Customer Reviews

The Last Supper (Signet)

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

"The Last Supper" is one of the best espionage thrillers I have ever read, definitely putting Charles McCarry in the same literary league with John LeCarre, Alan Furst, Eric Ambler and Ken Follet. McCarry's nuanced, at times poetic, writing style, his ability to create real, flesh and blood characters who will move you, and his fast-paced, taunt storyline, put him at the top of the list for craftsmanship. There were actually moments when I found my eyes filling with tears, at a particular poignant passage, or at the loss of a favorite character. I don't do that easily. The man is Good! The background research is excellent and the historical details of the origins of the OSS and "The Company" are accurate.

The story takes us from the aftermath of World War I, in Germany, through World War II, the Cold War, and Viet Nam, with the creation of "The Outfit." This would be the OSS and the CIA. We meet the earliest agents and watch them and their agency grow in a turbulent world on the brink of one war after another. We are never completely sure who can to be trusted, or whose version is true. A few of the Outfit's leaders know early on that there is a mole in the system who is betraying American interests and getting agents killed. The book takes us all over Europe, to Russia and China, Washington, New York and Boston in the world of international intrigue.

The novel's main character is Paul Christopher, a sensitive, intelligent young man who joins the "Outfit" at the beginning of W.W.II. His mother, Lori, is a Prussian Countess, his father, Hubbard, an American, Yale graduate. They were never political people but hated stupidity and cruelty. Living in Berlin, Hubbard wrote novels and poetry, Lori countessed, they both made friends, traveled, loved each other and had a son...before 1939. It was during those prewar years that we saw a colorful sub-cast of characters enter the picture. Friends and relatives traveled to and from Europe visiting the Christophers, many to play future roles in the drama. There were various types of bohemian life, (Berlin was booming with bohemians), artists, Bolsheviks, musicians, etc., that latched-on to the family in Berlin. Some of these folks were desperate to leave Germany after 1935. The Christophers sailed many Jews and Communists out of the country on their boat Mahican. The Gestapo knew. When the war began, Mom, Dad, and Paul tried to leave for Paris but were stopped at the border. Paul and his father were told never to return to Germany. They were classified as American citizens. The mother was taken away. She was nobility, but she was German. The writing is devastating. This event will occur in Paul's dreams, repeatedly, throughout, giving the reader a terrible glimpse of the Nazi horror.

Paul's father, Hubbard, until his death, never gives up the hope of finding his wife. He changes drastically with her loss. It is with details and character development like this that McCarry leaves the crowd behind. Hubbard joins the OSS. As Paul comes of age, he initially joins the Marines but is also recruited into the OSS. We follow their lives and careers, as well as those of their colleagues, friends and enemies. The tension builds as we begin to see the network of betrayal and lies build, and wonder who is responsible and to what extent.

As I wrote earlier, McCarry develops the characters, and their families in such a manner, that when you lose one, especially to violence, the loss is felt deeply. There is one scene when Hubbard tells Paul stories about his maternal grandparents, that are almost folk-like in nature, and I was awed at what an amazingly wonderful family this was/is. I forgot it was fiction for a moment.

The story moves to an extraordinary conclusion. I could not put this book down. I give it my highest recommendation.

PS - One of the reviewers commented that he thought two of the book's characters, a 60 year old senator and his 22 year wife, were too much...as in not believable? Hey, I was around in the '60s. There was most certainly a 60+ senator from the South with a 22 year old ex-beauty queen wife. Not only do McCarry's people seem real, some were taken from real life.

I will not try to add to the praise of the other two reviewers, but wish to confirm it in the strongest terms. McCarry is in Le Carre's league with a more supple style and more direct, less distant point of view. He is a thrilling, touching writer, particularly in his Chrisopher novels (which, sadly, seem to be out of print -- a dopey decision by his publisher). Find, buy and read them! You'll be moved and glad that you did.

Fans of LeCarre and Littell (like me) will eat this one up. McCarry is adept at placing you in historical context by the subtlest means. A visual hint here, a place, a name, even a smell, is all he needs to bring forward all the context of history. The rest is a great spy novel of the highest order. I love that McCarry is unafraid, even in the 21st century, to tell a Cold War story. I'll be back for more!

As a long-time reader of spy novels, I will simply say this is the best, most literate, intricate, gripping, and yet emotionally moving I have ever read. A memorable read, luminous characters, international intrigue at its best. If it is true that the story is not based on actual events, as the author claims, I must say that McCarry has a brilliant gift for plotting and quite an imagination. I was so engrossed with the characters that I felt like I knew them, that I was there as it happened. Anyway, it stuns me that this never became a best seller. This may be his best, as some say, but I am going to try the other novels. See you -- I'm going into deep cover with top Ameddican spy Paul Christopher...

A 10+. Charles McCarry is not just a great writer of (mostly) espionage novels but he is truly a great American Writer. I think "The Last Supper" is his finest work. It is definitely well beyond a "10". It is on my recommended list as one of the best American novels I have ever read (period). (McCarry should certainly have received awards for this book.) It is deeply profound with almost every turn of the page. You can read it for sheer pleasure, but you will want to read it again with a highlighter and take notes. It is rich with emotion, rich with culture and foreign experience, and deeply develops its many key characters. (It is not a "shoot 'em up.) It is profound with almost every turn of the page. It is truly absorbing with almost no noticeable pretense or contrivance. It transport you to the time periods (pre WWII Germany 1920s and 1930s, WWII, and the Cold War era (late 1940s to early 1960s) quite transparently. This book is also rich with "tradecraft" and explores the personal emotions of the main character Paul Christopher (also found in some of his other books). It provides a deep study of the concept of betrayal in relationship to the espionage business and that of the characters. McCarry was a field operative/case officer during the cold war. Charles McCarry is considered the one to read by American intelligence officers and it is obvious why? He draws on his actual insider's experience and knowledge of Cold War experience and tradecraft to deliver the real thing with a rich cultural and political backdrop. Only a few other writers in the intelligence genera come close. I cannot recommend this book highly enough. It is definitely worth special ordering or scouring used bookstores for. Also see my additional comments about this book under the review comments at McCarry's novel: "Shelly's Heart". Some of the other excellent books by McCarry are "The Tears of Autumn" (his 2nd fiction novel), "The Secret Love! rs" (his 3rd), "Second Sight" (his 5th). After you read the last supper you will probably want to read everything you can find by McCarry, but don't die before you read "The Last Supper". Forget what is touted by the media and publishers' hype and go for the real thing. You will be richly rewarded. (Copyright by James H. Wheeler 1998. All Rights Reserved.)

Charles McCarry's "The Last Supper" is quite simply the best "political-espionage-thriller" novel written in the English language. This is high praise, given the myriad talents of folks like Ambler, Condon, LeCarre, et al. And the best part of this wonderful book is that if you take to this "Paul Christopher" novel (named for the principal protagonist), you can move on to several other McCarry novels in which Christopher plays a part, including, among others, "Tears of Autumn," "The Secret Lovers," "Second Sight," and even "Shelley's Heart" (in which Christopher's daughter plays a role). This is really good stuff.

This is not a page-turner by any stretch of the imagination, but it is well-written.

The story opens in 1960s Paris where Paul Christopher, a second-generation CIA spy, is about to depart for VietNam. His girlfriend Molly, whom he loves dearly, dreads Paul's departure. Concerns for her safety have caused Paul and his CIA colleagues to lodge Molly in a safe house because of threats on Paul's life.

Impulsively, Molly runs after Paul, escaping her security guard, and takes a cab to the airport . . . where she is promptly murdered. Paul takes off for VietNam without knowing Molly's fate.

The story flashes back to 1920s Germany when Paul was a child, his father an American, his mother a German. The parents are a cosmopolitan couple with homes in Germany and the United States. Quickly we move into 1930s Germany and the Christophers busy themselves smuggling undesirables out of Germany and attracting the attention of the Gestapo. On September 1, 1939, mother, father and son attempt to make their own way out of Germany. Lori Christopher, Paul's mother, is detained by the Gestapo and effectively disappears. (Germany's Nacht und Nebel policy, borrowed from their Soviet counterparts: a person disappears without a trace.)

Paul's father, Hubbard Christopher, never gives up the search for his wife. He becomes part of the OSS, then the CIA, alwayss searching for his wife, while battling first the Germans, then the Soviets.

Paul begins his own career in the CIA after finishing college and serving in the military. The CIA is treated as a big family, the "Outfit," with Paul acquiring as a mentor Barney Wolkowicz, a man of humble origins who was Hubbard Christopher's closest confidante. Wolkowicz is a master spy, the most decorated man in the CIA.

The story moves slowly from one locale to another, with an ever growing cast of characters. Loyal patriots, hopeless rogues, women who are attracted to spies. This is not an "action" novel, per se. There are few instances of violence, a corpse here and there, but mostly it is intended to be a character study and a depiction of the life of spies. Surprisingly the characters never take on substantial substance. For the most part, it's the story of Paul Christopher. The plot is reasonably solid, but tighter editing would have helped. Perhaps a hundred pages or more could have been trimmed without loss.

The last third of the story is the best. Paul Christopher meets with an unusual situation. His colleagues and friends, the few that he has, meet once a year in his absence to remember him and discuss ways to bring him back from his fate. It is these friends and their suppers that give the story its title. Ultimately, Paul is loved and betrayed by his closest friends.

Paul does return and the story picks up speed leading to a surprise ending that is a welcome relief, if not entirely believable.

Overall, "The Last Supper" is a slow-moving, but competently executed thriller. While certainly not the best of its genre, despite the dustjacket blurbs, it is an enjoyable read.

Jerry

An agent for the CIA for some ten years, American author Charles McCarry knows of what he writes. His spy fiction is head and shoulders above many - it's intelligent, plausible, and totally enthralling. This writer's powers of description capture: "To the west, like a fringed eyelid closed in sleep, lay the dark forested coast of Vietnam." Kudos to Overlook for reissuing McCarry's novels.

First published in 1983 "The Last Supper" held readers spellbound, now it will undoubtedly win another generation of fans. Many will remember protagonist Paul Christopher; those who are meeting him for the first time will not forget him. Wolkowicz is another inspired creation - physically unattractive he has a mind like, forgive me, the proverbial steel trap. Relentless in finding answers, "...he worried every bit of evidence for hours, sniffing it and turning it in the cunning paws of his suspicion."

Opening pages of "The Last Supper" describe the death of Christopher's lover, Molly Benson. It's Paris covered in night rain and she is fatally injured by a speeding car. From there, readers are taken to Christopher's youth and young adulthood as the author traces the activities of the OSS during World War II, how his parents smuggled refugees, and the heartbreak when his German born mother was detained.

Throughout the story we are privy to the activities of those engaged in secret warfare and guerilla combat. It is a spy thriller at its finest as the personalities and hearts of those involved in these activities are revealed.

McCarry covers a lot of territory yet he does so with skill and erudition. The author is an espionage writer of the first order. Don't miss "The Last Supper."

- Gail Cooke

I could inundate with praise. Suffice to say I have read almost all in this genre and this is top three quality. Absolutely unforgettable.

One reviewer here says that this book ends up "putting Charles McCarry in the same literary league with John LeCarre, Alan Furst, Eric Ambler and Ken Follet." While I do enjoy a couple of those writers, or at least a few of those books, one thing that authors like LeCarre especially have in common with 'The Last Supper' is that the story is very slow. It uncoils like a leisurely afternoon. The prose truly reminded me of LeCarre and his intellectual spy thrillers. If you like LeCarre's books, I am sure that you will enjoy 'The Last Supper'. However, if you are like myself and find those books tedious and dated, you will find the same thing here.

I did not find the characters to be well fleshed out or more than thinly two dimensional. McCarry goes into great personal detail, evoking past events, but they do not make his characters any more involved with the reader.

The plot spans several decades, from WW1 to Vietnam and the cold war. The characters exist in a CIA type outfit. We follow the emergence of this government agency and how the people working there evolve.

Paul Christopher is the protagonist, a gifted young man who works as a spy and operator. He undergoes travails from losing his mom to having some tough episodes throughout his life. Once in the 'CIA' he fights evil and on and on.

I might be in the minority here. I read a lot. This is just not the sort of mystery/thriller that I usually enjoy. I can see how others would enjoy this story. I am not into sweeping narratives that cover fifty years. I do not agree with the majority of reviewers here in thinking that McCarry has a great gift of story telling.