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A review by cybergoths
The Names of the Dead by Kevin Wignall
4.0
This is an entertaining spy-adjacent thriller which I found hard to put down. The protagonist is a former CIA agent who has taken the fall for a failed operation which they were in charge where French citizen's died. Now imprisoned in France, he is held in a facility which also holds those imprisoned for war crimes, shunned by his colleagues and divorced by his wife.
Three years into his sentence, he gets the news that his wife is dead, along with a son that no one had told him that he had. His release is brought forward, putting him in jeopardy as elements in the CIA need to ensure his silence.
The plot moves at pace and heads all around Europe. I'm not sure how I felt about the way the author approached the female protagonist and her mental health; it felt a little contrived. The involvement with war criminals was interesting, as it tried to portray them as human beings as well as the monsters that their actions showed them to be.
Overall, an entertaining read. Better than a popcorn book, but definitely not a le Carre.
Three years into his sentence, he gets the news that his wife is dead, along with a son that no one had told him that he had. His release is brought forward, putting him in jeopardy as elements in the CIA need to ensure his silence.
The plot moves at pace and heads all around Europe. I'm not sure how I felt about the way the author approached the female protagonist and her mental health; it felt a little contrived. The involvement with war criminals was interesting, as it tried to portray them as human beings as well as the monsters that their actions showed them to be.
Overall, an entertaining read. Better than a popcorn book, but definitely not a le Carre.