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)

The Company

Excellent spy novel. Filled with accurate historical data mixed with fiction to fill in the missing pieces. Long book over 36 hours of dialogue but well worth it. I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the CIA or spy novels in general. Not a bang bang shot em up action novel, (its realistic) to analogize it to a movie it would be The Godfather parts I and II. Covers the activities of the CIA during the Cold War, from the end of WWII to 1990. Follows the same characters and their children as they come of age and join the Company during this period. Download and enjoy.

the company

well worth the marathon. Naration is excellent, unlike so many others.

a well woven story of fact and fiction

used this as my gym companion fir the ladt few months. well told story, fact and fiction in regards to the main players was done with incredible attention to detail. it was a book that i could have read start to finish, had i not been relegating it to only at the gym. bit was very engaging.

LANGUAGE ALERT

Would you listen to The Company again? Why?

In the first 20 minutes of the story, the Lord's name was taken in vain about 6 or 7 times. I am sure this is part of developing the character of this one grizzled CIA agent. I did not continue the story, I am sure it is excellent beyond this. This review is just to give a heads up for those who choose not to listen to this type language.

Good story, well told

I'm a Clancy/Jack Ryan fan, and I thought this was pretty good. The voices were well done and the story's plotlines were suspenseful but easy enough to follow. A good listen.

A book that keeps you up at night

What did you love best about The Company?

The depth of the story and characters gave the book a real gripping edge while the author didn't seem to fixate on a specific character and only work that character's profile. All the important characters got the same attention from the author.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Leo Kritzky is an interesting character because of the love hate relationship that the reader can have with him.

What about Scott Brick’s performance did you like?

Scott Brick is one of my favorite narrators. I find myself searching on books narrated by Scott Brick and then looking at the story before deciding to buy the book. Scott has an amazing talent to lend authenticity to characters as much through his accents as his ability to vary his voice pitch and pace.

The Godfather novel for CIA.

The Godfather novel for CIA. A summary sheet of characters with bios would help audiobook listeners. A recommendation work of "faction."

Masterful performance

Scott Brick does an AMAZING job adding personality to each voice in the text. He switches from Russian to Hispanic and even to Ronald Reagan and Jack Kennedy. Truly a gifted narrator.

great story

It a great story. It just so long and narrator need liven it up some. Other that it great book.

Great Book, but story is a little slow at points.

I really did enjoy this book. It has a real good story and most of the story has a good pacing, which is good for a book this long. However, some of it can be little slow paced.

The only thing that real irritated me is like most authors they confuse a magazine and a clip. Most of the guns used in the book use magazines not clips.