The Parsifal Mosaic (1982)

spy novel which broke the bounds of credulity; Havelock is smarter, stronger, more clever than any person could be; premise of insane Secretary & faked city is ludicrous; I was glad to be finished

NIL

I love Ludlum's books usually. This one was hard to get into hard to like or understand the characters. I actually didn't finish it which is very unusual for me. If I had bought it instead of borrowed from the library I might have kept it around and finished eventually but I usually devour his books in a night or at most a weekend so a month was excessive. ( )

Short Review
Not as compelling or satisfying as The Bourne Identity but still good.

I enjoy the character development, the unveiling of the backstory, and I especially enjoy the 'high tech' feel of a spy novel written in 1982 before the use of the personal computer, the internet, and the cell phone. Amazing to think how ingrained these advancements have become in our society. ( )

An embiterred agent whose lover has been killed, or so he thinks, quits his job and goes walkabout, basically. When he finds out she is alive an perhaps a double agent, he wants back in the game.

Consular Operations wants to get rid of him, but the Russians deny to him that his wife is one of their agents.

When he finds his wife, she bolts, thinking that he is a double agent, because of information she has been fed.

On top of this, the US Secretary of State if completely starkers, and was once one of our protagonists advisers.

The partners manage to work it out, and get the ear of the present and some of his men, and realise that along with the nutso go, there is also a mole in the State department, and the two sides square off over the country.

http://notfreesf.blogspot.com/2006/12/parsifal-mosaic-robert-ludlum.html ( )