The Company

A Novel of the CIA

By: Robert Littell

Narrated by: Scott Brick

Length: 41 hrs and 22 mins

Publisher's summary

Crisis constantly lurks around the corner, monitored by spies who are always with us. In his career-capping thirteenth novel, master of the espionage thriller Robert Littell has crafted a breathtaking story of the legendary CIA - "The Company" to insiders.

At its heart lies a spectacular mole hunt involving the CIA, MI6, KGB and Mossad - a stunningly conceived trip down the rabbit hole to the labyrinthine Alice-in-Wonderland world of espionage, "a wood where things have no names."

Racing across a landscape spanning the legendary Berlin Base of the 1950s - the front line of the simmering Cold War - the Soviet invasion of Hungary, the Bay of Pigs, Afghanistan, and the Gorbachev putsch, The Company tells the thrilling story of agents imprisoned in double lives, fighting an enemy that is amoral, elusive, and formidable. It also lays bare the internecine warfare within the company itself, adding another dimension to the spy vs. spy game.

©2013 Robert Littell (P)2013 Phoenix Audio

Critic reviews

"If Robert Littell didn't invent the American spy novel, he should have." (Tom Clancy, author of Patriot Games) "If le Carre is the Joyce of spy novelists, Littell is the Dickens." (Booklist, starred review). "An epic tale...peopled by heroes and villains who seem almost mythological in retrospect...Keeps you riveted." (Nelson DeMille, author of Up Country)
"Destined to become the definitive novel about the CIA." (Amazon.com)

Solid read with a lot of history

A little long winded in parts but a very enjoyable read. Great book for reliving historical events from the CIA operational (fictional) side.

Epic story with a couple of major weak points

Let's address the bad first. I'm used to reading massive volumes with many characters and plot threads. This audio book jumps from one story line to the next with not even so much as a pregnant pause. That's bad for listeners. I rewound many, many times just to clarify whose story-line we had moved onto.
The second bad thing relates to the first. We're supposed to spend a few decades with these characters and the author, Robert Littell, didn't do enough to socialize us to who these main characters are. As a result, you find yourself not caring about their fates as much as you would like to until towards the end.

What's good about it?
1. The research and imagination it takes to fictionalize real events and real characters over about 50 years. Bravo Mr. Littell. Talk about a job well done.
2. The narration by Scott Brick was also brilliant, certainly in my top 10.

It's a long book but I would ultimately recommend it. Be patient and take your time with it. And I suspect the issue of story-line navigation might be resolved in hard copy.

PHANTASTIC - yes, i'm yelling

Would you listen to The Company again? Why?

Well written, complete (long), entertaining and well read ! Can I say more ?

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

It has already been done, well, and in a very truncated form.

Great listen!

I thoroughly enjoyed The Company. It was very well narrated and flowed seamlessly.
I especially liked the plot in addition to how the characters were developed. Well done to all involved!

The best.

This is the best spy novel I have ever read. The fact is it weaves history and real people into the story with great genius. Enjoy

Mostly good

The first two thirds are entertaining and gripping - but then the work descends into melodrama and unrealistic characterizations. The love stories don’t convince. Strangely reminded me of WEB Griffin’s novels where all the good guys are selfless and altruistic while killing and maiming.

Great book

I found the book, very interesting, informative, due to that it was written surrounding events that were during my lifetime, and grows even to the point of being the old man.

My Review of the Reviews

I don't really like spy novels, but I love long books. So I read most of the reviews and decided to give the book a try. So here are my responses to the reviews:
1 Some said it had too much cursing. I don't get easily offended by too much cursing. I kept an ear out for it, but felt there was very little cursing. Unless you are overly sensitive to cursing, don't worry about this one. And now, I'm going to find another book by this author...
2 Some said too long. I do like long books and felt that every hour was great. There was 1 slight lull in the 80's after a major plot climax, but overall, it was captivating.
3 Some got mixed up with names because of it being a spy novel. This was my biggest concern. I have the same problem. But I was able to be reasonably sure of what was going on at all times.
4 ...It was a condemnation against democracy. This is the most ridiculous claim. I didn't see any "preaching" for or against. It is a spy novel. The author showed that the Russian actually believe in their cause. Characters on both sides of the "game" were well developed and real.
Spy novels aren't my genre, but I would recommend this book highly.

Hang on to your Hat

Littel has spun a tale so true-to-life that I found myself thinking it might be thinly veiled non-fiction. More than once I found myself sitting in my car, listening until the very last moment I could walk in to work. The characters are fully three dimensional, the plot develops naturally, and the history lessons contained within the story are so well woven I couldn't tell where the fiction ended and the history began.

Don't miss this revealing look at the rise and near-fall of one of this country's governmental institutions.

Full of twist and turns and surprises.

This is one of the most complicated and deeply written plot, based on real people and historical events. While a novel, you soon forget that fact as the characters develop and the story unfolds. You have to pay attention, because the plot turns on itself, and you can loose the storyline. I don't know how many times I had to replay a section, because I missed a switch in the plot.

Character development is great and you soon know and care about the characters. It is sometimes hard to tell who the good guys are and who are the evil ones. No matter, you will find yourself engrossed by the story. If you lived through some of these actual events, the book makes you wonder if it has let you in on what really happened and why things happened the way they did.

I will definitely be reading more of Mr Litell's books.