Three Days of the Condor [Paperback]

James Grady (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1970

Researcher for U.S. Intelligence Agency, comes across more information than he should and is suddenly the target of an international manhunt. Filmed in 1975 by Sydney Pollack with Robert Redford as the hunted, Cliff Robertson and Max von Sydow as two pursuers and Faye Dunaway as the woman who shelters Redford.

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Dell Pub Co (July 1970)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0440175704
• ISBN-13: 978-0440175704
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,529,690 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Three Days Not Long Enough, October 25, 2000

By 

Mr Marlowe (UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Three Days of the Condor (Paperback)

Condor reads spy novels for a living, picking out the neat twists and checking that no spooks have spilled the beans on sensitive government information. He doesn't seem too bothered by the fact that he works for the CIA, until he gets back from buying lunch one day and finds everybody dead.

From that moment things get hectic, first he is hunted and then he becomes the hunter as he figures out how to use his skills and knowledge against a shadowy coalition of G men and assassins, and tries to discover why they want him dead. The story rattles along and drags you with it, and whilst the movie is better paced, the book is still well worth the trip.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Mystery Novel about Washington Intelligence, March 17, 2005

By 

Acute Observer (By the Shore NJ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Three Days of the Condor (Paperback)

This 1974 novel used sources like "The Politics of Heroin in Southeast Asia" by Alfred W. McCoy, and the others listed in the 'Preface'. It takes place in Washington DC. Ronald Malcolm works for the "American Literary Historical Society", and reads detective and mystery novels to summarize its plots for his employer. One day their new accountant tells Malcolm there is a discrepancy in the records; of seven crates shipped from Seattle only five crates arrived in Washington. This had not been noticed previously. The accountant reports this loss in a memo.

Malcolm reports to work on Thursday. It is his turn to go out for sandwiches for lunch, and he uses a basement exit for a short-cut. He also runs an errand. He returns to find the front door locked; he has to use his key. Then he finds that all of his co-workers have been killed by professional assassins. Malcolm leaves the building and calls the "panic number" from a public phone to report the maximum damage; he is told to disappear and call back later. When Malcolm calls back, he is told to make contact in an alley of a Georgetown theater. But his rescue team takes a shot at Malcolm, who fires back, escapes, and goes to ground. Will Malcolm be rescued by he CIA or found by the killers? And who is the double agent?

After you read this novel you can better understand the film, which is a simplified and condensed version (called "Three Days ...). The story was changed from drug smuggling (to censor drug references?), and relocated to NY city. This story seems implausible to me, since eliminating the one link in Seattle would avoid the furious investigation that would follow a massacre of seven in Washington DC.

5.0 out of 5 stars Run Condor run, May 25, 2008

By 

bernie "xyzzy" (Arlington, Texas) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Three Days of the Condor (Paperback)

Condor is the code name for Ronald Malcolm an employee of the CIA. His mission is to read, read everything he can to see if there are any subversive codes being posted in innocuous looking literature.
He discovers that the number of packages shipped to his location do not match the bill of lading. He brings this to the attention of his superiors.
One day he leaves by an un-recorded unauthorized back door for lunch. On returning he finds everyone dead.
Who did this and who can he trust? To survive he must use his wits and what he has learned from his reading.
A movie "Three days of the Condor" is based on this book, which is really first in a series of books, sort of like the James Bond series. Naturally being film media the story needed cutting down to size, hence three days instead of six. Robert Redford has to squeeze James Grady's "Six Days of the Condor" into the Redford mold. The book plot of drugs and Viet Nam are out. Redford's substitute plot of oil and Arabs is in. Bad guys differ. Great acting, great actors and a few faux pas, such as if they knew there was a back door to the location, don't you think it would be watched? In the movie Tina Chen (Janice) can be seen again in "Paper Man (1971)".