The Miernik Dossier
Charles McCarry
‘Charles McCarry's first novel, The Miernik Dossier is arguably the finest modern American spy story, the only one that matches the leading British masters of the genre in subtlety and ingenuity.'
(The New York Times Book Review)'True entertainment ... has throughout the crystal ring of truth ... intelligent, absorbing.'
(New Yorker ) 'Book of the week', Lucy Sussex (The Sunday Age)‘Charles McCarry is the best modern writer on the subject of intrigue,’ wrote P.J. O’Rourke, and Time magazine has declared that ‘there is no better American spy novelist.’
McCarry’s first book, The Miernik Dossier, originally published in 1973, is a riveting and imaginative tale in which a small group of international agents embark on a road trip in a Cadillac, from Switzerland to the Sudan. Among them are Paul Christopher, an American operative under deep cover; Kalash el Khatar, a seven-foot-tall Muslim prince; Ilona Bentley, a beautiful half-English, half-Hungarian girlfriend of the British agent Nigel Collins; and Tadeusz Miernik, a shy and bumbling Polish scientist who might be the leader of a terror force that could set the Cold War aflame.
From the hotels and cafés of Geneva, to the palaces and terrorist camps of Dar es Salaam, The Miernik Dossier moves through a world of the subtlest plots of intrigue and the most brutal acts of violence.
Related as a collection of dossier notes and conversation transcripts written and recorded by the five characters, the novel reveals a complicated web in which each spins his or her own deception: each is a spider, and each is a spy … and The Miernik Dossier is a thorough-going masterpiece.
'It's clever, taut, utterly convincing and delightfully offbeat.'
Robin Osborne (Daily Examiner)'The Miernik Dossier is so amazingly current; it is hard to believe it was first published over thirty years ago. The writing is fresh and has such veracity that one imagines reading an actual dossier pulled from the operational files of the CIA ... I for one can't wait to get my hands on the rest of McCarry's work.'
Elizabeth Emmanuel (Media Culture)'Scribe has done the reading world a favour by republishing McCarry's 1973 work.'
Graham Clark (Courier Mail)'It grips like a python!'
Roger Hainsworth (The Adelaide Review)'There is gripping tension all the way, and huge enjoyment on offer for admirers of this masterpiece from a blissfully un-American genre.'
Bob Hart (Herald Sun)McCarry eschews today's Ludlumeque fast-action sequences and uses an interesting plot device to engage the reader ... this is the first of the "Christopher" series; others are equally enjoyable for lovers of fine espionage fiction.'
Brooke Walker (Good Reading)'Sex, violence, plot and counter plot all intertwine in a most marvellous manner, making The Miernik Dossier one of the best spy novels out. Set aside some free time, because you won't be able to put it down.'
Steve Woodman (Border Mail)'Sex, violence, plot and counter plot all intertwine in a most marvellous manner, making The Miernik Dossier one of the best spy novels out. Set aside some free time, because you won't be able to put it down.'
Steve Woodman (Illawarra Mercury)Charles McCarry
Author photo
Charles McCarry established an international reputation as a novelist in 1975, with the publication of his worldwide bestseller, The Tears of Autumn. He is the author of ten other critically acclaimed novels — The Miernik Dossier, The Secret Lovers, Old Boys, The Better Angels, The Last Supper, The Bride of the Wilderness, Second Sight, Shelley's Heart, Lucky Bastard, and Christopher's Ghosts — which have been translated into more than 20 languages. During the Cold War, he was a CIA officer operating under deep cover in Europe, Africa, and Asia. Since his resignation from the CIA, Charles McCarry has divided his time between the Berkshires and Florida's east coast.
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Extent: 256pp
Size: 234mm x 153mm
ISBN (13): 9781921215605
RRP: $32.95
Pub date: February 2008
ANZ, South-East Asia, South Africa
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