Second Sight

For years, LeCarre's The Spy Who Came In From The Cold was my favorite spy novel. I discovered Charles McCarry two summers ago, and have devoured the seven Paul Christopher novels since then. Second Sight and at least four others are as good or better than anything LeCarre ever wrote, and unlike the storyteller who lost his power when he stopped writing about the Cold War, McCarry is not burdened by the ridiculous notion of different sides being morally equivalent. There is good and evil, and never should the two be confused, even if the good is imperfect. The book spreads deftly across three generations of Christophers and several continents, as the quiet, emotionally burdened Paul, technically retired from intelligence work, tries to deal with his remarkable past, and a daughter he never knew existed. If this is the way the author has chosen to end the series, what a sparking finish line!

....which led me to all the rest. Excellent, knowledgeable author. I now have collected ALL of his books. Will make enjoyable 2nd and 3rd readings, I am sure.

"Second Sight" requires readers to stretch their imagination in ways that were not present in the earlier books that make up the Paul Christopher series. For example, a card reader, who is a central character, can see into the past as well as peer into the future -- hence, the title. And while this core story premise might be a bit hokey for some, it wasn't for me. If I critique anything it would be that I didn't particularly care for the grudge match between The Outfit and the media that began about 100 pages from the end. It seemed like a lazy transition from the body of the story to the conclusion. But that's just opinion. All in all, this is another wonderful effort by Charles McCarry -- lots of great conversation that easily filled the 478 pages in this hardcover. With two more books in this series, I'm already a bit sad that the end is within sight.

Second Sight was my first exposure to Charles McCarry. I thought the story line was creative, and the characters fully drawn and compelling. Great stuff here for fans of the spy novel, especially if you like the early days of the CIA right after WWII. But, as I was reading the book I could tell that there was a lot of history to these characters (and between these characters) that I was missing. The novel felt like a final good-bye to Paul Christopher and his compatriots. Only later did I fgure out that this was the last of the several Paul Christopher books. I will go back and read some of the earlier books in the series - and I recommend that you do too before reading Second Sight. If you are already familiar with the series, then I have no doubt you will find this book a very enjoyable conclusion.

An entertaining spy novel. Have not read predicessors in the series, so had no expectations. Main characters were interesting, specially the evil ones. Sceptics must suspend antigonism to premise that one main character has "second sight" that can affect outcome. It was a pleasure to read a novel written by an author who honors plot and knows his classics. And is obviously familair with the tricks of the spy trade. I plan to find McCarry's earlier spy novels and read them.