The Deceiver

As the Cold War ends, the British Secret Intelligence Service looks to make some changes to priorities and operations. After all, the Russians are no longer the enemy and there is no point in spying on them any more. The decision is made to make some cutbacks, and among those selected for retirement is Sam McCready. McCready is not the kind of person the SIS really likes to have on the books anyway. He's not from a public school and didn't go to Oxbridge. However, there is no denying that he's good at his job and his maverick ways have produced many epic successes in the fight against Communism. McCready appeals against his retirement and hearing is called to review his value.
This novel is actually a series of shorter spy stories show more featuring McCready, which have been quite crudely stitched together under the guise of the retrospective review of his career during the hearing. Each story is compelling and the action moves between the Caribbean and East Germany; the USA and England as McCready works his magic to secure secret plans, screen the veracity of high level defectors and prevent Cuban annexation of British territory. There are good levels of tension in the brilliantly crafted stories, nice plot twists and interesting characters. It was a shame that the links between each tale were so thin. I do enjoy the way Forsyth weaves real historical figures and events into the narrative. His research adds great weight to the thriller plots. show less

Frederick Forsyth is the Johann Sebastian Bach of espionage novels. His narratives are like the Musical Offering to Frederick the Great because several plots run concomitantly in the architecture of its four novels between London, Moscow, the Caribbean, Cuba and East/West Germany and he hooks the reader to them after minimum exposition; its multiple voices, a motley assembly of hundreds of Stasi, VOPO, washed out spies,KGB, BND, SSD, commissars and majors, Berlin Wall moles, whose characters are developed as in a captivating fugue with such virtuosity and a precision only achieved in real life by Swiss watchmaker's gearing.

Brilliant novel throughout showing a great respect for authenticity and for the time period he depicts: the Cold War.

Сэм Маккриди - опытнейший сотрудник британской разведки, ставший легендой при жизни. Но когда закончилась холодная война, чиновники решили, что такие, как он, больше не нужны. Устраивается показательный процесс, на котором становится известно о проведенных Маккриди операциях - например, о том, как он боролся с ирландскими террористами, предотвратил государственный переворот на островах Карибского моря, show more как ему удалось разоблачить агента КГБ, пробравшегося в самое сердце ЦРУ. Тем не менее, руководители Интеллидженс Сервис посчитали, что время таких, как Сэм, ушло, и мир стал гораздо более спокойным местом, чем раньше. Время показало, как жестоко они ошибались! show less

This book was a disappointment for me. I loved several of Forsyth's other books but this is no "Negotiator" or "Fist of God" or "The Day of the Jackal" .

The book is a series of 4 short stories revolving around Bill McCready and his future in the British Secret Intelligence Service, being debated by considering past incidents.

I liked the first two stories but the last two were boring. One problem is Forsyth's writing style in this book that was not in other novels that I read. He offers literally hundreds of characters over the 4 short stories. At first you try to remember all of the characters since you don't really know which ones would be important and recurring and who are not. It gets confusing after a while.

Then you have Forsyth's show more penchant for running one scenario into another....again and again. There is no real break in the writing other than starting a new paragraph and if you are not careful in your reading, a page or so later you realize you are into a new scene altogether... this is most annoying.

As I said the first 2 stories - "Pride and Extreme Prejudice" and "The Price of the Bride" are worth reading while "A Casualty of War" and "A Bit of Sunshine" were predictable and frankly boring.

As I said I am disappointed in this book. show less

A fairly regular thriller that travels along Europe, the Caribbean, Russia and beyond. The characters felt fairly focused and sharp and the plot moved along swiftly. However, this was not as impressive as a work as The Day of the Jackal- which is the other Forsyth that I've read. Nevertheless, a decent book.

3 stars.

Four novellas in one cover, offering a largely unchallenging and entertaining read. The central character (Sam McCready) doesn't really have a character at all, but is simply a device to hang the plots on. I was intrigued by the complexity of the deception and double-crossing he portrays in the defection story; the casual violence of some of the minor baddies in the arms-running story is repellent, and Forsyth has a tendency to dispatch minor characters in a way that leaves a bad taste in the mouth. The fourth tale is simply a whodunit detective tale with a diplomatic flavour, in which McCready engages in the kind of effortlessly superior counter-plotting that reminds me of Lord Peter Wimsey. MB 10-vii-2009

The Deceiver may be a little less detail oriented than many of Forsyth’s books. But his plot lines are still intellectually complex. As I was reading this book, especially the first two parts, I was reminded of John Le Carré. In the espionage world, no one really knows everything that is going on. The book is really four short novellas, loosely connected by “interlude” pages. They work well together with a common protagonist. But they would have worked equally well with four different protagonists.

The Deceiver is yet another in a long line of great Frederick Forsyth books. It is a little out of his norm, but I loved it all the same.

My complete review is on my blog, Nate's Library, specifically at: show more target="_top">http://nates-library.blogspot.com/2008/10/frederick-forsyth-deceiver.html show less