Title: Improbable, unlikable, inscrutable
Product review: Improbable events occur to an unlikable person, but luckily someone acting on inscrutable motives shows up at the last second to rescue him. Over and over, like the old Flash Gordon serials or the Batman TV show.A lot of people seem to love the doomy atmosphere of this John Le Carre imitation and the "what if" fantasies that form the plot, such as it is. The fact that all the twists are telegraphed pages in advance flatters the audience while contributing to the sense of fatalism. The writing is literate but pretentious (like le Carre's, only slightly worse).Drawing realistic humans is not Furst's strong point and the protagonist's recollections of his life clang embarrassingly. You can always tell when a flashback is coming, like movie musicals when everyone starts acting funny and you know a song is about to start. If you skip over those parts you'll enjoy the book more.
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