Reviews - The Scarlet Papers

43 reviews for:

The Scarlet Papers

Matthew Richardson

3.96 AVERAGE

robynfletcher9593's review against another edition

4.25

mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

gcsmith's review against another edition

3.75

mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

zojirushiofficial's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous dark inspiring mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

jplayjames's review against another edition

2.5

Not bad, pretty readable. I was in the mood for another spy author after reading a Greene and a Le Carré in short succession, and Greene/Le Carré this ain't, but it does at least keep interest up to a middling degree. A lot of characters with undefined motive, and some goofy twists (especially the one at the end which snatched away what hope there was of the book leaving on a high note). Also manages to be a political thriller which doesn't really have any thoughts about politics except nazis bad, russians bad.

I might deeply disagree with authors like Frederick Forsyth politically, but at least they have a worldview and write a compelling enough story to be enthralling despite that. This felt, more than anything, deeply unexamined. The author definitely spent more time looking up boat models than thinking about why people might defect/be double agents etc. for his book entirely about that.