Charles McCarry has been called the best American espionage writer who ever lived. Now, with the re-release of his classic Paul Christopher series, comes The Last Supper, a tour de force that traces the evolution of the OSS and the CIA from the aftermath of World War I through World War II, Vietnam, and the Cold War.
To Paul Christopher, the world of espionage had become a region of the mad, in which men and women lived without conviction and were compelled by a craving for conspiracy. But now, he has to find the “mole” in the Outfit and demand justice from enemies, past and present. As he follows the twisting path of this secret American intelligence group, he discovers a trail of betrayal and violence that leads backward to the horrors of the Nazi era and plunges forward beyond the Vietnam War’s labyrinth of lies.
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"Loved this book about the spy Paul Christopher. It deals with Paul's parents, Hubbard and Loti and their network of friends, many of whom are spies as well. Paul's life has been defined by his parents' roles in the spying game for the US. He is dragged into a plot to try to locate a mole who is betraying America to the USSR and spends 10 years as a prisoner in China before the spy is unmasked."
— Jen (4 out of 5 stars)
“At a moment when the CIA’s travails are evoking nostalgia for a golden age when it supposedly operated effectively, McCarry offers a useful reminder that such an era never existed. That alone is reason enough to welcome the return of his excellent Paul Christopher novels.”
— New York Times“The best spy novelists were once spies themselves, including le Carré, Greene, McCarry and even Maugham.”
— New York Times Book Review“In an arena that has become more and more distinguished, Charles McCarry remains the greatest espionage writer that America has produced. The greatest. Period.”
— Otto Penzler“McCarry is an ace spy novelist.”
— Publishers Weekly“[This] political thriller [is] among his best.”
— Library Journal“Number one…the best espionage writer in the English language!”
— Best Sellers“A complex and carefully crafted plot, with passages that make one put the book down and gasp.”
— Jeffrey Archer, bestselling author" The Paul Christopher novels are sublime - more than just spy-genre, they are beautifully written paeans to a lost world: McCarry is a right-wing lunatic in real-life, but that should not detract from his prose - a seriously underrated American author, and in the top 20 of America's most interesting writers. "
— Alex, 2/4/2014" Audio Book. A decent book but not exciting enough. The whole book seemed to take place in an overcast depressing day. "
— Jake, 1/31/2014" seems to be a realistic portrayl of the spy world "
— Jim, 1/23/2014" Another winner for Paul Christopher fans! "
— Sandy, 12/11/2013" I never really understood what was happening in this story. I kept reading until the end and still did not get it. "
— Maureen, 11/21/2013" In the Paul Christopher series, this ties a lot of strings and connects a lot of dots. For followers of the series, it is impossible to put down. I loved reading every page of this book. "
— Christopher, 10/16/2013" Read this first some years ago, and this through, I appreciated the tradecraft, settings, characters, etc. But I remembered whodunit from the very beginning, which took a lot of the suspense out of it. "
— Terry, 9/1/2013" I read this many years ago and a few vivid scenes pop up in my brain from time to time. "
— Jim, 8/28/2013" I was dissappointed. Was looking back to characters from later-published Old Boys. Shares some of the tone and panorama, but the narrative line didn't appeal. "
— Alan, 7/26/2013" One of my favorite novels of all time; at one level, it's a stunningly executed roman a clef history of the CIA; at the same time, the characters are so vividly drawn, the layers of memory, regret and betrayal so carefully crafted, that the novel stands on its own when divorced from that history. "
— Eli, 7/21/2013" Another brilliant story by McCarry. This continues the Paul Christoher (his main character) series of espionage books. He is tremendous at weaving in details that build incredibly deep characters and keep the story spinning forward. "
— Geoffrey, 4/22/2013" He is just so solid great. He never disappoints. "
— Corey, 4/21/2013" This is the best thriller/spy book I have read in a long time. Now I am going to go out and find all the others by this author. Lots of twist and turns, beautifully written, read every word carefully and enjoy! "
— Elizabeth, 2/2/2013" First McCarry book for me. I'll be looking for more! "
— Lou, 12/27/2012" This novel, my first of McCarry's, is wonderful. It measures up quite nicely to John LeCarre and the best espionage writing out there. I will review it more fully soon. "
— Brad, 8/26/2012" Pretty good for an early espionage mystery "
— Daniel, 4/21/2012" The absolute master of the spy novel. (It's more "a novel" than merely "a spy novel" too)... "
— Phil, 1/11/2012" This book was recommended to me by a colleague. It is a very different take on the spy genre. The writing is crisp. The story is simple yet so complex. The author doesn't bog you down in unnecessary details. The ending is astonishing, yet it was laid out there for you. A very enjoyable read. "
— Ellen, 7/25/2011" Another excellent book in this series. "
— Don, 6/24/2011" I liked this book and am glad to have found the author, Charles McCarry. "
— Tisha, 6/8/2011" Audio Book. A decent book but not exciting enough. The whole book seemed to take place in an overcast depressing day. "
— Jake, 5/6/2011Charles McCarry is the author of ten critically acclaimed novels and nine nonfiction books. He is a former editor-at-large of National Geographic and has contributed dozens of articles, short stories, and poems to leading national magazines. His op-ed pieces and other essays have appeared in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post. For ten years he served under deep cover as a CIA operations officer.
Stefan Rudnicki first became involved with audiobooks in 1994. Now a Grammy-winning audiobook producer, he has worked on more than five thousand audiobooks as a narrator, writer, producer, or director. He has narrated more than nine hundred audiobooks. A recipient of multiple AudioFile Earphones Awards, he was presented the coveted Audie Award for solo narration in 2005, 2007, and 2014, and was named one of AudioFile’s Golden Voices in 2012.