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A review by dknippling
Moscow Rules by Daniel Silva
4.0
An Israeli spy returns from his honeymoon to fight Russian arms dealers.
This wasn't badly written or anything--in fact the writing was good enough to take it from a "meh" three to a "well-written" four--but the book never spoke to me. I feel like the book was predictable from the beginning, the characters were kind of three-quarters there, and the point of view of the author was different enough than mine that I was never going to love this book.
What I want from a story is to feel the weight of how the characters feel and think, and have that affect the plot. How the characters felt about anything wasn't important--although it wasn't hidden--and that was almost the point. "I don't like it and I have misgivings, but let's do this anyway." You kind of only want a moment like that to come once in a book, not to be a constant emotional tone.
But: that's asking too much of this book, which was never meant to have all the feels, but to be a convincing spy story set after the Cold War era. It's exciting, and it's a page turner, and the plot is complex and believable, and the ending brings it all home. It's not a poorly written book at all--but because I'm not that kind of person, I was left wanting to have read a Le Carre, with all his mopey, insecure characters, full of their petty dramas, instead.
Recommended for: People who want an actual spy thriller without all the emotional drama.
This wasn't badly written or anything--in fact the writing was good enough to take it from a "meh" three to a "well-written" four--but the book never spoke to me. I feel like the book was predictable from the beginning, the characters were kind of three-quarters there, and the point of view of the author was different enough than mine that I was never going to love this book.
What I want from a story is to feel the weight of how the characters feel and think, and have that affect the plot. How the characters felt about anything wasn't important--although it wasn't hidden--and that was almost the point. "I don't like it and I have misgivings, but let's do this anyway." You kind of only want a moment like that to come once in a book, not to be a constant emotional tone.
But: that's asking too much of this book, which was never meant to have all the feels, but to be a convincing spy story set after the Cold War era. It's exciting, and it's a page turner, and the plot is complex and believable, and the ending brings it all home. It's not a poorly written book at all--but because I'm not that kind of person, I was left wanting to have read a Le Carre, with all his mopey, insecure characters, full of their petty dramas, instead.
Recommended for: People who want an actual spy thriller without all the emotional drama.