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A review by kate_in_a_book
Waiting for Sunrise by William Boyd
4.0
The cover quotes and blurb call this a “spy thriller” but that’s really only the last third of the book (though in retrospect a lot of the earlier sections of the book become part of the spy stuff). Really this is the story of how an ordinary Englishman becomes a spy. Which is in itself fascinating and unusual. The story begins in 1913 in Vienna, where actor Lysander Rief is frittering away his wealthy stepfather’s money on seeing a psychiatrist and living a generally leisurely life. He’s engaged to an actress back home but when he meets the alluring sculptor Hettie Bull, a romantic entanglement is clearly in their future. This is the first step in a complex web of lies, scandal and deceit.
It’s a fun read. Lysander is a frustrating hero but he is also believable despite having many of the necessary skills to be a really good spy. It takes a while of being a very different book first, but it does become a rollicking adventure with satisfying action and twists. I stayed up far too late reading on. And the prose is excellent too.
- See more at: http://www.noseinabook.co.uk/2016/02/11/recent-reads-winter
It’s a fun read. Lysander is a frustrating hero but he is also believable despite having many of the necessary skills to be a really good spy. It takes a while of being a very different book first, but it does become a rollicking adventure with satisfying action and twists. I stayed up far too late reading on. And the prose is excellent too.
- See more at: http://www.noseinabook.co.uk/2016/02/11/recent-reads-winter