Spycatcher

By: Matthew Dunn

Narrated by: Rich Orlow

Length: 13 hrs and 51 mins

Publisher's Summary

Matthew Dunn spent years as an MI6 field operative working on some of the West’s most clandestine missions. He recruited and ran agents, planned and participated in special operations, and operated deep undercover throughout the world. In Spycatcher he draws on this fascinating experience to breathe urgent, dynamic new life into the contemporary spy novel.

Featuring deft and daring superspy Will Cochrane, Dunn paints a nerve-jangling, bracingly authentic picture of today’s secret world. It is a place where trust is precious and betrayal is cheap - and where violent death is the reward for being outplayed by your enemy.

Will Cochrane, the CIA’s and MI6’s most prized asset and deadliest weapon, has known little outside this world since childhood. And he’s never been outplayed. So far....

Will’s controllers task him with finding and neutralizing one of today’s most wanted terrorist masterminds, a man believed to be an Iranian Revolutionary Guard general. Intending to use someone from the man’s past to flush him out of the shadows, Will believes he has the perfect plan, but he soon discovers, in a frantic chase from the capitals of Europe to New York City, that his adversary has more surprises in store and is much more treacherous than anyone he has ever faced - and survived - up to now.

©2011 Matthew Dunn (P)2011 HarperCollinsPublishers

Ehhh . . . I want my time back

Pretty silly "spy" story: Guy gets shot lots of times (stomach, brain, through the ears, kneecaps) but never misses a day's work, and saves the world. (YAWN)

7 of 7 people found this review helpful

Juvenile and just bad

This is a simplistic and at times nonsensical and contradictory novel.

First all characters not only seem one dimensional, but they are the same dimension. Good guys, bad guys, men, women, old and young all seem to be the same person. You can only tell them apart by the different over acted voices. I cannot blame the reader for that however, because the dialogue was so bad.

"I AM SPARTAN"
"I AM MAGEEDO"
"I HAVE COME HERE TO KILL YOU"
"I WILL STOP YOU",

The main character was not just unbelievable, he was annoying also. Very early the story pointed out how the SPARTAN was so special. If this is the best in MI-6, they have problems. At one time he chose not to kill an innocent person who came between him and his objective. Yet he killed four allies earlier for the same reason earlier.

In the second half, I had a hard time keeping my mind focused on the story.

23 of 27 people found this review helpful

It takes a spy to catch a spy

Will Cochrane, code named Spartan, was the best of the best in the British intelligence service. After being wounded in Central Park during an operation gone bad in which he lost the informant he swore to protect, Will was rescued and subsequently treated by members of the US Central Intelligence Agency. Will discovers that the CIA man who interrogates him, Patrick, had dealings with his handler Alistair as well as his father, a CIA operative killed in the line of duty. Patrick tells Will that the NSA has intercepted communications implicating Iran in a major terrorist operation to take place either in Great Britain or the United States and asks for Will's help in thwarting it.

An Iranian operative, code named Megiddo, is responsible for planning and carrying out the attack. Megiddo is very good, perhaps the equal of Spartan, and no photographs have ever been taken of him. However, Megiddo was active in the Balkans during the war in the 90's, so Will travels there to meet with the current MI6 station chief for help. Ewan, head of Sarajevo station, met with Will and filled him in on his agent Harry Solberg, code named Lace. Harry had worked with MI6 since the early 90's and had a pretty wide intelligence network, often gaining intel that would be almost impossible for other British sources to garner. Better yet, he had been around when Megiddo was operating in Bosnia and was Will's best avenue for identifying and capturing him. Harry tells the two British intelligence officers of a woman named Lana, now living in Paris, who was rumored to have had a love affair with the Iranian. Minutes after meeting with Harry, Ewan is gunned down on the streets of Sarajevo, the victim of a sniper's bullet.

Will travels to Paris in order to recruit Lana, and is immediately struck by her beauty. Even though she had to be in her 40's, Lana still possessed the elegance and beauty of a much younger woman. Finding out that Lana was a jilted lover and out for revenge on the man who had unceremoniously left her without so much as a good-bye, Lana agrees to help Will find and identify Megiddo. Will is encouraged because Lana may be one of the only non-Iranians alive that could identify Megiddo. With the operation in place, Will returns to Bosnia and sets up Lana as the bait. All that remained was for Megiddo to take the bait and fall into Will's clutches.

No operations ever go entirely as planned. Add to that Will's increasing feelings for Lana and concern for her safety and Will is left scrambling to keep up with Megiddo. In fact, it seems Megiddo is always one step ahead of Spartan, Britain's top spy.Also, Will learns that he and Megiddo share a part of the past previously unknown to him, giving Spartan even more incentive to bring Megiddo down. With the bodies piling up from Bosnia to Germany to New York, Will comes ever closer to Megiddo and his lunatic plan of genocide.

Matthew Dunn brings his considerable knowledge of espionage to bear in this thrilling novel. Filled with twists and turns, heroism and betrayals, "Spycatcher" brings to the forefront the old adage that "it takes a spy to catch a spy." A first rate novel. If you enjoy espionage and thrillers, you simply must read this offering from Matthew Dunn.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Disappointed

I don't normally write reviews. The narration and voice characterizations were good, if not great, considering the caliber of the writing. However, there is the writing - it seemed stilted and awkward at times and repetitive as in: he decided this, he decided that, then he decided this. I understand this is fiction, but some aspects just seem absolutely outlandish - how could someone get shot in the torso 3 times, and basically be up and fully functional in a few days, get shot in the shoulder, a bullet grazed his head - all within 5-6 weeks and ignore pain, be so in control of his body and emotions, but kick the ground in frustration and anger when he gets some bad news here & there towards the last third of the book. I'm reluctant to venture into book 2 of the series. The story was interesting, but the writing seemed to get in the way or muddy it up - thank you very much to Rich Orlow and his narration work.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Don't wast your time like I did.

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

I can't think of anything that could change my opinion of this book ever reaching a 4/5 star experience.

Would you ever listen to anything by Matthew Dunn again?

I'm always on the lookout for a series of books with good story lines and characters that develop over a period of time. I like realistic believable characters with flaws just like real life. This book contained no such character although some did poses super human strengths with fantastic healing powers that could go on for vast days without sleep, food or drink. I think Matthew Dunn has two other books in this series of which I will never purchase.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

The narration was totally amateurish and unbelievable. His attempt at using different speech patterns to represent different characters was pathetic which caused me to dislike them even more than the author’s depiction.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Both anger and disappointment equally.

Any additional comments?

I will be asking for a credit for the purchase of this presentation.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

A suped-up spy thriller with CIA/MI6 super agent!

A good 1st novel for experienced MI6 operative Matthew Dunn. He writes his super-hero spy with "can-do all" attitude & physical abilities that leads the reader to suspect that the boundaries of reality should be expanded. At the beginning, I thought the writer intended to write a super-action hero spy novel then towards the middle I caught a change in tone toward more serious espionage/terrorism.

Before the novel was published in Britain (as "Spartan") it had to be approved by MI6. During an interview, Matthew Dunn says his intention was never to reveal or jeopardize Western espionage operations nor its capabilities. This is a fair goal. With this goal in mind, Dunn told a good story of today's Islamic extremists vs Western values, past atrocities, & human frailties. A easy rating of PG-14 with violence but little graphic details.

The narrator matched the charactors' voices & did a good job.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Great

Would you consider the audio edition of Spycatcher to be better than the print version?

yes, it's great listening when driven long distant.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Spycatcher?

The ending

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

no, first time

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

suspense

Any additional comments?

crazy ending, did not expect it.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

For goodness sake, it's a spy thriller

It's a spy thriller, for crying out loud. It isn't supposed to be anything except a no-brainer, "bubble-gum for the mind" story with larger-than-life characters. If you are looking for classic literature, this isn't the book for you. The story is engaging and the narration is quite entertaining if you allow it to be the kind of story that it is.

4 of 6 people found this review helpful

on the 2d time around...details details

a most invigorating, interesting espionage. will Cochrane character endurance and pain tolerance quite remarkable . narrator is the best sat this genre.

Last half got boring.

Started out great but went on and on too long. characters shallow, and inconsistent, violence unrelenting at first.