Monday 22 July 2019

Terry Hayes - I Am Pilgrim


Rating: 4/5

Review
Enjoyable but flawed

I enjoyed I Am Pilgrim, but I did think it had its flaws.

There’s a lot that’s familiar here; the best agent of his generation, retired but dragged back into the secret world to save the entire world from terrorist catastrophe isn’t the most original of set-ups. However Terry Hayes pulls it off very well, by and large. He structures the story cleeverly so that it’s a compelling read, there is a lot of meticulous research which makes it at least semi-plausible and his portraits of the motivations of his characters are well done. I found it gripping and page-turning almost throughout. Almost.

The book is too long and would benefit from considerable trimming, I think. Some of the extensive back-story began to get in the way sometimes, some of the action sequences were over drawn out and frankly silly and the rather ridiculous climax and extended sentimental coda let the book down a little.

Nonetheless, it’s an engrossing book for much of its (considerable) length and would make an excellent beach read. Recommended.

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