Robert Littell is the undisputed master of American spy fiction, hailed for his profound grasp of the world of international espionage. His previous novel, The
Company, an international bestseller, was praised as "one of the best spy novels ever written"
(Chicago Tribune). For his new novel, Legends, Littell focuses on the life of one agent caught in a "wilderness of mirrors" where both remembering and forgetting his past are deadly options.
Martin Odum is a CIA field agent turned private detective, struggling his way through a labyrinth of past identities--"legends" in CIA parlance. Is he really Martin Odum? Or is he Dante Pippen, an IRA explosives maven? Or Lincoln Dittmann, Civil War expert? These men like different foods, speak different languages, have different skills. Is he suffering from multiple personality disorder, brainwashing, or simply exhaustion? Can Odum trust the CIA psychiatrist? Or Stella Kastner, a young Russian woman who engages him to find her brother-in-law so he can give her sister a divorce.
As Odum redeploys his dormant tradecraft skills to solve Stella's case, he travels the globe battling mortal danger and psychological disorientation. Part
Three Faces of Eve, part The Spy Who Came in From the Cold, and always pure Robert Littell,
Legends--from unforgettable opening to astonishing ending--again proves Littell's unparalleled prowess as a seductive storyteller.
BOOK REVIEWS
BookBrowse
Critical opinion is mixed, but generally positive - the negatives are that a few critics feel that Littell's prose is a little clichéd and some feel that Odum's search for his real identity is a little overdone. Full Review (461 words).
Media Reviews
Booklist - David Wright
No respecter of the classical unities, Littell imbues his tale with the same split personality of its protagonist, veering from jocose banter to grim torture, but for readers prepared to follow his lead, he delivers a smart, fun, strange adventure in the legendary tradition of Odysseus, yet another wily trickster who boasts to his peril that he is "no man."
New York Post
Robert Littell's convincing spy story is brimming with great characters.
The Washington Post - Patrick Anderson
My admiration for Littell's novels, notably The Defection of A.J. Lewinter and The Sisters, is no secret, but I think that, at age 70, he has outdone himself with this dizzying, dazzling portrait of a spy who has so many identities -- legends, in spook-talk -- that he no longer knows who he is ... Legends is a rich, funny, perverse, angry, haunting, supremely entertaining look at our world and our government.
Publisher's Weekly
Wonderful writing and a great sense of fun make this another winner.
War, natural disaster, reckless gods and the recognition of impermanence in the world are just some of the threads that AS Byatt weaves into this most timely of books. Linguistically stunning and imaginatively abundant, this is a landmark.
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