The Last Supper

As a long-time reader of spy novels, I will simply say this is the best, most literate, intricate, gripping, and yet emotionally moving I have ever read. A memorable read, luminous characters, international intrigue at its best. If it is true that the story is not based on actual events, as the author claims, I must say that McCarry has a brilliant gift for plotting and quite an imagination. I was so engrossed with the characters that I felt like I knew them, that I was there as it happened. Anyway, it stuns me that this never became a best seller. This may be his best, as some say, but I am going to try the other novels. See you -- I'm going into deep cover with top Ameddican spy Paul Christopher...

Fans of LeCarre and Littell (like me) will eat this one up. McCarry is adept at placing you in historical context by the subtlest means. A visual hint here, a place, a name, even a smell, is all he needs to bring forward all the context of history. The rest is a great spy novel of the highest order. I love that McCarry is unafraid, even in the 21st century, to tell a Cold War story. I'll be back for more!

"The Last Supper" is one of the best espionage thrillers I have ever read, definitely putting Charles McCarry in the same literary league with John LeCarre, Alan Furst, Eric Ambler and Ken Follet. McCarry's nuanced, at times poetic, writing style, his ability to create real, flesh and blood characters who will move you, and his fast-paced, taunt storyline, put him at the top of the list for craftsmanship. There were actually moments when I found my eyes filling with tears, at a particular poignant passage, or at the loss of a favorite character. I don't do that easily. The man is Good! The background research is excellent and the historical details of the origins of the OSS and "The Company" are accurate.The story takes us from the aftermath of World War I, in Germany, through World War II, the Cold War, and Viet Nam, with the creation of "The Outfit." This would be the OSS and the CIA. We meet the earliest agents and watch them and their agency grow in a turbulent world on the brink of one war after another. We are never completely sure who can to be trusted, or whose version is true. A few of the Outfit's leaders know early on that there is a mole in the system who is betraying American interests and getting agents killed. The book takes us all over Europe, to Russia and China, Washington, New York and Boston in the world of international intrigue.The novel's main character is Paul Christopher, a sensitive, intelligent young man who joins the "Outfit" at the beginning of W.W.II. His mother, Lori, is a Prussian Countess, his father, Hubbard, an American, Yale graduate. They were never political people but hated stupidity and cruelty. Living in Berlin, Hubbard wrote novels and poetry, Lori countessed, they both made friends, traveled, loved each other and had a son...before 1939. It was during those prewar years that we saw a colorful sub-cast of characters enter the picture. Friends and relatives traveled to and from Europe visiting the Christophers, many to play future roles in the drama. There were various types of bohemian life, (Berlin was booming with bohemians), artists, Bolsheviks, musicians, etc., that latched-on to the family in Berlin. Some of these folks were desperate to leave Germany after 1935. The Christophers sailed many Jews and Communists out of the country on their boat Mahican. The Gestapo knew. When the war began, Mom, Dad, and Paul tried to leave for Paris but were stopped at the border. Paul and his father were told never to return to Germany. They were classified as American citizens. The mother was taken away. She was nobility, but she was German. The writing is devastating. This event will occur in Paul's dreams, repeatedly, throughout, giving the reader a terrible glimpse of the Nazi horror.Paul's father, Hubbard, until his death, never gives up the hope of finding his wife. He changes drastically with her loss. It is with details and character development like this that McCarry leaves the crowd behind. Hubbard joins t

I will not try to add to the praise of the other two reviewers, but wish to confirm it in the strongest terms. McCarry is in Le Carre's league with a more supple style and more direct, less distant point of view. He is a thrilling, touching writer, particularly in his Chrisopher novels (which, sadly, seem to be out of print -- a dopey decision by his publisher). Find, buy and read them! You'll be moved and glad that you did.

Charles McCarry's "The Last Supper" is quite simply the best "political-espionage-thriller" novel written in the English language. This is high praise, given the myriad talents of folks like Ambler, Condon, LeCarre, et al. And the best part of this wonderful book is that if you take to this "Paul Christopher" novel (named for the principal protagonist), you can move on to several other McCarry novels in which Christopher plays a part, including, among others, "Tears of Autumn," "The Secret Lovers," "Second Sight," and even "Shelley's Heart" (in which Christopher's daughter plays a role). This is really good stuff.