Customer Reviews

Second Sight

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Choosing the best Charles McCarry novel is like choosing the best Mozart Sonata. There is no best, there are only favorites. There is a lovely scene in this book where the head of the "Outfit," McCarry's version of the CIA, and his sweet, wonderful wife entertain a trendy rich radically chic couple. The scene sums up everything that was wrong about the 60s and even if the rest of the book wasn't such a delight, would make reading the book worthwhile.

An entertaining spy novel. Have not read predicessors in the series, so had no expectations. Main characters were interesting, specially the evil ones.
Sceptics must suspend antigonism to premise that one main character has "second sight" that can affect outcome. It was a pleasure to read a novel written by an author who honors plot and knows his classics. And is obviously familair with the tricks of the spy trade. I plan to find McCarry's earlier spy novels and read them.

Second Sight was my first exposure to Charles McCarry. I thought the story line was creative, and the characters fully drawn and compelling. Great stuff here for fans of the spy novel, especially if you like the early days of the CIA right after WWII.

But, as I was reading the book I could tell that there was a lot of history to these characters (and between these characters) that I was missing. The novel felt like a final good-bye to Paul Christopher and his compatriots. Only later did I fgure out that this was the last of the several Paul Christopher books. I will go back and read some of the earlier books in the series - and I recommend that you do too before reading Second Sight.

If you are already familiar with the series, then I have no doubt you will find this book a very enjoyable conclusion.

Forgive me for raving a bit-but this is a general review 'cuz I have been rereading all the McCarry books, one after the other, and except for one, they all run together so seamlessly. I love 'em all! Cant remember where one ends and the next one starts...He is a consummate story-teller, tales within tales, with a family tree/geneology of the Christophers and The Hubbards that last for hundreds of years. He is so talented a writer. I love John LeCarre, and I mean no disrespect to his skills. I have read ever book of his. No need to make a 'super bowl' kind of comparison-lets just say if you like layered, sometimes dense stories filled with compelling characters, especially the main protagonists, you cannot go wrong with McCarry. Top of the pile-

Great author, terrible publisher. Dozens of typos that stop one cold. Can not Overlook afford professionals or at least spellcheck to catch "poople," "aparments" ad infinatum? I recommend to McCarry another publisher. Maybe they would even come up with some less pedestrian jacket designs.

For years, LeCarre's The Spy Who Came In From The Cold was my favorite spy novel. I discovered Charles McCarry two summers ago, and have devoured the seven Paul Christopher novels since then. Second Sight and at least four others are as good or better than anything LeCarre ever wrote, and unlike the storyteller who lost his power when he stopped writing about the Cold War, McCarry is not burdened by the ridiculous notion of different sides being morally equivalent. There is good and evil, and never should the two be confused, even if the good is imperfect. The book spreads deftly across three generations of Christophers and several continents, as the quiet, emotionally burdened Paul, technically retired from intelligence work, tries to deal with his remarkable past, and a daughter he never knew existed. If this is the way the author has chosen to end the series, what a sparking finish line!

....which led me to all the rest. Excellent, knowledgeable author. I now have collected ALL of his books. Will make enjoyable 2nd and 3rd readings, I am sure.

If you are a fan of the Paul Christopher spy series, you will probably like "Second Sight" well enough and disagree with some of the qualms that I had with it.

The publisher calls "Second Sight" the seventh in the Charles McCarry's Christopher series. Hard to know if that's true or not, as the book is a pastiche of all of the Christopher stories, past and future. While there is a general plot that threads through the book, the linear progress of the story is interrupted at virtually every chapter by a hop backward or forward. The story line often skips four chapters before reappearing to continue. To some degree, this is true of most of the Paul Christopher series, but "Second Sight" outdoes all of the others in its "crazy quiltness." Above all, this is a book that is mostly about updating and explaining Christopher family history, praising the U.S. intelligence community and telling almost random stories of intrigue. It is not what you would call an action thriller in any sense of the definition being employed these days.

Having registered that criticism of this book, I have to say that Charles McCarry writes about intrigue and spycraft as well as anyone in the business. Most of his characters are wonderfully original and unpredictable. His protagonist, Paul Christopher, is of Howard Roarke proportions in his brilliance, steadfastness, and physical courage. Villains are fiendishly clever and vile as they come. On the flip side of these positives, there are times when "Second Sight" veers too close to comic book stereotypes, but more often than not, the creative story line saves the moment. Nevertheless, this book has some wonderfully written vignettes or episodes that could stand alone as short stories.

One other nitpick to register here. Author McCarry has biases about people, cultures, and organizations that sometimes get in the way of the story. He has unreserved love for the CIA/OSS of the old days, with its Ivy League Brahmin management. Conversely, he laments the reforms of the type started by Senator Frank Church and others that curbed Agency excesses in the 1970s.

This probably isn't McCarry's best book, but if you're into the series, you won't mind the quirkiness and will enjoy the continuation of the Christopher family saga.

Found these book only recently and loved them. Great, complex stories. I now want to wait a little and then reread them in the right order. Best complex spy stories ever, with really interesting characters.

I had not read this author and I purchased two of his books, this one and Secret Lovers. I did not find them to be well written and had a few mispelled words in them.
I would not recommend them or will I read another of his books as their are too many good authors' books to read.
Peggy R. Wildman