The Company Of Strangers

Not a thrill a minute page turner, but a thoughtfully crafted look at the inner lives of spies and double agents. The book spans an era from late World War II through the collapse of the Berlin Wall. There are two compelling characters, Andrea, the savvy yet naive British twenty year old, and Kurt, the disillusioned German intelligence officer. Both get caught in events they do not fully understand. They share a brief, but intense love-affair in Portugal and then everything goes to hell. The surrounding cast are multi-dimensional including very odd aristocrats in Lisbon, very cruel Nazis, KGBers and Stasis and very staid British intelligence officers. I for one never really knew what game these supporting characters were playing, but it is a fun puzzle to see Andrea twist and turn beginning in 1944, overwhelmed by people and events beyond her control with the pieces of the puzzle only coming together in the early 1990s. It is hard to review the book without giving away the plot, but suffice it to say that Wilson puts his hero and heroine through the wringer and the reader should not expect a jolly happy ending where the prince and princess float off into the sunset. Wilson doesn't let any of his characters off lightly. Secrets beget further deeper secrets which beget tragedy. It seems that everyone has sinned and Wilson makes sure they all get their just reward--except for the biggest villain of all, who is allowed to pass quietly away in relative comfort and anonymity. If you can figure out who that villain is before the end--you are way beyond me.

At last there is an espionage writer to rival LeCarre, Greene and Maugham. Smith, like the trinity of fine writers he rivals, does not rely solely on plot to win his readers. He creates remarkable, unforgettable characters who draw the reader into their lives. Anne/Andrea and Karl Voss are truly original characters who don't always behave as expected and who think for themselves. This increases the suspense in the story because the reader will not unfailingly predict their every move. The plot is complex and tightly structured; the narrative covering three eras in espionage: WW2, the late Cold War during the beginning of detente and after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Anne and Karl come together during these three eras, forging a lifelong impossible love affair as they carry out their spycraft. There is genius in the plotting. Above all, there is genius in the prose. Wilson uses new and arresting metaphors that will give the reader pause to appreciate their finely-tuned perfection. Unlike, for example E. Annie Proulx who is known for original metaphors, Wilson's are not only original, they are apt. In one example, he describes a character covering his face with his hands and wiping down his face, crumpling his tirednes like paper and tossing it to the floor. If you read that, you not only see it visually, you will recall doing the same motion. He makes you see things through a new lens. The book is filled with this kind of original writing -- making it one to reread just for the pleasure of his writing craft.

A superb follow-up to Small Death in Lisbon. Deserves a far wider audience. A story of sweep, action and poignancy, at times there is such exquisite writing and characterization you have to pull yurself back and ask yourself, "What kind of novel am I reading?"A damn fine one one.

In 1944, Kurt Voss is sent to Lisbon, Portugal as a member of the Abwehr, the German Secret Service. He's there to as military attaché to the German Legation, but he is also embittered by the deaths of his brother and father. Andrea Aspinall has led a sheltered life in London, but she is a skilled mathematician who speaks Portuguese and has been sent to Lisbon as a spy.Lisbon during the end of the Second World War is a hotbed of spies. German or Allied, it doesn't matter, everyone's watching everyone else and information is passed back and forth. The race is on to produce the first atomic bomb and it's in Lisbon that deals are being made to provide the funding for research. For Andrea, she witnesses acts of violence firsthand for the first time, and takes with her, secrets which are to stay with her for the rest of her life.From the tension of wartime Lisbon, we cut to the late 1960's and early 1970's and the focus is back on Andrea and Karl. We're provided with a thrilling yet draining ending to their story.This is a spy novel that is full of intrigue, double-dealings and mystery. We are introduced to, and then given intimate knowledge of, the two main characters. The detailed characterisation is a real feature of this story; we are left in no doubt what motivates each character. But more than just a spy story, it's a love story that tells of impossibly difficult decisions that the clandestine life imposes. It's an epic story of intrigue that keeps delivering.

Author Robert Wilson has written 5 novels; unfortunately for readers this is only the second that has been offered The U.S. His debut, ?A Small Death Is Lisbon?, was a very good book and was recognized with literary honors. ?The Company Of Strangers?, elevates his work to an even higher level, which if he continues to maintain will place him amongst the great writers of espionage/thriller/mystery. For those unfamiliar with his work I believe the best comparison would be Mr. John LeCarre?s earlier works, and some of the best that Mr. Robert Ludlum ever wrote. These are not techno-thrillers where plot and theme are replaced by endless descriptions of military hardware. Mr. Wilson writes detailed character studies that are as complex as the situations he places them in; when these aspects are combined with the talent to tell a great story that spans decades, this is an author who gives a reader all that can be expected from a great novel.The time line will take you from London of WWII, to the dawning of Glasnost in The Soviet Union, with stops in Berlin East and West, Lisbon and other locales. The book is about spies, very human, not the 007 Hollywood varieties. The motivation of why they work for a cause or country, what may make them turn, and sometimes turn once again is beautifully written and marvelously complex. The writer explores what takes place when an agent during a war finds that the country he once served, or perhaps betrayed, once the war concludes is now in the enemy?s camp. Who is his new master, who does he deceive this time if deception is the choice? Does an agent serving a foreign power that becomes the victor continue to serve, or are the ideals he thought were being served prove to have been a fraud and new choices are made?The agents that take center stage in this book are all presented in various levels of detail, however none are vague. In the midst of the wild swings in world politics a variety of people have their beliefs confirmed, betrayed, and have their personal motives subjected to doubt. Do they spy as an act of revenge, a perceived wrong that was inflicted, is the spying based on theology, or is it monetary, or is it the game itself that is the attraction?In addition to all that I have mentioned, there is much more, and there are few authors who could carry out the complexity of plot without it become cloudy, and he includes revelations that in most hands would be cliché at best, and more than likely laughable.?The Company Of Strangers?, does not wind down as the end arrives. The author literally brings his story to the conclusion on the final page. Mr. Wilson also has not succumbed to churning out work and presenting it in a brief and incomplete manner. He takes all the time he needs, and if that requires the better part of 500 pages, that is what he uses. You have the sense that you are reading exactly what the writer intended. His goal was to produce a great book, not a shallow utilitarian read, written with an e