Book
The prodigal spy / Joseph Kanon.
Record details
- ISBN: 9780349112145 (Abacus : pbk.)
- ISBN: 0767901428
- ISBN: 0349112142 (Abacus : pbk.)
- Physical Description: 409 p. ; 25 cm.
- Edition: 1st ed.
- Publisher: New York : Broadway Books, c1998.
Search for related items by subject
- Subject:
- Fathers and sons > Fiction.
- Genre:
- Spy thrillers.
Available copies
- 4 of 4 copies available at BC Interlibrary Connect. (Show)
- 1 of 1 copy available at Fort St. James Public Library.
Holds
- 0 current holds with 4 total copies.
Show Only Available Copies
| Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Holdable? | Status | Due Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fort St. James Public Library | KAN (Text) | 35196000080866 | Adult Fiction | Volume hold | Available | - |
- Booklist Reviews : Booklist Monthly Selections - #1 November 1998
In this follow-up to Los Alamos , which won the Edgar Award for best first novel, Kanon again blends fact and fiction in a story full of nail-biting tension. This time, the action skips from the Manhattan Project to the Communist witch hunts of the 1950s. Kanon asks, What if the witch hunts had turned up a spy working for the American government, and what if, on the eve of the 1970s, he came out of hiding with the shocking accusation that he was the victim of a high-level government conspiracy? Again, Kanon walks a tightrope between historical fact and spy-novel fiction. Walter Kotlar, the State Department official who flees the country during his House Committee on Un-American Activities hearing, seems to be loosely based on Alger Hiss, but the story--Kotlar comes out of hiding, recruiting his son to help him uncover a conspiracy and prove a murder--is purely imaginary, although entirely plausible. Fans of Los Alamos will be pleased to see that Kanon again does a good job of incorporating real people into his story and again uses politics effectively, not as mere window dressing. The novel is a shrewd and often moving exploration not only of the anti-Communist mania of the 1950s but also of its aftermath, especially the effect of the witch hunts on the victims' children. Readers who enjoy Kanon's exciting mixture of the real and the imagined should flock to this excellent historical crime novel. ((Reviewed November 1, 1998)) Copyright 2000 Booklist Reviews - Kirkus Reviews : Kirkus Reviews 1998 December #1
Edgar Award winning Kanon (Los Alamos, 1997) returns with a Cold War spy tale. Opening with a chilling re-creation of the Red Scare days of the early 1950s, the story soon leads to the questioning of one Walter Kotlar by the House Un-American Activities Committee. Kotlar, as the reader knows instinctively, can t be a spy but when a woman scheduled to testify before the committee is murdered, Kotlar enigmatically flees the country overnight, leaving behind his wife and confused young son, Nick. Not long after, he turns up on newsreels from Moscow as nothing less than a prize defector. Twenty years pass, until Nick is an embittered, restless Vietnam vet during the time of the Paris peace negotiations. His father s old boss, who married Nick's mother and adopted Nick, is one of the negotiators. This man meets Nick in England to settle some money on him, and almost simultaneously, mystery woman Molly Chisholm contacts Nick to tell him that his real father is living in Czechoslovakia, sick and desperate to see his son before he dies. But only Nick is exactly what he seems to be: Molly s actually a relative of the murdered woman from long ago; Walter Kotlar is indeed dying, but wants to return to the US to reveal what happened to cause his defection; and even Nick's stepfather may be a double-agent. Dodging spies and FBI agents on both sides of the Iron Curtain, Nick gradually assumes his father's mission, rooting out Reds and murderers at the highest levels of government. Even J. Edgar Hoover puts in an appearance. John le Carré and Graham Greene come to mind as the standard- bearers, though Kanon lacks the latter's high style and pitiless worldview. This time around, too, the love story that so distinguished Los Alamos seems contrived. Still, Kanon is very good. ($200,000 ad/promo; author tour) Copyright 1998 Kirkus Reviews - Library Journal Reviews : LJ Reviews 1999 January #1
Suppose Sen. Joseph McCarthy, HUAC, and other loyalty investigators had actually unearthed a Communist spy during those pyrotechnic years from 1950 to 1954? And suppose this spy had disappeared and was not heard from until 1969, when through mysterious means he communicates from Prague with his grown sonand tells him he wishes to return to the United States. On this premise, Kanon has constructed a literate, swiftly paced thriller. As in Los Alamos (LJ 3/15/97), he again demonstrates his ability to tell a story and make his characters come alive.There is suspense, expertly built up; a love interest, in the most approved contemporary fashion; and action, in the classic spy tradition. The political climate of Washington in the 1950s and the atmosphere of suspicion and fear in Prague under theSoviets feel real. A treat for crime fans who appreciate blithe and brittle writing. A.J. Anderson, GSLIS, Simmons Coll., Boston Copyright 1999 Library Journal Reviews - Publishers Weekly Reviews : PW Reviews 1998 November #2
Kanon's second novel, after the very well-received Los Alamos, is somewhat disappointing. He ventures into John le Carré territory, telling the tale of an American State Department official, hounded by the McCarthyites in 1950, who proves them right by abruptly decamping to the Soviet Union in the middle ofcongressional hearings into his loyalty. The tale of Walter Koltar is told by his son Nick, both at the time of his disappearance, when Nick is a small boy not quite understanding what is happening to his father, and nearly 20 years later, whenhe receives a mysterious summons to visit his father, now living in Czechoslovakia, just after the illusory "Prague Spring" of 1968. Walter wants to return home and thinks he has a trump card that will make that possible. Will Nick help out? As he provedin Los Alamos, Kanon is very adept at rendering the feeling and atmosphere of another time, and his early chapters are powerful evocations of that strange period in American life. He is good, too, on the bizarre quality of life in Prague after the Sovietinvasion. The book is thoughtful, often penetrating, though at its considerable length, and with its comparatively small cast Nick; his abandoned mother; his stepfather, Larry (another top Washington official); and his girlfriend Molly it sometimesis a bit claustrophobic. The real problems appear in the last 100 pages, where the pace accelerates, J. Edgar Hoover is introduced as a not altogether convincing walk-on, and Nick takes a catastrophic action that seems entirely out of characterwith how he has been presented previously. It is as if the conventions of the spy thriller are working against Kanon's real strengths, which are in the creation of character as forged by intelligently re-created history. (Jan.) Copyright 1998 Publishers Weekly Reviews