The Amateur - Softcover

Littell, Robert

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0143038141 ISBN 13: 9780143038146

Publisher: Penguin Books, 2007

Synopsis

A spy thriller classic from the author of The Company

Before Robert Littell vaulted onto the bestseller lists with The Company, The Amateur, which has been long out of print, established him as a contemporary master of the espionage thriller. In this sleek and murderous novel, Charlie Heller is an ace cryptographer for the CIA, a quiet man in a quiet back-office job. But when his fiancée is murdered by terrorists and the Agency decides not to pursue her killers, Heller takes matters into his own hands. The fact that he is an amateur makes him all the more dangerous. Mind-blowing in its intelligence, pulse-pounding in its suspense, The Amateur is a stunner.

About this title

About the Author:

Robert Littell was born, raised, and educated in New York. A former Newsweek editor specializing in Soviet affairs, he left journalism in 1970 to write fiction full time. Connoisseurs of the spy novel have elevated Robert Littell to the genre's highest ranks, and Tom Clancy wrote that “if Robert Littell didn’t invent the spy novel, he should have.” He is the author of fifteen novels, including the New York Times bestseller The Company and Legends, the 2005 L.A. Times Book Award for Best Thriller/Mystery. He currently lives in France.

Review:

A first rate thriller . . . Littell is a terrific writer. (Chicago Tribune)

A taut, chilling plot and a protagonist as memorable as one of Len DeightonĘs, or le CarrTĘs Smiley. (The New York Times Book Review)

One of the best . . . a thoroughly professional and surprise-filled work. (Los Angeles Times)

About this edition

• Publisher: Penguin Books
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 0143038141
• ISBN 13: 9780143038146
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 256