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Review
"'Excellent...As good as thriller writing gets...First-class entertainment.' - The Washington Post"
Product Description
A world-class spy story from the master of the genre With the publication of his New York Times bestseller The Company, Robert Littell re-established his position as one of our top writers of intelligent, ironic, and always entertaining espionage thrillers. After many years The Sisters, a cult classic among espionage aficionados is finally available again as Duckworth republishes this classic spy story by Littell, whose most recent novel The Company received widespread acclaim. In the book Christopher Lehmann-Haupt of The New York Times called 'the plot of plots,' Robert Littell has created the CIA 'legends' Francis and Carroll, dubbed 'The sisters Death and Night' by their cohorts. But few know what these enigmatic and extremely dangerous operatives do. They plot - and they're plotting the perfect crime. They've located the perfect pawn - the Potter, the exiled ex-head of the KGB sleeper school - and, with artful deception, the Sisters coerce him into betraying his last and best sleeper, the man he considers his son. Once awakened, this sleeper, an assassin living secretly in the U.S., will launch a mission of death - unless the Potter, in a desperate race against time, can stop his protege from committing the Sisters' perfect and world-shattering crime.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Having read and been completely blown away by "The Company" I bought several more of Littells books and have become a big fan. For me "The Sisters" is the
best, excluding "The Company" which is in a league of it's own.
It offers a take on a real event in American history; which event slowly becomes apparent during the course of the book although it is never mentioned by name.
An intricate plot, well drawn ruthless characters and well recommended. About as far from James Bond as you can get.
best, excluding "The Company" which is in a league of it's own.
It offers a take on a real event in American history; which event slowly becomes apparent during the course of the book although it is never mentioned by name.
An intricate plot, well drawn ruthless characters and well recommended. About as far from James Bond as you can get.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
9 reviews
22 of 22 people found the following review helpful
Littell's masterful tale of revenge, deceit, espionage, and honor
6 Oct 2005
Format:Hardcover
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.
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.
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
The sisters Death and Night
26 Sep 2004
Format:Mass Market Paperback
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.
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.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Just one little thing ...
24 Sep 2010
Format:Paperback
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.
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.
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