Our Man in Camelot

Unlike the previous review, I have not read all of Price's work, just this one novel. It was in my opinion a wonderful example of the cerebral sort of short novels that seem to have been more plentiful in the 70s than they are nowadays. The American CIA agents are sympathetic and their struggle to maintain their cover in the face of British intelligence makes it suspenseful, but it's the puzzle about the Arthurian Dark ages and why they meant the death of a couple of Air Force pilots that pulls the reader into the tale. The women characters aren't central but they are given a fair portrayal, better than many genre authors of the time period did (it was worse in the 50s and 60s though). They're smart, they have feelings. The racism is a bit worse, but more on the part of the characters than the author, as the one black character is minor, but doesn't get killed off at least. 4 stars is a bit high, maybe it's more like 3 1/2 or 3 2/3, but I enjoyed it very much. If it suffers in comparison with the other books in the series, maybe that's only because it's less to the formula - which might be a good thing to some readers!