The Last Spymaster

By: Gayle Lynds

Narrated by: David Colacci

Length: 14 hrs and 38 mins

Publisher's summary

Charles "Jay" Tice was a spy's spy. The chief of the CIA's elite Clandestine Services, he was a legend throughout the world of international intelligence. But secretly he was also a traitor, reputedly selling information that will seriously compromise the security of the United States for decades to come. Since his treachery was exposed, Tice has been kept under strict surveillance in a maximum security prison.

Then one morning, his cell is discovered empty. Jay Tice has vanished - without tripping an alarm or leaving any trace of his passing.

Elaine Cunningham is a hunter - a CIA operative who specializes in finding people who don't want to be found. Young, gifted and a maverick, she is assigned to track Tice and bring him to ground before he disappears forever. But as she matches wits in a perilous game with one of the greatest spymasters of all time, she discovers there is far more at stake than an old spy's last run for freedom.

Lurking in the shadows are other hidden players with their own lethal agendas and, from Geneva to Washington, Berlin to New York City, a deadly conspiracy is coalescing. With only a few hours to go, and the future of millions in the balance, she must uncover the truth behind the legend of the last spymaster.

©2007 Gayle Lynds (P)2006 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Don't buy this book!

This is the worst written book I have ever read or had read to me. I had to keep checking to see if it was written within the last ten years. It is out of date and not at all cutting edge. Plus the author went out of her way to put women in all the top spots and made the (Maybe the Spartest Spy ever) man look like a total idiot, although I am not sure she could see that. I will not buy another one of Gayle Lynds books. Also the narrator trails off his word at the end of every sentence. It is enough to drive you up the wall.

i finished it

So cliche, predictable, convoluted and boring!! Topped off by being very poorly read this is the worst spy novel I have purchased EVER. Wanted to quit after a couple of hours but I finished it. Look around, there are better out there.

Contrived to the point of unlistenability.

A little way into the second audio part of this book, I gave up. It became so contrived, with so many unbelievable story elements, I just couldn't listen anymore. Afterwards I realized that I had had the same experience with The Coil by the same author, but unfortunately I didn't recognize the author's name when I ordered this book.

Cardboard characters/thin plot

What was most disappointing about Gayle Lynds’s story?

The plot was a little predictable and the characters were neither interesting nor believable. I found it a struggle to just finish the thing and only came back to it if I was working out and had nothing else on my phone at the time.

What three words best describe David Colacci’s performance?

He did what he could with the material he had to work wih. The characters and the plot had very little nuance.....he was probably as bored as I was.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from The Last Spymaster?

I wouldn't cut anything specific. Rather, I would send the whole thing back and ask for a lot more character development focusing on making them more human, more believable, less like bad TV characters from a show like 24. Ditto for the plot. Rewrite!

For the dedicated spy novel reader

Perhaps a very good book of this type, however it is fairly complicated for one planning on listening to it in numerous short periods of time.

Can't tell if you are serious?

I think this was a serious attempt at an action spy novel. The problem is, the critical actions read like a spoof. I'll make up a analogous example: you are being shot at, so you defend yourself by pickup up a sledgehammer and knock down a load bearing wall, and the resulting collapse of the building spares you, but kills your attacker. That's very close to one of numerous incredible moments which ruin the otherwise decent writing in this book. I found myself regretting that the writer didn't give me more of the nonsense, and make it into an over-the-top spoof.