The Company of Strangers

At some points I thought this book would turn out to be very good, but it refused to keep the promise that it offered in the early stages. Unfocused, all over the map. After the first Lisbon stage is done, it takes an act of sheer willpower to read on, since you are offered no hint of a payoff to come (and in fact, there is only the barest excuse for one). Yes, it does reveal the answer to a sort of mystery, but it's hard to care, given that the author himself treated that mystery as being highly inconsequential, and all you're really doing is observing the degeneration of the heroine; besides which, the answer to the 'mystery' is revealed in just about the most unsatisfying possible way. A real letdown, and I don't expect I'll ever show more read another Wilson book. show less

A complex story set across several periods from WWII Lisbon, where Andrea Aspinall is sent by SIS as a young spy to periods 20 or more years later. The relationships she forged in the hot-bed of spies which was WWII Lisbon inform and control her life until the end. Interesting characters seamlessly interwoven with real historical action raises this above the crowd. Recommended.

Disappointing, this adjective best critiques "The Company of Strangers" by Robert Wilson. In his first novel "A Small Death in Lisbon", Mr. Wilson truly stole-the-show with poetic ambiance and titillating thrills but with this foray, his style and cadence fall flat. I was truly bored through the first two-fifths of the book so much so that I gave up on it, which is something I am loathe to do with any novel. Will I try another of Mr. Wilson's novels? Probably, simply because "A Small Death in Lisbon" was such a great work I feel he has more than one solid story in which to thrill readers.

An espionage thriller with a brilliant first part, whose action takes place during World War II and covers more than half of the book, but somehow fails to maintain the level till the end. Pity.

I read all four Falcon novels. Outstanding. I read "A Small Death in Lisbon." Excellant. Thus I read "The Company of Strangers" with anticipation. What a let down. Apparently was a good outline, but failed its fleshing out miserably. Don't waste your time with this one.

i'm reading Tinker, Tailor right now for my next book club meeting and really enjoying it.

I'll start The Company of Strangers soon (at the suggestion of another library thing member).

Lisboa, 1944. Bajo el tórrido calor veraniego, mientras las calles de la capital bullen de espías e informadores, el final de partida de la guerra del espionaje se libra en silencio. Los alemanes disponen de tecnología y conocimientos atómicos. Los aliados están decididos a que los rumores de un "arma secreta" no lleguen a materializarse. Andrea Aspinall, matemática y espía, entra en este mundo sofisticado a través de una acaudalada familia de Estoril. Karl Voss, agregado militar de la Legación Alemana, ha llegado, reconcomido por su implicación en el asesinato de un Reichsminister y traumatizado por Stalingrado, con la misión de salvar a Alemania de la aniquilación.