Customer Reviews

The Sisters

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

 

 

Robert Littell's novel, "The Sisters," sets the high water mark for espionage thrillers. Brief at just over 300 pages, convoluted with plots within subterfuges within deceits within double-crosses, and populated with a murderer's row of spies and assassins, "The Sisters" thrills with its expertise as it awes with its audacity.

The titular Sisters are actually two men, Carroll and Francis, "the sisters death and night," who work for the Central Intelligence Agency. Their job is simple - to plot. Littell wrote this book during the Reagan era, so the natural target of the Sisters' gigantic, non-linear minds is the Soviet Union - even though Littell never specifically mentions the year during which the novel is set, it's perfectly clear that we're at the height of the Cold War. As chock full of idiosyncrasies as they are brilliance, the Sisters contrive the perfect crime . . . a crime that will shock the world and for which the blame will fall squarely on the U.S.S.R.

This dastardly plot requires the unwitting assistance of one of Littell's great creations, the Potter. An aged dwarf living out his years with his shrewish wife, the Potter is a now-disgraced member of the Soviet intelligentsia. Once a highly successful "novator," the Potter trained "sleepers," who were undercover agents who could live anywhere in the world, waiting to be "activated" for a "job." Betrayed by his own government, the Potter has lost all his sleepers except one . . . his last, best Sleeper. The Sleeper who is the son the Potter never had.

But the Sisters have a reach that extends well beyond the Iron Curtain, and soon the Sleeper has been set on a path to commit the Sisters' crime. The Potter, who can pierce the murkiest of hidden motives, understands that his cherished student is at great risk, both to himself and for his country. And in a classic thriller's plot development, "only the Potter can stop him."

Demonstrating a firm command of both the "tricks of the trade" as well as life in the Soviet Union, Littell keeps the reader flipping the pages as the Sleeper gets closer and closer to committing the crime of the century. Littell also masterfully doles out the hints to the reader so that while never explicitly explained, the Sleeper's (and the Sisters') intended crime becomes monstrously, horrifyingly clear. (If you don't recognize it at first, never fear, you will.)

A must for fans of espionage thrillers, "The Sisters" demands to be read and refuses to be put down. Building on a solid foundation of well-drawn characters in an exhilarating plot, "The Sisters" builds to a crescendo of revenge that will cause the reader to return to Page 1, eager to spot all the author's clues that led to this shocking yet logical conclusion. All in all, a definitive thriller.

In the wake of Littell's bestseller, "The Company," Overlook has reissued three of Littell's Cold-War novels, classics of sly black humor and switchback, labyrinthine plotting. These include his first, "The Defection of A.J. Lewinter" (1973), about a low-level American scientist who defects to the Russians - or does he? Then his 1990 novel, "The Once and Future Spy," pits the CIA against the CIA in a twisted tale of dirty tricks and history.

But "The Sisters," a conspiracy of conspiracies, is the apex of Littell's diabolical wit. Plotting is the vocation of the title characters, Francis and Carroll, old CIA hands, known to their leery colleagues as "the sisters Death and Night" (Walt Whitman), and the story opens with their obscure and hilarious conception of "the perfect crime." They are too careful - communicating in cryptic written notes which are shredded at day's end - to let anyone, including the reader, in on what this crime might entail, but its instrument is a Russian sleeper - an unactivated spy living secretly as an American.

To find him, the Sisters must suborn the Potter, a disgraced and retired KGB officer, the former head of the Russian sleeper school. His last and best pupil, the one the Sisters seek, is also the son he never had. But, between threats and bribes, the Potter betrays him, as he knows he will. The action picks up as the Potter flees Russia and then his CIA "protectors" in order to intervene and stop his protégé from committing the crime that will reverberate around the world.

Narrative shifts among the various characters - the Sisters, the Potter, a Cuban assassin whose role remains a mystery until things are well advanced, a couple of Russian masterminds, a pair of Canadian assassins and the debonair, reluctant, but well-taught young Sleeper - all of them plotting and counterplotting.

As a number of these chase each other across the country, Littell's black wit and deft storytelling keep the pages turning. The Potter, a hapless, likeable fellow, despite his cold-bloodedly ruthless side, acquires a civilian sidekick and the reader's sympathies. As the story comes together with a bang, first-time readers will gasp at Littell's masterfully inclusive cynicism and readers familiar with the twists will marvel again in sheer appreciation. This is a conspiracy fan's uber-conspiracy.

WARNING! SPOILER!

I agree with those who enjoyed this book. The plotting and humor are a delight, as is the general level of intelligence.

But I couldn't figure out at the end why the Potter was dragged into the affair. The Soviet "Cousins" knew the activation code (they sent the postcard from New York with the Whitman house and the code on it) and it was their instructions the Sleeper followed. So why did anyone need to go to the trouble of comprising the Potter's sleepers and discrediting him at the KGB?

The true nature of Francis was a total surprise to me.

"The Sisters" are two CIA eccentric master plotters. Francis, given to wearing outrageous bow ties and Carroll, who favored 3-piece suits, starched collars and had a penchant for chocolate candy. Francis regularly beat the lie-detector machine during his annual tests. They conceived their ultimate project. The absolute perfect crime. The assassination of a high political figure they deemed dangerous to the future of the U.S. The intriguing plot required the unknowing recruitment of ,the Potter,a top Soviet novator who had been in charge of training sleeper agents. The plan was to activate a sleeper agent who had been an excellent Soviet army sniper. The sleeper was the best graduate of the Potter's school. Further, the Potter considered him to be the son he had never had. The plan was that when it was discovered who had committed the murder the Soviets would be blamed. When in fact it had been a CIA plot aided by the complicity of the KGB. The time frame was of course during the Cold War. The plot had many parallels to the Kennedy assassination. Other interesting characters were the blind man, a director of KGB Department 13,two Canadian killers used by the Russians as sweepers, and G. Sprowls, a Company utility fielder, who specialized in tying up loose ends. Truly a fast moving excellent and enjoyable read.

This is vintage Robert Littell, featuring convoluted twists of plot, and of course, the strange eccentric character. "The Sisters" is about the crime of the century, and more would be telling.

This is a believable (but fictional) tale of espionage and betrayal. At only about 300 pages, it moves the reader briskly towards its conclusion. The author's prose, as always, is well done and holds the reader's interest. In my humble (but no doubt controversial) opinion, Littell is a much clearer writer than Le Carre, and his characters are more memorable. Recommended. RJB.

The Sisters is one of the best of Robert Littell's novels, and the best of the four fictional accounts of a certain real world event I've read. The plot is byzantine without being confusing; the complexity is lovely and the pace at which events unfold is perfect. Unlike some of Littell's earlier works, the characters on display in The Sisters are fully realized. A synopsis would spoil the fun, so my description of the novel's contents will be brief.

The sisters Dark and Night (a line from a Whitman poem) are two odd duck CIA agents whose job is to plot. They are wonderfully quirky and so Machiavellian by nature the CIA seems a perfect place for them to roost. They've cooked up a conspiracy they believe to be authorized, albeit silently, by the CIA Director, and they keep it to themselves when they set it in motion. Figuring out who is working for whom (and who is betraying whom) is the novel's challenge, but the novel is worth reading for its characters, not just its intrigue. The story's portrayal of the political workings of the CIA (which might as well be the CYA) seem perfectly credible; in any event, it's a fun addition. A satisfying display of karma at the novel's end left me grinning.

The Sisters is a masterful work, a treat not just for fans of espionage novels but for any reader who enjoys good writing.

This is a great read. The characters are well developed and colorful. The story takes a familiar event and adds surprising plot twists. This book made me want to read MORE of Littell.

this story may have had a good ending, but i could not get there. about 70-75% thru the book i could not take any more
of the on and on of nothing. i closed the book and said to myself i can not take any more. those of you who enjoyed the
book, how did you do it ?

This was a very ordinary spy novel. Nothing outstanding and nothing that suspensful. Way too many coincidences and not enough reality such as a LeCarre or Deigton would have.. If this book were a movie it would be classified as "B".....

This is the first Littel book that I've read. Some reviews stated that Littel was in the genre of the great spy masters. Based on that info I purchased this one and one called The Company... Well, in the lexicon of Howard Cossell; " Fugetaboutit"!! He is a long, long way from the Masters ...