Review by Booklist Review
Carpenter's unnamed narrator is the perfect pawn in a game of revenge and, perhaps, atonement set in the rarefied worlds of a private London garden, an isolated French retreat, Paris hotels, and at its core, a Beirut war zone. She is young and unmoored, with no family and no sense of self or purpose, and longs for a life less boring. When a mysterious older man named Marcus woos her at a party in the very same garden she coveted as a child, it seems less coincidence than salvation. After a whirlwind romance and marriage, Marcus confesses he is dying and enlists her in a mission that offers an identity and a lifestyle surpassing anything she could ever have imagined. Enter Marcus' friend Raja, a Lebanese citizen and MI6 agent working with the CIA to capture Edouard, a Russian spy. Carpenter's narrator is critical to the success of their plan and is thrust into a diabolically intricate web of spycraft with lethal and long-term results. Espionage thrillers are notably high octane, but Carpenter (Red, White, Blue, 2018) takes a refreshingly cerebral, literary, and cunningly cinematic approach in her exploration of personal moral ambiguity playing out in the world of international intrigue.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
A young woman learns her new husband is a spy intent on recruiting her for a dangerous mission in this anemic slow-burn from Carpenter (Red, White, Blue). The book's unnamed British narrator--who tells much of the story in flashback from middle age--is an aimless 20-year-old when she meets Marcus, a wealthy 50-something American who proposes marriage shortly after the pair falls into a whirlwind romance. On the couple's honeymoon in France, Marcus confesses he's dying, and solicits the narrator's help with a "project." He then introduces her to Raja, a fellow intelligence officer who asks the narrator to pose as an art dealer and dine at a "dear friend's" Cap Ferret compound. After the narrator follows instructions to observe the conditions and report back, Raja enlists her participation in the "last act" of a nine-year, multiagency plot to catch the compound's owner--a former Russian general planning the assassination of U.K.-based American assets. Much of the story is framed as the narrator's reflection on her long-ago induction into the "secret world" as an unwitting pawn, and while Carpenter wrings some pathos out of that conceit, her narrative elides too much and holds readers at too great a remove to truly captivate. Espionage fans are likely to find this disappointing. Agent: Eric Simonoff, WME. (Jan.)
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
A lonely young London woman is unknowingly drawn into a high-stakes intelligence campaign by the man she marries. Nearly 21, the never-named woman who narrates the novel is targeted by Marcus, a worldly, jet-setting American who happens to own the private garden she spent hours dreamily gazing at as a child. Innocent to the dangers of the world he inhabits, she is drawn to his controlling nature and sense of mystery even though he's more than 30 years her senior. Eager to be part of something, she goes along with Marcus' efforts to groom her as an asset for a group of operatives with ties to the CIA and Mossad. Posing as an aspiring art dealer, she makes an extended visit to the exclusive Cap Ferret home of Edouard, a former Russian general with a fabulous collection of paintings and a lethal past. She is surprised to enjoy his company during their long nightly walks and becomes exceptionally fond of the sweet, super-intelligent 9-year-old son he dotes on. Knowing he is behind Operation Ilium, a revenge plot aimed at American assets in the U.K., will she be able to do what is necessary to help foil it? "The problem is, when you reinvent yourself for someone else you are reinventing around your idea of what they want, and this will get you into all sorts of trouble," she muses. With its dreamily detached narration and elliptical feel, Carpenter's third novel--following Eleven Days (2013) and Red, White, Blue (2018)--is less interested in spy vs. spy or good vs. bad (both sides are equally capable of the worst) than the lack of reliable truths in people's lives and the ways they allow themselves to be formed by events beyond their control. "Truth is a toy I play with," the narrator says in the end. But no more than it plays with her. An edgy confessional novel with the trappings of spy fiction. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
