Helpful Score: 2
Don't get me wrong. I love Joseph Hone's writing. But having stumbled upon his first, and in my opinion, best novel, "The Private Sector," I was slightly disappointed with "The Oxford Gambit." That is not to say I did not like it; just that it is not equal to "The Private Sector."
In "The Oxford Gambit", Hone's credible, sophisticated, low-profile spy hero Peter Marlow is back, hunting, as he does best, for a former Intelligence Unit agent who has inexplicably disappeared from his English country estate. The hunt takes us from England through Eastern Europe, which teems with life thanks to Hone's apt and beautiful descriptions. The hunt also takes us into the offices of some of the Unit's operatives and managers, and, through Marlow's mental musings, into their minds.
There are several themes running throughout the book: bee-keepping, classical music, survival, and exploring psychological shortfalls via his relationship with the daughter of the disappeared man. All interesting enough subjects to weave into a story, and, again, beautifully written, but a bit too much all over the map and not woven cohesively together to bring meaning to the plot.
But still definitely worth the read for Hone's magnificent style!
In "The Oxford Gambit", Hone's credible, sophisticated, low-profile spy hero Peter Marlow is back, hunting, as he does best, for a former Intelligence Unit agent who has inexplicably disappeared from his English country estate. The hunt takes us from England through Eastern Europe, which teems with life thanks to Hone's apt and beautiful descriptions. The hunt also takes us into the offices of some of the Unit's operatives and managers, and, through Marlow's mental musings, into their minds.
There are several themes running throughout the book: bee-keepping, classical music, survival, and exploring psychological shortfalls via his relationship with the daughter of the disappeared man. All interesting enough subjects to weave into a story, and, again, beautifully written, but a bit too much all over the map and not woven cohesively together to bring meaning to the plot.
But still definitely worth the read for Hone's magnificent style!
