• The Amateur

  • A Novel of Revenge
  • By: Robert Littell
  • Narrated by: Scott Brick
  • Length: 8 hrs and 33 mins
  • 4.0 out of 5 stars (715 ratings)

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The Amateur  By  cover art

The Amateur

By: Robert Littell
Narrated by: Scott Brick
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Publisher's summary

In a world of professionals, Charlie Heller is the Amateur, and he's at the center of a chillingly engrossing tale of espionage and intrigue, written by master-of-the-genre Robert Littell.

In this "first-rate thriller" (Chicago Tribune), Charlie Heller is an ace cryptographer for the Company. He's a quiet man with a quiet job in a back office. But when terrorists shoot his fiancee in cold blood and Heller learns that the Agency has decided not to pursue those responsible, his life takes an abrupt turn. He was not a blackmailer but he will force the CIA's hand. He was not an assassin but he will penetrate the Iron Curtain with the intent to kill. Driven by an obsessive need for revenge, targeted for elimination by the CIA itself, Heller is an amateur with a one-in-a-million chance of success.

With last year's publication of his New York Times best seller The Company, Robert Littell reestablished his position as one of our top writers of intelligent, ironic, and always entertaining espionage thrillers. After many years The Amateur, a cult classic among aficionados, is finally available in audio.

©1981 Robert Littell (P)2003 New Millenium Audio, All Rights Reserved.

Critic reviews

"Superb...real terror...a hall-of-mirrors showdown...plus last-minute twists...Littell is in top form." (Kirkus)
"A taut, chilling plot and a protagonist as memorable as one of Len Deighton's, or le Carre's George Smiley." (The New York Times Book Review)

What listeners say about The Amateur

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I was distracted by amateurish inaccuracies in central topics: ciphers, firearms and there use.

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

The Worst

This is the worst book I have received from audible. It was agony to listen to the entire book. I kept thinking it was bound to get better. But alas, it was all downhill from the beginning. The story is completely unrealistic and even the attempts at humor are juvenile.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

Way too slow of a start for my taste

While the overall story has potential, the author decides to bring the book to a grinding halt 1/3 of the way in. Once the terrorists kill the girl, the next 2 hrs. are a waste of "character building". Extremely boring until he leaves for the Czech Republic. And then the ending was a disappointment as well (in the warehouse). At least I know what Guinea Fowl are now.

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1 person found this helpful