The Sisters

By: Robert Littell

Narrated by: Scott Brick

Length: 10 hrs and 11 mins

Publisher's summary

In what Christopher Lehmann-Haupt of The New York Times called "the plot of plots", Robert Littell has created the CIA "legends" Francis and Carroll - dubbed "The Sisters Death and Night" by their cohorts. But few know what these enigmatic and extremely dangerous operatives do. They plot - and they're plotting the perfect crime. They've located the perfect pawn, the Potter, the exiled ex-head of the KGB sleeper school - and, with artful deception, the Sisters coerce him into betraying his last and best sleeper, the man he considers his son. Once awakened, this sleeper, an assassin living secretly in the US, will launch a mission of death - unless the Potter, in a desperate race against time, can stop his protegé from committing the Sisters' perfect and world-shattering crime.

©1986 Robert Littell (P)2003 New Millennium Audio, 2016 Phoenix Books

Critic reviews

"Right up there with the novels of Le Carré, Deighton, and the rest of the best." ( People)

"As slick a thriller as they come.... Very, very good." ( The New York Times Book Review)

"Deft.... Different…. Entertaining.... Engaging." ( Newsweek)

Interesting story - well read

Would you listen to The Sisters again? Why?

Wouldn't listen again... one time is enough. Good story, worth listening to, but hardly a 'classic' worth listening to you again and again

What did you like best about this story?

Well written - engaging

Have you listened to any of Scott Brick’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Scott Brick is a terrific narrator. Easy voice to listen to. Well done. (Listen to

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

no

Littell Light

Sisters is not as good as other Littell novels. Nevertheless, in my opinion he is the best writer of the genre and his worst novel trounces the competition from other writers.

The story is set in the 1960's. The anti-heroes are two old bachelor CIA operatives with symbiotic minds. One sees the forest and one sees only the trees. They finish one another?s sentences and one another?s thoughts. When one is stuck, the other has a ready solution. They are called the Sisters (a title that has nothing to do with their sexual orientation, since, for many years, they have both been too obsessed with intelligence work and double think to think of sex.)
Within the agency, they are known to be somewhat strange, but are kept around, nevertheless, because they are occasionally brilliant.

They both believe that the battle between the United States and the Soviet Union is at a decision point and on this point hangs either civilization and freedom or barbarism and slavery.

So, with the presumed blessing of their superiors, they put their heads together to commit the perfect crime. How? They reason that if they can discover the identity of a Soviet agent in deep cover (a sleeper), hijack him, and control his mission, the crime can not be traced to the Sisters of the CIA.

That takes you through the first ten minutes.

The character development is very good. The twists and turns are good, but not as good as in other Littell novels. The ending has a twist (of course) but is not as ambiguous as Littell?s other novels. I recommend Sisters after you have listened to or read Littell?s other novels. The others are better, but Sisters is worth the read.

Not on par with "The Company"

This might be a good (or even above average) spy novel, but it doesn't appproach the greatness of The Company, which I liked for its history as much as plot. Other than LeCarre's later novels interwoven with current events, I am not much of a fan of the spy genre, so take my review with a grain of salt if you just want to read a little action about Cold War-riors (along with Littel's very decent writing and Brick's excellent narration).

Better than I expected, worth a listen.

Basically, if you like Robert Littell, you'll like this book. I waited a long time to listen, fearing I'd be disappointed from some of the reviews, but I think the issue is, when someone writes a masterpiece like The Company, everything else is pale in comparison. But, on its own, The Sisters is an intriguing spy story with rich characters. It's amazing how he links events that we're all familiar with and we have the sense that we're really peeking behind the veil into the world of intrigue that doesn't make it into the newspapers.

the ending sucks I mean the ending really sucks re

the ending really really really really really really really really really really really really sucks. in my humble opinion