The Last Supper

By Charles McCarry

More information to be announced soon on this forthcoming title from Penguin USA.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Penguin Group
• Release date: Jan 29, 2008
• ISBN: 9781468300369

Charles McCarry

A former operative for the CIA, Charles McCarry (b. 1930) is America’s most revered author of espionage fiction. Born in Massachusetts, McCarry began his writing career in the army, as a correspondent for Stars and Stripes. In the 1950s he served as a speechwriter for President Eisenhower before taking a post with the CIA, for which he traveled the globe as a deep cover operative. He left the Agency in 1967, and set about converting his experiences into fiction. His first novel, The Miernik Dossier (1971), introduced Paul Christopher, an American spy who struggles to balance his family life with his work. McCarry has continued writing about Christopher and his family for decades, producing ten novels in the series to date. A former editor-at-large for National Geographic, McCarry has written extensive nonfiction, and continues to write essays and book reviews for various national publications. Ark (2011) is his most recent novel.

Reviews for The Last Supper

[viking2917_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Charles McCarry might be the true heir to John Le Carré. His spy novels have plenty of thrills, but focus on the human aspects of espionage, the betrayals, the inability to trust anyone, the costs of being “in the business”.Nobody knows that cost more than Paul Christopher, McCarry’s best known creation. Christopher is an on-again, off-again spy first introduced in The Tears of Autumn, which to my mind presents the most plausible explanation of JFK’s assassination I’ve heard. His girlfriend Molly has been killed for reasons that aren’t entirely clear but are certainly related to Christopher’s intelligence work.The Last Supper tells the story of the early days of the CIA, moving through time from WWII-era Burma to Vietnam during the war to Communist China, and later years. It paints a deeply detailed back story of Christopher’s parents, and how he came to be who he is. And presents the mystery of who has betrayed Christopher and killed his girlfriend.In tone and pacing, The Last Supper reminds me most of Le Carré’s A Perfect Spy, which to my mind not just a great spy novel but one of this century’s truly great books. The Last Supper is richly detailed, historically accurate and informative, and a wonderful mystery.

[sandra.k.heinzman · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Picked this up at our cruise ship's library. What a good book; I must read more by this author! It takes place over a number of decades and is out spying. I'm still thnkng about it a day later. Recommend!96

[seriousgrace · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Paul Christopher is a CIA man who was raised around dark secrets. His parents smuggled Jews out of Germany via boat to Denmark during World War II when he was just a child. As a teenager he remembers he and his American father being removed from Germany while his German mother was held behind. This separation and the need to find her prompted Paul's father to join the CIA. Following in his father's footsteps after his murder, Paul also joins the "The Outfit." The Last Supper spans all of the major conflicts between World War I and the Vietnam War. Stay on your toes because this is fast paced and involves many different characters who may or may not be spies.