Miernik Dossier [Paperback]

Charles McCarry (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1988

In The Miernik Dossier, five international agents embark on a car trip in a Cadillac, traveling from Switzerland to the Sudan. Among them is Tadeusz Miernik, the shy and bumbling Polish scientist who might be the leader of a terror force that could set the Cold War aflame.

--This text refers to the MP3 CD edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

‘Arguably the finest modern American spy story’
— New York Times

‘Charles McCarry is the best modern writer on the subject of intrigue - by the breadth of Alan Furst, by the fathom of Eric Ambler, by any measure’
— P.J. O’Rourke

‘Intelligent and enthralling... superbly constructed... wholly convincing’
— Eric Ambler

‘Absorbing, intelligent... True entertainment’
— New Yorker

‘McCarry’s thrillers really thrill, his political insight is praised by senior politicians and his erudition, experience and good writing turn spy stories into literature. McCarry and his dynamic alter-egos wipe the floor with the opposition’
— Telegraph

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

From the Publisher

The dazzling first novel--called a "fast-moving tale of Byzantine intrigue" by The New York Times--by master Charles McCarry, author of Old Boys. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Ballantine Books (Mm) (February 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345291166
• ISBN-13: 978-0345291165
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,013,592 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Intelligently Written, Extraordinarily Suspenseful Espionage Thriller, December 8, 2005

By 

Jana L. Perskie "ceruleana" (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Miernik Dossier (Hardcover)

Charles McCarry is one of the top writers of espionage, suspense/thriller fiction and most definitely in the same literary league with John LeCarre, Alan Furst, Eric Ambler and Ken Follett. 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 storylines, put him at the top of the list for craftsmanship and inventiveness. Therefore, I do not understand why McCarry's books are out of print and have been for some time. In order to read them I have had to look for used book sellers who have his novels in stock at a reasonable price - not an easy task. However, for anyone who reads this review and becomes motivated to search out "The Miernik Dossier" or any of the author's other novels, I urge you to follow through. You won't be sorry - I promise.

I should note that McCarry worked for the CIA many years ago, during the height of the Cold War, and the air of authenticity that permeates his books makes them all the more fascinating and absolutely riveting. His position as one of the "Old Boys," and his knowledge of "The Company" and the political goings-on in the DC Beltway add tremendously to his most original plots.

"The Miernik Dossier," published in 1973, is McCarry's debut novel and also the first book to feature Paul Christopher, the cool, sophisticated American undercover agent - who is to the author what George Smiley is to John Le Carré. The narrative, purely experimental at the time it was written, is comprised of a collection of 89 numbered extracts from intelligence reports made by field agents (from various countries), as well as memos, wire-taps and diaries revolving around a somewhat bumbling Polish exile who might be a double or even triple agent...but then again who might not. No one knows for sure whether Tadeusz Miernik is a good guy or a bad one, or whose side he is on - not American agent Paul Christopher, nor British Intelligence officer Nigel Collins, nor Kalash el Khatar a North African prince, nor any one of the colorful characters who plot, spy and elevate the art of subterfuge to the highest level. One of the novel's highlights involves a trip (mostly by Cadillac) from Geneva to the Sudan with Miernik, Khatar, Collins, a beautiful Hungarian seductress (who might be a spy), and Miernik's sister, who must be smuggled out of Czechoslovakia before she can join the group. There's plenty of dark humor to be found between the pages also.

I have now read almost all of Charles McCarry's books and cannot recommend them highly enough. I have had to go out of my way, as previously mentioned, to acquire his work but am so glad I did. This one is a particular favorite of mine. If you are a fan of John le Carré, authors Furst, Ambler and Follett, you will certainly become a McCarry fan, as are le Carré, Furst, Ambler and Follett. They have all read him and praise him to the sky. ENJOY!
JANA

21 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Miernik Dossier, June 13, 2004

By 

C. H. Hanks (Santa Monica, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Miernik Dossier (Paperback)

First McCarry novel for me - found it in paperback in a bookstore in Evanston, Illinois in 1973 or so. MCarry is as good as LeCarre and his Paul Christopher novels, of which this was the first, are as good as spy fiction gets. The Miernik Dossier is an epistolary novel - field reports from Christopher as he works on recruiting Polish diplomat Miernik. If you like your spy novels rich in character development and steeped in the moral ambiguities of the secret world, this is one you should try. (Good luck finding it, though.)

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting and different, May 3, 2006

By 

Christopher Gwyn (over there) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Miernik Dossier (Hardcover)

The Miernik Dossier is as good as you want when it comes to character development and overall scope when it comes to a espionage novel. Written in the form of a case file on a Polish operator(or is he?), this format allows for many different views from many different perspectives on the basic plot.

American agent Paul Christopher is the main character as a group of men and women drive from Europe to The Sudan in a Cadillac in 1959 at the height of the cold war. Included in this group are Tadeusz Miernik, a Polish national who may or may not be a communist agent, Sudanese Prince Kalesh, whose moral ambiguity makes for a fascinating character, a British agent, and a concentration camp survivor who is willing to sleep with any and all of the men who is also probably a Soviet agent.

As they make their way south it becomes more and more uncertain that Miernik is in fact a communist provocateur. Christopher is torn between what appears to be strong circumstantial evidence that would confirm Mierniks guilt and his own intuitive instincts that Miernik is too much of a bumbling clod to be an agent.Through reports and interviews with the principals the story unfolds. At the end the utter futility of the mission and the callous manipulation of cold war pawns is unflinchingly shown.

I have read many cold war novels over the years and am glad I discovered this one, for it is truly one of a kind.McCarry's characterizations are nothing short of brilliant as he puts meat on the bones of his divergent cast of characters.