Reviews - Marathon Man | The StoryGraph

You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.

98 reviews for:

Yikes. I wanted to like this book. And for a while I thought I might. It goes down easy, it's well paced, and it's technically sound. However, by the end I despised it. You can find subtle bigotry for pretty much every marginalized group in the book (and not just at the hands of the Nazis). The dialog is so constantly snarky in a way the author clearly thought was cool but just becomes annoying. And the main character is maybe the most frustrating trope ever - a weak, sniveling, incapable creep who somehow over the course of a couple days turns himself into a honed killing machine who outguns, outwits, and outfights everyone who has been in this game way longer than him.

tarynmyheart's review

3.0

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

lindasdarby's review against another edition

4.0

I haven't seen the movie and didn't know what the book was about at all. The story was very suspenseful and the characters well developed. It did take me a long time to figure out who was doing what and what exactly was happening but I think that made the book better. William Goldman wrote in the introduction that people walked out of the movie during the dentist scene and now I know why. That scene reinforced my hate of the dentist. Of course my favorite character in the book was the Marathon Man himself. Great read.

mschlat's review against another edition

5.0

One of my all time favorites.

andytorino's review against another edition

5.0

The best thriller you will ever read. Bill Goldman's writing is off the charts here. A pulpy, sophisticated, smart and unpredictable tour de force. Very, very good.

jimmypat's review

4.0

This was an excellent example of a blistering page turner - tautly written, no wasted words, not insulting to the reader, and with enough depth to give it some heft. This is also a good example of a book that you can reread and pick up on some of the clues and subterfuge Goldman employs to keep some of the mysteries hidden to only blossom later on. The only drawback to the novel was that parts of the ending seemed a bit off, with characters making some strange choices that didn't fully resonate with my expectations. Nevertheless, a great diversion that will keep you glued to the pages, desperate to know what happens.

nabergel's review against another edition

4.0

4.5/5.00 stars.
My dad recommended this book to me when I was having a bad toothache and needed emergency dental surgery and while the association is funny I’m still SO GLAD he got it for me. This was such an exciting fun read. Once i started it i breezed through it in one sitting. So action packed and thrilling. I LOVED hearing the main characters thoughts as he’s going through and processing everything. The ending was so phenomenal and i just wish I knew what happened next.