Perfect

"Christopher's Ghosts" by Charles McCarry is divided into two parts. The first, "1939," is a touching romance between teens, Paul Christopher and Alexa Johann Maria Kaltenbach, whom Paul calls, Rima - since, "she had been like Rima the Bird Girl in his favorite novel, W.H. Hudson's 'Green Mansions' -- free, innocent, unattainable, a child of nature." Rima is "attained," and the romance blooms, though amid the terrors, brutalities, and consummate evil of Nazism.
In the second part, "1959," Paul Christopher, now a CIA agent arrives in East Berlin in fulfillment of two missions: the first personal -- to exact revenge on SS Major Stutzer, Paul's and the Christopher family's nemesis in 1939; the second professional -- to "recruit a high-ranking Soviet intelligence officer ... a KGB colonel named Yuri Kikorov. The second mission was not successful; the first was. "Christopher's Ghosts" is the best of all the series, I think, and certainly the most poetic.

Charles McCarry's 'Christopher's Ghosts' goes a long way, for a reader who's relatively new to this author, in explaining the deep background of the star of the series and why he is the way he is. It's really 2 books in one: the first half covers Paul Christopher's early life in pre-WWII Germany, his 'love affair' with a beautiful young lady, and the challenges for Jews in their daily existence in Berlin. The 2nd half takes place years later, when Christopher is on his way to 'stardom' as a US spy and discovers an evil character from his past that engages his thirst for retribution.

Christopher's Ghosts is not only a fine addition to McCarry's series, but is also an excellent reminder of the evil that existed in Europe just a few generations ago. It's fiction, but he's done his homework and we can all continue to be thankful that the good guys won the war. ( )

some interesting characterisations; a lot of omnipotence around; truly scary descriptions of torture and psychological destruction; hero as murderer is problematic ( )

Overall it was a good book and I’m glad to have read it.

I had never read anything by McCarry before, and until after I finished the book, I did not realize that Paul Christopher is a regular character of his. I did like the guy, so I should probably try one of his earlier stories to see if I like the spy story any better. I do, after all, like spy stories.

My complete review is on my Blog, Nate's Library, specifically at: http://nates-library.blogspot.com/2007/11/charles-mccarry-christophers-ghosts.ht... ( )