The Prodigal Spy

I enjoyed this book almost in spite of myself. You don't have to be Sherlock Holmes or George Smiley to make a pretty good guess at the identity of "Silver" but the quality of the descriptive writing, the constant plot twists and the suspense kept me turning the pages. The "innocent abroad" storyline reminded me slightly of Eric Ambler although Mr Ambler would not have inflicted on his readers the minutely detailed, three-page sex scene straight out of a trashy porn mag! (The lovemaking episode in The Night Comers lasts less than two paragraphs and is infinitely more erotic). This is not the greatest cold war "spy" novel by any means but a decent read which helps educate non-Americans in some of that country's traumas, particularly McCarthyism and Vietnam, while rattling along at a good pace and keeping the reader gripped.

We first meet the main character of the book, Nick, as a child in 1950 as his father his being investigated in the McCarthyite purges. The father flees behind the Iron Curtain but 20 years later summons Nick for one last reunion before he dies and the chance of uncovering the truth.All of the ingredients then for a cold war thriller that's tense and fast-paced. Unfortunately this book is neither of these things. The pace is pedestrian bordering on the languid, tension is minimal, and astute readers will have guessed the ending by about halfway through.

I came to The Prodigal Spy from Los Alamos - hopeful but wondering if the second novel could match the standards set by the first. I need not have worried.There are enough surprises (at least until the final pages) to sustain the narrative thrust but at the same time they restrain a reviewer from revealing too much of the plot. Suffice to say that it is soundly based in McCarthy era America and Iron Curtain Czechoslovakia still recovering from the suicide of Jan Masaryk. The atmosphere is convincingly oppressive.But that may still be the least of the book's virtues. The characters live beyond the pages, and they speak the way human beings speak (dialogue in thrillers rarely enjoys an ear as acute as Joseph Kanon's). Within the conventions of the espionage story, The Prodigal Spy explores profound issues of love and betrayal in adult, thought-provoking terms.The fact that the end becomes predictable should not deter; it is inherent in the setting and the characters who inhabit it. Kanon sits comfortably on the shelf beside Le Carré, Furst, McCarry - a select band

I remember thinking: goodness it can’t be this easy to work out? I had the plot completely sorted in my head very early, and I’m REALLY no Sherlock. The author wouldn’t make it so easy and therefore this obvious, would he? So I kept going, thinking, I know, this is the way we are meant to think, and he’s going to do something strange and wonderful and the surprise will be terrific. What a waste of time. I do hate it when authors treat readers like idiots. Lucky to get one star. After well over 500 books on Kindle this is, if I recall, only the second time I’ve written a review. That’s how much I want you to avoid this

The unsmiling drabness of Prague at the time and suspicion and hostility of police and those in authority are well depicted. They correspond closely to my personal recollections formed during a visit in the mid-1960s, when almost the only vehicles on the pot-hole strewn roads were military trucks manned by undertrained underpaid Czech conscripts.The book is well written. Descriptions of places avoid the tendency for delivering incontinent travelogues that is common to many writers who are unfamiliar with the cities they try to portray. The plot moves briskly and characters are convincing. The dialogue has a genuiness to it which Le Carré and few other writers in this genre manage to achieve.