. . . to take to a desert island, this would be the one. Bride starts the saga of the Christopher family and if you like adventure, espionage AND a story of faithful love rewarded, this book will surprise and please you on every page. You will be stunned by the sheer beauty and power of the writing and when you turn the last page, you will wish there was that much more.

McCarry was able to bring actual events of late 17th century English and American history to vivid life and his research into the time period is thorough. For example, I believe that he used actual events like the cold and snowy February 1690 night attack by French and Indians on present day Schenectady and the extraordinary escape of Mrs Hannah Dustin from her Abenaki captors, for the fictional attack on Alamoth and the manner of Rose Barebones escape from the Abenakis. His dreamy writing style lends itself to the way Fanny, his main character, sleep-walks through life, as if she and the virgin forests of America are waiting to be awoken to reality. This book is something which one seldom sees on the shelves of bookstores these days: it is exciting, thrilling, romantic in the grand manner of true romance (the worth of true patient love), as well as giving the average reader a taste of what life in America once was, a land filled with enormous trees, wild strawberries so abundant that walking through them was like walking through strawberry preserves, filled with danger and Indians who lived by a code of morals that only the French tried to understand. I highly recommend this book!

Excellent story - details of 17/18th century life in England and the American Northeast paint a vivid picture.

How would you like to read what Sir Edmund Hillary wrote about climbing, or Alexander Graham Bell wrote about inventions? This book is a jewel... a brilliant idea, marvelously executed. I plan to include it on the syllabus for my nonfiction literature course.

I devoured this book in a matter of days and give it my enthusiastic recommendation. However, as a former television reporter, I am withholding a five-star endorsement. Sorry, McCarry's depiction of the investigative reporter was lacking in authenticity and believability. The brief scene describing a 60 year old Senator who was engaged to a 22 year old was also a tad too much. Overall, I loved these characters and intend to scour the used book websites to read more of his spy novels.

"The Last Supper" is one of the best espionage thrillers I have ever read, definitely putting Charles McCarry in the same literary league with John LeCarre, Alan Furst, Eric Ambler and Ken Follet. McCarry's nuanced, at times poetic, writing style, his ability to create real, flesh and blood characters who will move you, and his fast-paced, taunt storyline, put him at the top of the list for craftsmanship. There were actually moments when I found my eyes filling with tears, at a particular poignant passage, or at the loss of a favorite character. I don't do that easily. The man is Good! The background research is excellent and the historical details of the origins of the OSS and "The Company" are accurate.

The story takes us from the aftermath of World War I, in Germany, through World War II, the Cold War, and Viet Nam, with the creation of "The Outfit." This would be the OSS and the CIA. We meet the earliest agents and watch them and their agency grow in a turbulent world on the brink of one war after another. We are never completely sure who can to be trusted, or whose version is true. A few of the Outfit's leaders know early on that there is a mole in the system who is betraying American interests and getting agents killed. The book takes us all over Europe, to Russia and China, Washington, New York and Boston in the world of international intrigue.

The novel's main character is Paul Christopher, a sensitive, intelligent young man who joins the "Outfit" at the beginning of W.W.II. His mother, Lori, is a Prussian Countess, his father, Hubbard, an American, Yale graduate. They were never political people but hated stupidity and cruelty. Living in Berlin, Hubbard wrote novels and poetry, Lori countessed, they both made friends, traveled, loved each other and had a son...before 1939. It was during those prewar years that we saw a colorful sub-cast of characters enter the picture. Friends and relatives traveled to and from Europe visiting the Christophers, many to play future roles in the drama. There were various types of bohemian life, (Berlin was booming with bohemians), artists, Bolsheviks, musicians, etc., that latched-on to the family in Berlin. Some of these folks were desperate to leave Germany after 1935. The Christophers sailed many Jews and Communists out of the country on their boat Mahican. The Gestapo knew. When the war began, Mom, Dad, and Paul tried to leave for Paris but were stopped at the border. Paul and his father were told never to return to Germany. They were classified as American citizens. The mother was taken away. She was nobility, but she was German. The writing is devastating. This event will occur in Paul's dreams, repeatedly, throughout, giving the reader a terrible glimpse of the Nazi horror.

Paul's father, Hubbard, until his death, never gives up the hope of finding his wife. He changes drastically with her loss. It is with details and character development like this that McCarry leaves the crowd behind. Hubbard joins the OSS. As Paul comes of age, he initially joins the Marines but is also recruited into the OSS. We follow their lives and careers, as well as those of their colleagues, friends and enemies. The tension builds as we begin to see the network of betrayal and lies build, and wonder who is responsible and to what extent.

As I wrote earlier, McCarry develops the characters, and their families in such a manner, that when you lose one, especially to violence, the loss is felt deeply. There is one scene when Hubbard tells Paul stories about his maternal grandparents, that are almost folk-like in nature, and I was awed at what an amazingly wonderful family this was/is. I forgot it was fiction for a moment.

The story moves to an extraordinary conclusion. I could not put this book down. I give it my highest recommendation.

PS - One of the reviewers commented that he thought two of the book's characters, a 60 year old senator and his 22 year wife, were too much...as in not believable? Hey, I was around in the '60s. There was most certainly a 60+ senator from the South with a 22 year old ex-beauty queen wife. Not only do McCarry's people seem real, some were taken from real life.

I will not try to add to the praise of the other two reviewers, but wish to confirm it in the strongest terms. McCarry is in Le Carre's league with a more supple style and more direct, less distant point of view. He is a thrilling, touching writer, particularly in his Chrisopher novels (which, sadly, seem to be out of print -- a dopey decision by his publisher). Find, buy and read them! You'll be moved and glad that you did.

This spy/government thriller was written in 1979 but it is frighteningly similar to what has happened since the 9/11 terrorist bombings. It has so many similarties that one has to wonder if bin Laden himself may have read this book years ago before it went out of print. Read as US government officials, spy agencies and TV news personalties grudgingly work together to solve a world terroist threat. My wife came across this book at a yard sale and I had it for the whole summer before reading it in November of 2001. I was shocked at what I was reading because of the very things the terriosts were doing in the book were the same things happening in the world today. The methods that the mastermind desert dweller bad guy Middle Eastern terrorist leader uses are very close to what we hear about today, that is, fully fueled jets used as bombs, acquiring small nuke devices, suicide bombers, cave shelters and others. There is also a presidential election with controversial results, a la Bush/Gore. It is somewhat dated and has a Cold War feel, but in 1979 that is what the reality was. An interesting read in light of todays events.

This is a wonderful novel about Vietnam, the Kennedy assassination and other modern fascinations. "The Tears of Autumn" is an early McCarry work that shows the seeds of his later greatness. Anyone who is nominally interested in historical fiction or spy novels will love this book.

Well-writen, rapidly paced, thoughtful, enlightening...I could go on, but better you should just buy it and read it. I stayed up late to finish it. Bill and Hilary and those who support them will find this book distasteful and will want to argue with its premises, but if those of you in this category can read through to the end you just might learn something... Vietnam veterans will love it -- thanks, Mr. McCarry, for caring and for supporting us. I have read McCarry's other books; this is one of his best.

Too close to reality? Speaking of China, Bill Clinton, W-88's and "technology transfer," If you have not read the novel Lucky Bastard by Charles McCarry, you owe it to yourself. It is a fast, witty, hilarious and phenomenal read. The book will have you rolling on the floor in laughter. (I waited anxiously for it and bought it as soon as it came out, then ripped through it in two days; a thoroughly enjoyable "could-not-put-it-down" reading experience.) But this book is also a serious study in politics, intelligence operations, subversion and corruption cloaked in light humor that is well crafted with more than a ring of truth derived from inside knowledge of the intelligence business. McCarry's portrayal of tradecraft is excellent. He draws from professional personal experience.

From the book jacket: 'Lucky Bastard is the ...story of a gifted politician with dangerous friends and a zipper problem.' 'Lucky Bastard is ...a thrilling and imaginative vision of power and conspiracy in the "age of Clinton."' In hind sight perhaps a little too close to realty for comfort.

Lucky Bastard is a thriller, full of suspense, following its anti-hero, Jack, the illegitimate son of of a famous political figure, from his early days as a draft dodger, who takes his best friend to the airport to ship out to Viet Nam, then "assaults" his loyal best friend's girl on the trip home. Jack goes to Europe on a foundation scholarship and becomes involved with a notorious German terrorist organization, then after a mysterious unaccounted for trip to Russia, returns and successfully enters politics. With the help of his wife (handler), (and some foreign monetary assistance), a machiavellian, strong willed, ardent radical who masterminds his political moves while guarding against the threat that his wild libido will destroy his career he becomes governor of his home state. Then against all odds, he becomes President of the United States. A surprise twist involves the Chinese, who cannot believe their good fortune. The girlfriend and wife of his best friend, knowing Jack for what he really is, takes great risks to expose him, but will anyone believe her. The novel has an interesting perspective as it is told from the point of view of Jack's maverick Russian intelligence service handlers.

The prophetic Lucky Bastard is in hard back, published in 1998 by Random House and has been out about a year and a half. It was particularly timely in that it was released just before Bill Clinton's trip to China in 1998.

Charles McCarry is (in my opinion) the best American author in the espionage/intelligence fiction genre. His tradecraft is a par excellence that has given him a deserved reputation with those in the know. McCarry is the author of seven works of non-fiction and 9 works of fiction. He has contributed to U.S. News & World Report and Esquire and was the first and only editor-at-large of National Geographic magazine. He draws on experience from his years as a field agent during the cold war era to produce some of the most engaging, profound and authentic novels you will ever read. Also by Charles McCarry, Last Supper is an epic work of pre- and post cold war World War II era. One of the best (if not THE BEST) American novels I have ever read.

There could be no better 1998 beach read than Charles McCarry's Lucky Bastard. But as summer winds down, you don't need a beach to enjoy a book that has everything this one does: a page-turning plot, terrific characters, an American politician's libido run amok, and McCarry's always superb writing. There is wit and intelligence here in abundance, as well as remarkable resonance with current events. I particularly loved the tenacity and intelligence of the female characters, and the insights about both the Soviet Union and the U.S. provided by Dmitri, the KGB agent who serves as the book's mordant narrator. Even the minor characters, like Dmitri's eager-to-please agent who teaches at Columbia, are memorable. This book is exciting, smart, and funny. You'll find yourself delaying other things in your life to keep reading.

First off, this is a very believable book, except that it does play a bit loose with the interpretation of the Constitution and the Presidential Succession bit. Also, the gullibility of the public is assumed, which stretches things a bit (e.g. the fawning over Hammett! Sorry, don't think so!). And the high tech 'stuff' available to the employees (!!) of the principle characters; again, stretches credulity a bit!
But having said that, it does bring it all together in some fascinating glimpses into what might be if we let ourselves get into. Wonderful character development, the boys and girls romping through the story (and that's how they're referred to!) along with the presumed-adults, and its a fine tale. I couldn't put it down.
Why only four stars? The characters are too superhuman and they do things a bit too easily; sorry, just need some normal human problems to appear. Murphy's Law and all that, traffic jams, flat tires maybe.
Highly recommended nonetheless. I'm already on the prowl for the author's other books!

The problem with most novels about Washington is that they are either 1)completely implausible (see FAVORITE SON) or 2)boring to anyone who doesn't actually live here. Charles McCarry's books are the exceptions that prove the rule. SHELLEY'S HEART works equally well as political thriller and incisive satire of late-20th century Washington (the reviewer who found it the work of a rightwing conspiracy clearly didn't get it). His attention to detail is perfect, and his characters are priceless. It would make a great movie, except that Hollywood probably doesn't care for this vision of our nation's capital.

A bombshell of a political thriller, the sequel to McCarry's The Better Angels. A tense and riveting tale of a struggle for presidential power, and the human and political consequences it leaves in its wake. Loading his story with rich, detailed characters, McCarry proves his mastery of the political spellbinder as well as the spy novel. You will be hungry for more!