, breath-taking action. But best of all is her unrelenting examination of the moral ambiguity inherent in intelligence and counter-terrorism. Set aside of a few days of your life for this one--it's well worth it!"--Marcus Wynne, author of Brothers in Arms
 
"Non-stop…[a] stand out….An outstanding read." --Wichita Falls Times Record News
 
"Like the fearsome plunge on a dangerous roller coaster, this thriller…gets your heartbeat racing….Lynds has added another jewel to her tiara as one of the reigning queens of the international spy-thriller genre."--Library Journal

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: Brilliance Audio on CD Unabridged; Unabridged edition (May 30, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1423300920
• ISBN-13: 978-1423300922
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 6.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (62 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,195,472 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Welcome to my author page. I'm the New York Times bestselling author of award-winning international espionage novels -- spy thrillers -- but when I was growing up, I had no idea ordinary people wrote books. I thought that was the literary turf of dead people, and if not them, then certainly gods and goddesses.

Despite my youthful conclusions, I still dreamed of creating the sorts of novels that would transport people to other worlds, other experiences, and leave them not only truly satisfied but feeling smarter, as I did when I read a really good tale.

Today I've published some eight novels, with a ninth on the way -- The Book of Spies, due out March 30, 2010, from St. Martin's Press. How did I get so lucky? I began writing literary short stories that were published in small journals. The discipline propelled me onward, and here I am today, creating adventure stories about London and Paris, Washington, D.C. and Rome. With me you can travel the world in my books, examining the clandestine world of spies, criminals, and secret power that quietly and importantly impacts all of us.

Some basic facts. My books have won such awards as "Novel of the Year" (THE LAST SPYMASTER) given by the Military Writers Society of America and the American Authors Associations, and have been People magazine "Page-Turner of the Week" and "Beach Read of the Week." Publishers Weekly lists MASQUERADE as among the top ten spy novels of all time. BookPage concurs: "Gayle Lynds has joined the deified ranks of spy thriller authors like Robert Ludlum and John le Carre." With Bob Ludlum, I created the Covert-One series and wrote three of the novels. One of them, THE HADES FACTOR, was a CBS miniseries in April 2006.

I'm a member of the Association for Intelligence Officers and co-founder and former co-president (with David Morrell) of International Thriller Writers. Born in Nebraska, raised in Iowa, I now live on the side of a hill in Southern California.

Thank you for dropping by. Please visit my website at www.GayleLynds.com to test your Spy-Q, visit my World of Espionage, and sign up for cool prizes.

Warm regards, Gayle

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Still At the Top of Her Game, June 1, 2006

By 

John R. Linnell (New Gloucester, ME United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Last Spymaster (Hardcover)

I was once told by a friend who had been offerred the job of CIA Director and declined, that there "are no more spymasters."

Well, thanks to Gayle Lynds, he was wrong. There is one. His name is Jay Tice and he has just broken out of prison. One he was put into as a result of traitorous activities against the United States. One that was considered escape proof.

To try and tell you much more than that can be to spoil the story which is full of deception, intrigue and suspense.

There is a huge illegal arms sale afoot. If completed it will shift technological advantage in sophisticated weaponry to the terrorists. Stopping that sale is the objective of the good guys in the book. But, which ones are the good guys? That is for the reader to discover.

Ms. Lynds tells this story in a most believeable and entertaiing way which makes the act of reading a pure pleasure. This is a keeper.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lynds At Her Best..., May 30, 2006

By 

Christine "loves to read" (Setauket, NY, United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Last Spymaster (Hardcover)

With the debut of _The Last Spymaster_, veteran novelist Gayle Lynds has soldified her reign as the true "Queen of Suspense".

Jay Tice is a seasoned "spymaster" who is serving a life sentence in a federal penitentiary. Somehow, against all odds, he escapes and is now being tracked by Elaine Cunningham, an intelligent, but washed-up CIA "hunter". Elaine must get to Tice and have him captured before his escape is made public. As she follows clues that lead her closer and closer to Tice, she becomes an unwilling participant in an even wider conspiracy. Those she trusts are savagely murdered as her own life hangs in the balance. The hunter now becomes the hunted; and how it all ends is absolutely ingenious.

Every chapter of this novel plays a crucial role in the unraveling of the plot. There are no extraneous words or characters. Gayle Lynds takes us on a roller coaster ride through many international (and some surprise national) settings and introduces us to a myriad of colorful characters. I am stunned at the sheer genius of this work. It reminds me of Ludlum when he was at his peak. I seriously would not wait to pick this up at the library. If you are a devoted thriller fan, then this one belongs on your shelf alongside the best of them.

A couple of caveats: Lynds takes her time to give you a complete and thorough lay of the land in the first part of the book. Stay with it. Everything she does here serves a bigger purpose. The pace picks up very quickly shortly thereafter, but without this thorough "briefing" you would miss a few important nuances as the story unfolds. Secondly, watch what the characters DO as well as what they SAY in the first part. Their meticulous actions lay the foundation for an electrifying conclusion.

It just doesn't get any better than this.

Enjoy!

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Last Spymaster from the First Lady of Suspence, September 18, 2006

By 

J. Abbott "jillian Abbott" (New York) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Last Spymaster (Hardcover)

Gayle Lynds best work to date, The Last Spymaster straddles the hazy void that separates The Cold War and The War on Terror, and sets the scene for a new generation of spies to inhabit our imagination.

In this wonderfully written and breakneck paced novel, Lynds demonstrates that however menacing the treat of terrorism is, the gravest threat to Western nations is our abandonment of conscience. Whereas honor once defined Western masculinity, those who still claim it as their own are few and far between, and more often than not very old men, or women.

Deftly interweaving the public and private lives of her characters, Lynds demonstrates that private life is the foundation of morality and that true morality begins with the commitment to the mother one's children and to those children themselves. But is the man who is true to his family, most often the man who is true to his country? You'll have to read The Last Spymaster to find out.

Jay (great name for a leading man) Tice, Spymaster and traitor's escape from Federal prison triggers the reactivation of a group of Cold War warriors set on hunting one of today's most lethal and fanatical terrorist organizations. But each step is marked by betrayal, and in a plot that twists and turns more energetically than a worm with a fork through its middle, Lynds reveals her characters ambitions, loves and disappointments.

This is an exciting, entertaining and meaningful thriller; one I'd have no hesitation recommending.