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The Prodigal Spy (Abridged): A Novel Audiobook
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(3.05) - 470 listener ratings
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What if the Communist witch-hunts of the 1950s had actually uncovered a spy? The bestselling author of Los Alamos returns with a thrilling new novel of suspense, romance, and intrigue. Washington, 1950. The trouble with history, Nick Kotlar's father tells him, is that you have to live through it before you know how it'll come out. And for Walter Kotlar, a high-level State Department official, the stakes couldn't be higher: an ambitious congressman has accused him of treason. As Nick watches helplessly, his family's privileged world is turned upside down in a frenzy of klieg lights and banging gavels. Then one snowy night the chief witness against his father plunges to her death and his father flees, leaving only an endless mystery and the stain of his defection. It would be better, Nick is told, to think of him as dead. But twenty years later Walter Kotlar is still alive, and he enlists Molly, a young journalist, to bring Nick a disturbing message. He badly wants to see his son; after two decades of silence and isolation, he is desperate to end his own Cold War. Resentful but intrigued, Nick agrees to accompany Molly to Soviet-occupied Czechoslovakia for the painful reunion. Once in Prague, Nick finds a clandestine world where nothing is what it seems--not the beautiful city, shadowy with menace; not the woman with whom he falls in love; and most of all not the man he thinks he no longer knows, yet still knows better than anyone. For Walter Kotlar has an impossible request: he wants to come home and he wants Nick to help. He also has a valuable secret about what really happened the night he walked out of Nick's life--and about the deadly conspiracy that still threatens them. The Prodigal Spy is a story of fathers and sons and the loyalties that transcend borders, and of a young man's search for the truth buried in his own past, when a national drama was made personal and history itself became a crime story. Like Los Alamos, this is at once an ingenious mystery, a love story, and a masterly recreation of an era whose legacy haunts our own.
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"A really good thriller. Complex, dynamic characters, striking settings, and a multi-layered plot that stayed with me after I finished it. I'm going to read this author's other book, Los Alamos - if it's as good as this one, I'll be watching for any future works he publishes. "
— James (5 out of 5 stars)
The Prodigal Spy Listener Reviews
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" This started well, with me believing that I'd finally found something meaty to get my reading teeth into. It seemed an interesting enough story, but the pace was so slow that I began to question the whole thing - why did this loving, caring, intelligent father just up and leave his adored wife and kid to go and live in Russia? Once I started to question the motivations of the characters I needed the plot to pick up and Get On With It, but Kanon was too involved in his characters to deliver on this. Which would have been fine if you could have really believed the plot. I think what I'm trying to say is that the book didn't hang together, and therefore I couldnt get into it. "
— Jim, 2/14/2014 -
" Fun, zippy read. A good classic Cold War spy novel. "
— Liz, 2/9/2014 -
" Pretty good, although it was not hard to figure out who the bad guy was by about half way through. "
— Doug, 2/2/2014 -
" It was a staunch reminder of what some went through during the early cold war days with Russia. "
— Mary, 1/27/2014 -
" OMG so boring!! I couldn't even finish this book. If you need something to help you fall asleep at night, I'd definitely recommend that you pick this one up. I couldn't get through 2 pages of this at a time without my mind wandering or drifting off to sleep. I eventually put it down because life if too short to read boring books!!! "
— Jennifer, 1/14/2014 -
" An okay Cold War spy novel. Was a bit iffy to begin with, and I don't know why Kanon always feels the need to include a love story (at least in his first two books) - it's like he's pre-Hollywood-izing his books for the screen. This one even included a very explicit sex scene, which was weird. But the book recovers and even gets pretty good in Cold War Czechoslovakia. Starts slow, finishes strong. "
— John, 1/11/2014 -
" Very good, almost as good as the first Kanon I read (Istanbul Passage), and better than Charles Cumming's A Spy by Nature. "
— Tom, 1/6/2014 -
" Here's a kind of vague look at what it must have been like for politicians/foreign service people during the McCarthy era communist witch hunts. OK plot but slow reading. "
— Lou, 1/4/2014 -
" Pretty good. I enjoyed the history in and all the political spy stuff. "
— Kelly, 12/26/2013 -
" Sometimes I get in the mood for a really good spy novel. This one totally delivered. I don't want to say any more to spoil it. "
— Karen, 12/15/2013 -
" A really good thriller. Complex, dynamic characters, striking settings, and a multi-layered plot that stayed with me after I finished it. I'm going to read this author's other book, Los Alamos - if it's as good as this one, I'll be watching for any future works he publishes. "
— James, 12/12/2013 -
" I loved the premise and the ending but the book seemed to drag on at times. Still... it's worth the read. "
— Dan, 12/11/2013 -
" Kanon is good at what he does--interesting historical spy novels. "
— Rod, 12/6/2013 -
" A bit of a plotty book, but written with a lot of feeling. And the writing is very spare, minimum words for maximum effect, which I like. Also, no cliches, no throwaway phrases. "
— Sesh, 9/22/2013 -
" A fairly good adventure story while reading it, but very forgetable. Take in on an airplane. "
— Marge, 5/12/2013 -
" By far not Kanon's greatest book "
— Lexie, 5/2/2013 -
" See also The Good German and Los Alamos. Good historical novels!! "
— Lois, 4/1/2013 -
" Very good novel with some interesting background on Prague in the 60's and politics surrounding the HUAC in general. Only one sex scene. I loved it! "
— Kate, 12/17/2012 -
" This book was required reading in a writing course I took and I understand why. Superb writing. "
— Annette, 12/7/2012 -
" Interesting premise with characters to care about. The strongest parts are the ones in Prague. A very enjoyable read. "
— Christopher, 11/29/2012 -
" I first read his latest, Istanbul Passage -- a very good mystery in Istanbul just after the end of WWII. This is about the McCarthy Era, and later. Beautiful writing. Gripping plot. I didn't figure out who dunnit until 80% in! "
— Boris, 9/24/2012 -
" Interesting spy novel, although it had a bit of a dated feel to it, since it was set in the late 1960's. It has a brooding, dark mood to it that goes well with the paranoia of the Cold War and Iron Curtain countries. "
— Maura, 6/5/2012 -
" 1st time 2003. Was good re-read (re-listen) "
— Daniel, 3/31/2012 -
" A really good espionage story set in the times of both the HUAC and the Viet Nam war. "
— Diane, 6/23/2011 -
" Interesting period snippets of America during the Cold War & Vietnam as seen through one family's dilemmas. Compelling protagonist, a bit bumbling, but ever-evolving in his awareness of the world around him. "
— Leah, 4/23/2011 -
" I wanted to like this more than I did. I am a fan of the genre, and of Kanon's. But the plot seemed too contrived, episodic in places, and the young hero was too resourceful to be believable. The theme didn't expand. The ending bummed me out, and I felt no wiser for it. "
— Gerald, 3/25/2011 -
" Pretty good. I enjoyed the history in and all the political spy stuff. "
— Kelly, 12/22/2010 -
" It was a staunch reminder of what some went through during the early cold war days with Russia. "
— Mary, 8/26/2010 -
" Sometimes I get in the mood for a really good spy novel. This one totally delivered. I don't want to say any more to spoil it. "
— Karen, 6/10/2010 -
" Kanon is good at what he does--interesting historical spy novels. "
— Rod, 12/21/2009 -
" A bit of a plotty book, but written with a lot of feeling. And the writing is very spare, minimum words for maximum effect, which I like. Also, no cliches, no throwaway phrases. "
— Sesh, 10/11/2009 -
" Fun, zippy read. A good classic Cold War spy novel. "
— Liz, 9/25/2009 -
" Interesting spy novel, although it had a bit of a dated feel to it, since it was set in the late 1960's. It has a brooding, dark mood to it that goes well with the paranoia of the Cold War and Iron Curtain countries. "
— Maura, 7/17/2009 -
" See also The Good German and Los Alamos. Good historical novels!! "
— Loisgould, 3/25/2009 -
" Very good novel with some interesting background on Prague in the 60's and politics surrounding the HUAC in general. Only one sex scene. I loved it! "
— Kate, 8/13/2008 -
" By far not Kanon's greatest book "
— Lexie, 7/22/2008 -
" 1st time 2003. Was good re-read (re-listen) "
— Daniel, 7/21/2008
About Joseph Kanon
Joseph Kanon is the Edgar Award–winning author of many novels, including The Good German, which was made into a major motion picture starring George Clooney and Cate Blanchett.
About Boyd Gaines
Boyd Gaines is an Earphones Award–winning narrator and an actor whose many film credits include Second Best, I’m Not Rappaport, Heartbreak Ridge, Fame, and Porky’s. He’s won two Tony Awards for performances in the The Heidi Chronicles and the musical She Loves Me. On television he has appeared in A Woman Called Jackie, A Son’s Promise, and in the popular series One Day at a Time.