- Paperback: 484 pages
- Publisher: Phoenix; New edition edition (4 Aug 2005)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0753819813
- ISBN-13: 978-0753819814
- Product Dimensions: 19.2 x 12.8 x 3.4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 240,632 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Review
'...makes full use of McCarry's trademark masterful handling of detail and atmosphere.' (SUNDAY TIMES )
'This sprawling fast-paced novel spans the globe and combines a modern thriller with an additional search for the Amphora Scoll ... It's a wild ride of a novel by a former Cold War undercover agent that, despite sounding far-fetched, is persuasively presented.' (HUDDERSFIELD DAILY EXAMINER )
'This sprawling fast-paced novel spans the globe and combines a modern thriller with an additional search for the Amphora Scoll ... It's a wild ride of a novel by a former Cold War undercover agent that, despite sounding far-fetched, is persuasively presented.' (HUDDERSFIELD DAILY EXAMINER )
Myles McWeeney, IRISH INDEPENDENT
'Literate, witty and genuinely exciting.'
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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First Sentence
I don't know how they do it nowadays, but during the Cold War the Outfit evaluated intelligence reports as follows: A, B, C, D for the reliability of the source and 1, 2, 3, 4 for the accuracy of the information. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
I don't know how they do it nowadays, but during the Cold War the Outfit evaluated intelligence reports as follows: A, B, C, D for the reliability of the source and 1, 2, 3, 4 for the accuracy of the information. Read the first page
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Having adored Charles McCarry's earlier work, I seized on this and was instantly transported. I'd always wondered what would happen to Paul Christopher, and the added ingredient of a secret scroll which revealed Jesus to be involved in a Roman spy-plot promised to be interesting in Da Vinci Code fashion. After a brilliant, Le Carre style start, I began to get bogged down. The characters seemed to jet backwards and forwards across the globe, experiencing silly and improbable escapes in every country they visited. For characters who must be in their late 50s and 60s, they were amazingly agile, in hand-to-hand combat with hulky 20-something bodyguard types! Finally, somewhere in the desert of some ex-Soviet republic, it all turned really silly. There were so many 'action scenes' described in stereotyped detail that one became bewildered, and finally (don't read any further if you want not to know the end)Paul Christopher is found, but then hardly says or does anything! And the whole scroll is disposed of without a second thought, that whole plot angle going up in a puff of smoke. And NOBODY CARED!
I do wish this novel had been properly edited. It promised so much and I was sorely let down.
I do wish this novel had been properly edited. It promised so much and I was sorely let down.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
"THE BRITISH ARE generally considered the nonpareils in foreign-intrigue literature. Although they didn't invent the genre, they perfected it, and are credited with the first spy novel that can be considered serious literature, Erskine Childers' still enthralling 1903 classic, The Riddle of the Sands." Morton Marcus
The most enthralling spy novels, I think come from the British. This is my first introduction to Charles McCarry. I know not why, he is one of the best, and I read this novel on advice from an "inside" friend. "McCarry is now a bit of an old boy himself: 75, to be precise. As a young man, 1957 to 1967, he served as a CIA agent, under 'deep cover'. This is not, apparently, quite as exciting or dangerous as it sounds. However, it certainly provided the man with some inside information, which he evidently puts to good use> He tells us that "the mode is the message”, and we would be wise to follow his lead."
Horace Hubbard one of the "Old Boys" has put out word that his cousin, Paul Christopher, is missing and that the network of Old Boys needs to meet and discuss. Paul, also an 'Old Boy' had talked with Horace a year earlier about finding his safe if he were to come up missing. The time is now, the safe has been found, and the Old Boys need to continue Paul's search. Paul is certain that his mother, who went missing when Paul was a wee lad, is alive and has with her an old religious Roman scroll. She was captured by the German Nazis and there had been some sightings but never anything certain. So, starts the search all over the world. Russia, US, China, Budapest, Frankfurt, and the deserts of North Africa, where camels are killed. Yes camels and for a darn good reason. Money is used to bribe everyone and success comes but not without a cost.
McCarry's 1995 novel, "Shelley's Heart," describes the events surrounding the presidential election that would take place five years later. In Mr. McCarry's fictional world, the 2000 elections result in a Senate that is split 50-50 and a disputed outcome that hangs on a few thousand votes in a single state. An impeachment also figures in the tale. The state in question is Illinois, not Florida, but this bit of literary license can be forgiven, considering Illinois' long tradition of voter fraud. The title of the book, by the way, derives from the name of a fictional secret society at Yale that is central to the events surrounding Mr. McCarry's fictional anticipation of the 2000 election--a hint, perhaps, of the all-Skull-&-Bones contest looming in 2004. So, we wonder, does McCarry really forecast the future Will the story in "Old Boys" come true?
This is a fast paced novel that moves quickly and tells the story with fine detail. It could not be put down. These “Old Boys” come close to finding the truth and Paul’s mom. I want them on my side. How does a woman get into the “Old Boys” club, or does she?
Highly Recommended. prisrob 3-20-06
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
38 reviews
16 of 16 people found the following review helpful
The Latest Offering From
11 Aug 2004
Format:Hardcover
Charles McCarry has long been one of the best authors of espionage thrillers, and he doesn't disappoint with his latest novel, "Old Boys." He worked for the CIA years ago and is extremely familiar with the "Company's" history and operations. Obviously, this firsthand knowledge makes his work all the more authentic. I simply do not understand why McCarry is not better known, nor why his books, especially "The Last Supper" and "The Tears of Autumn," are not considered classics. He is certainly in the same literary league with John LeCarre, Alan Furst, Eric Ambler and Ken Follet. I read McCarry's "The Last Supper" a few years ago and it is my favorite book in this genre - absolutely top notch! I have read most of his other novels since then, and have found them all to be superior. 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. I immediately picked up a copy of "Old Boys," McCarry's 10th novel, as soon as it hit the stores.
Intelligence agent Paul Christopher, often a major character in McCarry's novels, is present in this one also. Unfortunately, the suave, sophisticated agent's appearance is brief. The novel opens with the aging, but extremely fit, Christopher dining with his cousin Horace Hubbard, another former agent. Dinner is excellent, the conversation interesting, if unremarkable. Paul Christopher vanishes the next day. Unbelievably, his ashes are delivered by a Chinese official to the American consulate in Beijing many months later. Christopher had supposedly died in a remote corner of China. After a memorial service in Washington, Horace, who is not convinced that Paul is dead, recruits four other retired colleagues - a kind of All Star bunch of "Old Boys," to go back into the field to find Christopher. Their first clue is a photograph found in Paul's study revealing an ancient scroll sought by both the US government and Muslim extremists. Hunted and hounded all over the globe, from Xinjiang to Brazil, then Rome, Tel Aviv, Budapest and Moscow, the old pros, with Christopher's beautiful daughter Zarah providing support, search for their comrade and the answers to his disappearance. These men may have mellowed but they are still quick on their feet...and on the uptake.
McCarry does not write "light." Like most of his novels this one is complex and tackles deeper themes than mystery and suspense. His characters are three-dimensional and the writing tight. There is also a nostalgia here for a dying breed, the agents of old who fought and helped to win the Cold War. While a very good read, "Old Boys is not on par with Charles McCarry's best works. I do recommend it, however. It is still a good, long yarn that will hold your attention and leave you spellbound.
JANA
Intelligence agent Paul Christopher, often a major character in McCarry's novels, is present in this one also. Unfortunately, the suave, sophisticated agent's appearance is brief. The novel opens with the aging, but extremely fit, Christopher dining with his cousin Horace Hubbard, another former agent. Dinner is excellent, the conversation interesting, if unremarkable. Paul Christopher vanishes the next day. Unbelievably, his ashes are delivered by a Chinese official to the American consulate in Beijing many months later. Christopher had supposedly died in a remote corner of China. After a memorial service in Washington, Horace, who is not convinced that Paul is dead, recruits four other retired colleagues - a kind of All Star bunch of "Old Boys," to go back into the field to find Christopher. Their first clue is a photograph found in Paul's study revealing an ancient scroll sought by both the US government and Muslim extremists. Hunted and hounded all over the globe, from Xinjiang to Brazil, then Rome, Tel Aviv, Budapest and Moscow, the old pros, with Christopher's beautiful daughter Zarah providing support, search for their comrade and the answers to his disappearance. These men may have mellowed but they are still quick on their feet...and on the uptake.
McCarry does not write "light." Like most of his novels this one is complex and tackles deeper themes than mystery and suspense. His characters are three-dimensional and the writing tight. There is also a nostalgia here for a dying breed, the agents of old who fought and helped to win the Cold War. While a very good read, "Old Boys is not on par with Charles McCarry's best works. I do recommend it, however. It is still a good, long yarn that will hold your attention and leave you spellbound.
JANA
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Read this book, and all McCarry's other fiction as well!!!
10 July 2004
Format:Hardcover
Charles McCarry has been my favorite author since I picked up a used copy of "Secret Lovers" on the way to the airport more than ten years ago. For some reason he remains undiscovered by most readers -- his books ought to be appreciated not only by fans of espionage fiction, but by anyone who likes a good story that is beautifully written. I have read all the Paul Christopher books, and a couple years ago, thinking that the last one had already been written, re-read them from first to last. This series has a richness of characterization and story, a unique melding of history with fiction, and a literary style that elevates it above any other author's work. Although a unified series, each book has its own merits. The first, Miernik Dossier, is not a narrative, but rather a collection of reports from the field that dance around the truth, and that brillianty illuminate the type of imperfect knowledge that espionage can provide. Current events provide another example. One of the books is a historical romance. Another has some aspects of fantasy/science fiction. This book, "Old Boys", is the only one written in the first person, and does not have one of the Christophers as narrator. Again, it is topical, and can stand alone as an absorbing novel, but in the context of the entire series serves as a capstone to this family's story. I strongly recommend "Old Boys" -- and urge you to read the rest of McCarry's fiction too -- Let's hope this is not, in fact, Paul Christopher's swan song.
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Spies who will be spies
28 Aug 2004
Format:Hardcover
McCarry is a delight. One old spy goes missing - and not for the first time. After a congenial dinner with his cousin Horace, Paul Christopher disappears. Horace gathers together a few of his and Paul's former colleagues (all once employed by the Company) and a worldwide search for Paul is undertaken. It's truly an "old boys"network in this one.
The characters are wonderfully rich and developed. The plotting is beautifully done. While loaded with surprises, none of them require the reader to overcome disbelief. Even the bad guys - and there is no shortage of them - are interesting. And it's all played out in various parts of the world.
This is simply my idea of a great read. It's long at 473 pages, but not a one of them is dull. McCarry is a master of his craft.
Jerry
The characters are wonderfully rich and developed. The plotting is beautifully done. While loaded with surprises, none of them require the reader to overcome disbelief. Even the bad guys - and there is no shortage of them - are interesting. And it's all played out in various parts of the world.
This is simply my idea of a great read. It's long at 473 pages, but not a one of them is dull. McCarry is a master of his craft.
Jerry
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