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tjkory's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
In the way that many good spy novels are, this is well written, somewhat enjoyable, and quite disturbing.
ldv's review against another edition
2.0
Too confusing, with the layers of turncoat and spies. The protagonist starts off as a intelligent maverick who is going to pull a fast one on the Bureau but spends the rest of the book as a pawn relating messgaes. Oh, and having crazy wild sex with his wife ALL THE TIME. Right. And not at all relevant.
pauldaly's review against another edition
4.0
Reliably well put together, if odd, post-Cold War spy novel. (Seems odd in a week when the Russians are invading Ukraine and making like it’s Prague ‘68 or Budapest ‘56). Funny ending (again as in odd, not ha-ha), leaves one wondering what one has just read.
carkxy's review against another edition
1.0
i’m quite hesitant to write a review on this book because i feel that it’s going to be unfair towards the author lol. i was going in with high hopes when i started reading ‘the mulberry bush’ and while i initially found the prologue and early chapters intriguing, the book eventually turned into a huge bore for me.
i really enjoyed the interactions between the main character and a handful of the minor characters but it was a shame how so many characters were introduced and yet, more than half of them were barely developed. the writing was rather dull and i swear i could not get through more than two chapters without dozing off. hence, as you can see why it took me more than a week to just finish this book alone.
i’m conflicted in terms of the ending. i’m not sure if this counts as a spoiler but if you do not want to come across any potential plot points, do not read the rest of this paragraph and the next. right, so to speak, the reader is left hanging with many questions after the final sentence of the book and these type of ‘unresolved’, ‘ambiguous’, ‘makes-you-think’ endings either work really well or badly depending on how it’s done. in this case, it was quite a bummer how everything got resolved and explained in the last 2 chapters. like what’s the rush???? and the reader is also left with major questions which, in this case, is also not... great. for me, my main question is: what happened to luz????
the reason why this question ticks me off is because the very first paragraph of the summary of this book is literally: ‘In a rose garden in a Buenos Aires, a young American spy meets the beautiful daughter of a famous Argentinian revolutionary. They fall in love. But he is no ordinary spy- and she is no ordinary woman.’ i’m not sure about you but when i first read this summary, i envisioned this thrilling, sexy (lololol) spy meets romeo and juliet novel where two people from opposing backgrounds fall in love but have to kill each other, blablabla. you get the gist. AND so, to have the relationship between luz and our dear protagonist end in such a vague manner without any clarification or focus in the end was so upsetting?????????? just why??????
this is so disappointing to say but once i got past the 40-60% mark, i ended up skimming through the rest of the book without really paying much attention. i had to finish the book but i just couldn’t bring myself to focus on it ughsjdjdhdhd. this is just really sad stuff because 1) there’s lots of potential and it could have been much better or maybe idk, i’m also disappointed that it didn’t really fit in my expectations of the novel and 2) why are my 2021 books so bad rip. so far, at least half of the books i’ve read this year were mediocre at best, averaging about three stars.
my year in books this year is going to be so bad lol, i can feel it already
i really enjoyed the interactions between the main character and a handful of the minor characters but it was a shame how so many characters were introduced and yet, more than half of them were barely developed. the writing was rather dull and i swear i could not get through more than two chapters without dozing off. hence, as you can see why it took me more than a week to just finish this book alone.
i’m conflicted in terms of the ending. i’m not sure if this counts as a spoiler but if you do not want to come across any potential plot points, do not read the rest of this paragraph and the next. right, so to speak, the reader is left hanging with many questions after the final sentence of the book and these type of ‘unresolved’, ‘ambiguous’, ‘makes-you-think’ endings either work really well or badly depending on how it’s done. in this case, it was quite a bummer how everything got resolved and explained in the last 2 chapters. like what’s the rush???? and the reader is also left with major questions which, in this case, is also not... great. for me, my main question is: what happened to luz????
the reason why this question ticks me off is because the very first paragraph of the summary of this book is literally: ‘In a rose garden in a Buenos Aires, a young American spy meets the beautiful daughter of a famous Argentinian revolutionary. They fall in love. But he is no ordinary spy- and she is no ordinary woman.’ i’m not sure about you but when i first read this summary, i envisioned this thrilling, sexy (lololol) spy meets romeo and juliet novel where two people from opposing backgrounds fall in love but have to kill each other, blablabla. you get the gist. AND so, to have the relationship between luz and our dear protagonist end in such a vague manner without any clarification or focus in the end was so upsetting?????????? just why??????
this is so disappointing to say but once i got past the 40-60% mark, i ended up skimming through the rest of the book without really paying much attention. i had to finish the book but i just couldn’t bring myself to focus on it ughsjdjdhdhd. this is just really sad stuff because 1) there’s lots of potential and it could have been much better or maybe idk, i’m also disappointed that it didn’t really fit in my expectations of the novel and 2) why are my 2021 books so bad rip. so far, at least half of the books i’ve read this year were mediocre at best, averaging about three stars.
my year in books this year is going to be so bad lol, i can feel it already
kayswear's review
3.0
Excellent story with a terrible ending. Very believable details, nice handling of tension and suspense, very well written. Except the ending. There is a terrible resolution of all the plot lines, the tension, the mystery, the plot. Rather than our spy figuring it all out, after he's been so uber-competent for 300 pages, he's forced to listen to a lengthy, illogical hearsay story that resolves everything. By all means read this book but when the final act opens and resolution is at hand, put it down. You don't need to know. Whatever story you built in your head for where this would go is an improvement over the last 5% of this book.
ldv's review
2.0
Too confusing, with the layers of turncoat and spies. The protagonist starts off as a intelligent maverick who is going to pull a fast one on the Bureau but spends the rest of the book as a pawn relating messgaes. Oh, and having crazy wild sex with his wife ALL THE TIME. Right. And not at all relevant.
borisfeldman's review
4.0
For fans of McCarry, the first new book in some time. Unlike his prior series, but still engaging CIA yarn.
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