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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Compelling Contemporary Thriller That Would Have Pleased Ian Fleming, July 14, 2008
This review is from: In Secret Service: A Novel (Mass Market Paperback)
"In Secret Service" is a compelling, nail-biting homage to Ian Fleming from first-time author Mitch Silver; a gripping historical thriller which, I am certain, would have pleased the old master himself. Silver has carved himself a vast historical canvas, and has rendered a gripping yarn about a dark secret dating from World War II. A secret ferreted out none other than by Ian Fleming himself, and recounted in a "memoir" that comprises much of the novel. Four decades after Fleming completes his unpublished "memoir", a young American art historian travels to Ireland, and there, claims her odd literary inheritance, which Fleming has bequeathed to her. Soon she realizes that Fleming's unpublished work is not just a compelling memoir that's been hidden deep within the vaults of a Dublin bank, but one whose dark secret will take her on an epic, almost nonstop, relentless journey back home. Pitting herself against secret agents and assassins eager to use every deadly foul means at their disposal towards retrieving that manuscript, she realizes soon enough that her trek home is a desperate struggle to stay alive. Silver's historical research is quite admirable in both its scope and detail; readers will wonder whether many the events described are real, especially when we are introduced to such major real-life figures as Winston Churchill, Edward, Duke of Windsor, and Anthony Blunt. But, most importantly of all, Silver takes his readers on a glorious fictional saga worthy of comparison to James Bond's, and giving us more than a mere glimpse as to what the real-life adventures of former British naval spy Ian Fleming were during the course of World War II.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
More character, less backstory, still a good 1st novel, June 13, 2007
I'm going through my stack of freebie books that I snagged from my previous job before I left them. Right now, I'm almost finished reading In Secret Service by Mitch Silver. It's a bit of historical fiction with a heavy emphasis on fiction, and the main character, Dr. Amy Greenberg, is rather delightful although we don't get to see much of the good Doctor throughout much of the story. If I had any comment to make for future books from this author, I'd make the suggestion to show more of the action character in the story. Granted, I'm reading this from a free, advance reading copy, so there may have been some minor changes to the final print edition, but I doubt that there were any major ones. The story details what happens when an ordinary person, Dr. Greenberg, finds herself suddenly in the middle of an international intrigue whose roots go back to King Edward VIII and his sudden departure from the British throne. In one sense, this book reminds me of The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova. Her book also uses the parallel movement of modern day life and historical fiction to tell a story. I think The Historian is superior in its ability to move the plot forward in both timelines, but I think In Secret Service does a better job creating a protagonist with whom the modern American reader can more easily identify. I wish In Secret Service would use a bit more movement in the present timeline. There are long stretches where the reader is simply reading over Dr. Greenberg's shoulder, and nothing else happens in those moments except for the unfolding of the historical fiction in the past timeline. Nevertheless, with only 42 pages left to go in this novel, the author will really have to drop the ball and squash it with his foot in order to make me lose the interest in the storyline and the main character which I have at this point. I'm looking forward to Mitch Silver's next book.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
This isn't James Bond (or anything close), August 4, 2008
This review is from: In Secret Service: A Novel (Mass Market Paperback)
I listened to the audio version and if I hadn't been stuck in a car for 2 days, I probably wouldn't have finished the story. First of all my biggest gripe is that it is NOT a spy story (which was why I bought it). It is half conspiracy theory and half . . . fake memoir. Basic plot is: Girl gets strange manuscript as inheritance and proceeds to read it during her trip while missing all sorts of clue that the conspiracy is closing in around her. Big finale is girl and fiancee running around a museum like screaming ninnies while trying to get away from conspiracy thugs. The fake memoir part is at least interesting and made me want to research it to find out the real vs fake rate. (Haven't done so yet.) The book (which I flipped through) does have some cool production. The "evidence" that comes with the memoir is put in the book. For example 1/2 of a torn letter is a big piece of evidence and on that page you see a 1/2 of a torn letter in handwriting. That part was cool. I can't recommend reading this book but if you want to, I feel no qualms about telling you to skip ALL of the 'modern' parts involving the girl. You gain nothing from them.
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