The Miernik Dossier

I can't believe I am the first person to review this on amazon.ca, or can I. I read a number of espionage books including all LeCarre, Deighton, Eric Amber, Furst and others. Plus I've read a pile of american crime fiction (read Jim Thompson people) so how on earth could I have not heard of Charles McCarry till now. If I missed him so have many others I guess. Luckily I read Ian Hamilton's short piece in a recent Globe and Mail Saturday book section (http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/author-ian-hamilton-on-his-favourite-sentences-the-books-he-reads-again-and-again-and-more/article22378644/) where he says the most neglected book he knows is one by McCarry. Then he says his entire Paul Christopher series is necessary reading. So thanks to Overlook Press the books are all reissued and available right here. This is the first one, written in 1973. McCarry was a ten year spy himself, before becoming a novelist. This is one terrific, madcap adventure of a spy novel, which seems to predict many events of today. It is of the highest order and displays great literary tradecraft. I am on to the second one now and know for certain I won't be disappointed. Charles McCarry will be back.

Probably Mr. McCarry's best work. The episodic portrayal through many intel report was very well done. Miernik was superbly developed. I really enjoyed the jelling of national characters brought together in the crucible. A good, highly-credible story.

Somewhat strange format. But it was OK.

Charles McCarry is one of the top writers of espionage, suspense/thriller fiction and most definitely in the same literary league with John LeCarre, Alan Furst, Eric Ambler and Ken Follett. McCarry's nuanced, at times poetic, writing style, his ability to create real, flesh and blood characters who will move you, and his fast-paced, taunt storylines, put him at the top of the list for craftsmanship and inventiveness. Therefore, I do not understand why McCarry's books are out of print and have been for some time. In order to read them I have had to look for used book sellers who have his novels in stock at a reasonable price - not an easy task. However, for anyone who reads this review and becomes motivated to search out "The Miernik Dossier" or any of the author's other novels, I urge you to follow through. You won't be sorry - I promise.I should note that McCarry worked for the CIA many years ago, during the height of the Cold War, and the air of authenticity that permeates his books makes them all the more fascinating and absolutely riveting. His position as one of the "Old Boys," and his knowledge of "The Company" and the political goings-on in the DC Beltway add tremendously to his most original plots."The Miernik Dossier," published in 1973, is McCarry's debut novel and also the first book to feature Paul Christopher, the cool, sophisticated American undercover agent - who is to the author what George Smiley is to John Le Carré. The narrative, purely experimental at the time it was written, is comprised of a collection of 89 numbered extracts from intelligence reports made by field agents (from various countries), as well as memos, wire-taps and diaries revolving around a somewhat bumbling Polish exile who might be a double or even triple agent...but then again who might not. No one knows for sure whether Tadeusz Miernik is a good guy or a bad one, or whose side he is on - not American agent Paul Christopher, nor British Intelligence officer Nigel Collins, nor Kalash el Khatar a North African prince, nor any one of the colorful characters who plot, spy and elevate the art of subterfuge to the highest level. One of the novel's highlights involves a trip (mostly by Cadillac) from Geneva to the Sudan with Miernik, Khatar, Collins, a beautiful Hungarian seductress (who might be a spy), and Miernik's sister, who must be smuggled out of Czechoslovakia before she can join the group. There's plenty of dark humor to be found between the pages also.I have now read almost all of Charles McCarry's books and cannot recommend them highly enough. I have had to go out of my way, as previously mentioned, to acquire his work but am so glad I did. This one is a particular favorite of mine. If you are a fan of John le Carré, authors Furst, Ambler and Follett, you will certainly become a McCarry fan, as are le Carré, Furst, Ambler and Follett. They have all read him and praise him to the sky. ENJOY!JANA

Having been hooked on Charles McCarry's writing for a couple years now, I have read about half of his works and have purchased the rest. The story is set in the late 1950s during the Cold War. The Miernik Dossier is the first in the Paul Christopher series. I was concerned about the format when I started reading. The plot unfolds and the story evolves through a compilation of CIA reports, transcripts of telephone conversions, surveillance reports, and other documented pieces of information. Once into the book, however, I was comfortable and enjoyed a story using such an unusual platform. Christopher is in deep cover in Europe tasked with cultivating a relationship with Tadeusz Miernik, who is the Polish Ambassador to the World Research Organization. He has been recalled to Poland, but does not want to return. The CIA has pegged Miernik as a possible Soviet spy and Paul's job is to determine if that is true, and further, whether he can be recruited to work for the CIA. Miernik recruits Paul to sneak into Eastern Europe to reunite Miernik's supposed daughter, Zofia, with him. Characters are introduced and developed through the official documents mentioned above and it becomes clear that all of them either are, or might be spies for one side or the other. The group travels to the Sudan in Africa in the company of Kalash, a black Sudanese Prince, who leads them to his father's palace. From there the group splits up and they venture into the Sudanese interior - a foreboding and dangerous place. McCarry doesn't answer our question as to whether Miernik was a Soviet spy, so the reader is left to form his/her own opinion. This book was a lot of fun to read and the format works well.