“Charles Cumming has breathed new life into the spy novel.” –Ben Macintyre, bestselling author of A Spy Among Friends Published in the UK as The Man Between In this gripping contemporary thriller, reminiscent of the classic Casablanca, a successful spy novelist is drawn into a real-life espionage plot when he’s ordered to find a mysterious fugitive on the alluring but deadly streets of Morocco. mysterious fugitive on the alluring but deadly streets of Morocco.
Renowned author Kit Carradine is approached by an MI6 officer with a seemingly straightforward assignment: to track down a mysterious woman hiding somewhere in the exotic, perilous city of Marrakesh. But when Carradine learns the woman is a dangerous fugitive with ties to international terrorism, the glamour of being a spy is soon tainted by fear and betrayal.
Lara Bartok is a leading figure in Resurrection, a violent revolutionary movement whose brutal attacks on prominent right-wing public figures have spread hatred and violence across the world. Her disappearance ignites a race between warring intelligence services desperate to find her–at any cost. But as Carradine edges closer to the truth, he finds himself drawn to this brilliant, beautiful, and profoundly complex woman.
Caught between increasingly dangerous forces who want Bartok dead, Carradine soon faces an awful choice: to abandon Lara to her fate, or to risk everything trying to save her.
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Recommended. I read it in one breathless sitting.
Nobody writes more enjoyable spy thrillers than Charles Cumming.
I have been a fan of Charles Cumming ever since A Spy by Nature, and The Moroccan Girl is up there with the best ― full of thrills, wit and fine writing, with a plot and themes that might have been taken from today’s headlines. Writer/spy Kit Carradine is a thoroughly engaging protagonist, and I look forward to meeting him again. Superb espionage fiction.
Author Kit Carradine is a spy novelist who was asked to find a woman who is a dangerous fugitive with ties to terrorism in Morocco. The woman, Lara Bartok, is beautiful, intelligent and very complex woman who Carradine is supposed to deliver a new passport to. This is a very engaging spy thriller with a very intriguing plot. Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for the advanced reader copy. I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves spy thrillers.
A simple thing that became complicated.
Literary spy novels often involve a protagonist who has a profession other than an undercover career in intelligence. Novelists didn’t make this stuff up. A recent example is Valerie Plame, who worked as a private energy consultant when she wasn’t working at CIA. Most often, a real world spy works on a specific caper with a one-time alias, but novelists love the idea of the “nonofficial cover,” and so it is fitting that a common alter ego for a spy is the writer, mainly in the pages of fiction, but sometimes in real life. Somerset Maugham is the poster child for that. In The Moroccan Girl, Charles Cumming’s protagonist, Kit Carradine, who is a writer of spy fiction, is approached by a man claiming to be a British MI6 Agent and asked if he would do one “simple” mission for MI6 during a trip Kit is taking to a writers conference in Morocco. How could any self-respecting writer of spy fiction refuse such an offer? Kit accepts, of course, and goes off to his conference in Morocco with cash and a secret envelop.
The plot has many twists and turns, all of which heighten a peculiar tension in the story based on reveals that heap mystery upon mystery. Since the build-up of tension in this way is integral to the novel, any more detail of the novel’s plot development would in effect be a spoiler. One could say that the starts and stops in the plot line are convoluted. A reader wanting to move steadily toward a climax will be disappointed with this pace, and the fact that there is not one but several conclusory moments in the story. But a search for the big finale misses the point. The Moroccan Girl is more a literary novel than a spy thriller. Kit is a troubled character, disappointed with parts of his life, bored, regretful, and unsure whether he wants to continue to slog through writing his required minimum words on a daily basis. And the novel is all about him. So it is appropriate that he is a part of a story line that speeds up, decelerates, stops and accelerates on a random time line. For Kit, the events make his pathos all the worse. His character is brilliantly crafted. He bumbles his way through the plot, far more mistaken and confused than he is prescient. His instincts are uncertain in dangerous situations, and his successes owe as much to luck as they do to the vague sense of intelligence work he brings with him from his novels. And he fails at romance, his love for the Moroccan (really Hungarian) girl being unrequited. These diversions from the plot are what distinguishes Cumming from many other spy novelists. The pace of his storytelling is on a path paved with the progress of an awkward man toward a personal self-revelation (or not). The plot is not a superhighway leading to the foiling of a Russian threat.
Kit would like to make himself into a Frederick Forsyth. Cummings has himself said this in an interview with The Chiswick Calendar. The Moroccan Girl is certainly a worthy addition to the great spy novels written by Forsyth, Graham Greene, and John le Carre. It probably doesn’t compare to Julia Child’s work, but that’s another matter. And finally, it is perhaps ironic that Charles Cumming before he became a spy novelist was himself approached by MI6 but didn’t go forward. Or is it?
Mark Zvonkovic’s recent novel is A Lion in the Grass.
If you are looking to read an exciting spy thriller you don’t have to look any further. I have never read anything written by Charles Cumming but he is an excellent author. It was a little slow to start but once it took off I couldn’t stop reading it. He writes so very descriptive which only adds to the story! You need to read this book! Thanks Charles!
This is the first book I’ve read by Charles Cumming. It was suspenseful and had a great story line with lots of twists and turns. The plot was believable and fun to try to keep up. It’s great to find a new author to follow!.
The ending gives hope for another novel with Carradine working on being a spy!
This is a believable spy thriller. Kit, the main character, is a writer, a regular guy caught up in the world of British intelligence. Some of the author’s political views seep through but these are easy to ignore. Enjoy a very good spy story minus the superhero, unrealistic, exceptional abilities attributed to most spies in other novels.
slow start, not as fast-paced and action packed as I would have expected. It sparked my interest in the middle and the end.
Kit Carradine is a writer, producing best-selling espionage novels. When a gentleman recognizes him in the street and suggests a meet, where Carradine is invited to actually participate in a simple mission for Queen and Country since he will already be in Morocco, how can he say “no”?
The previous paragraph describes the beginning of Charles Cumming’s “The Moroccan Girl”. The rest of the book basically lays out the impact of that decision, and why declining to participate may have been in Carradine’s best interests. As with most spy novels, “The Moroccan Girl” contains its share of exotic locations (almost all in the titular north African country) and plenty of twists and double-crosses.
An entertaining read, for those who enjoy books in this genre.
RATING: Four Stars
Well written story but just moved too slow for me.
Christopher is a successful spy author who is preparing to go to a conference in Morocco. One day he is stopped on the street and things begin. He comes to find out the meeting was planned and this man has searched him out to help him. Christopher is asked to complete assignments for M16 which he agrees.
“The Moroccan Girl” by Charles Cumming was the first book I have read of his. I really had a hard time getting into this book. I found myself struggling to read it. There really wasn’t much action and it was very political. I really couldn’t get invested in this story. I’m sorry this book was just not my cup of tea. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I love books that are well written and takes me to exotic places that I have never traveled to. This espionage was a fantastic read, so captivating! I loved the thrill of the puzzle and the sharp stun of the twist! First book that I have read by Mr. Cumming, but not the last!
Linda’s Book Obsession Reviews “The Moroccan Girl” by Charles Cumming, February 2019
Charles Cumming, Author of “The Moroccan Girl” has written an intense, intriguing, and captivating novel. The Genres for this novel are Thriller, Mystery, Suspense and Fiction. The time-line of the story is in the present and goes to the past when it pertains to the events or characters in the story. The author describes his characters as complex and complicated.
“Kit” Carradine is an Author of mystery and thriller novels in England. He is approached by a member of whom he describes as MI6. There is a discussion of the “Resurrection revolutionary movement” that is a violent movement that kills right-wing politicians over the world. Kit is asked to take some information when he goes to a book festival near Morocco.
In this novel, there is danger, kidnapping, murder, and espionage. Little does Kit Carradine envision that he will be dealing with English, American and Russian agents.There are twists and turns, betrayals, and nothing seems the way it should. There are many adventures, that are far more threatening than are in his novels.
I would highly recommend this novel to readers who enjoy a highly intense, suspenseful story that is hard to put down. Happy Reading!.
Reading this book made me nervous at the start. The story describes a “non-violent” group known as Resurrection that quickly becomes violent. Their targets are prominent people labeled as the “alt-right”.
As I continued reading, I found this spy thriller increasingly engaging and intriguing. The characters are compelling and the plot is filled with many twists and turns.
This is a new genre for me and this was a good introduction. I recommend this book to those who like espionage and spy thrillers.
Thank you #StMartinsPress for the ARC of this books. The opinions expressed in this review are solely my own.
Overly anxious to follow in his aging father’s footsteps to work for the British Government and act as a spy Kit Caradine was very naive as what he was getting into.
The plot is moving very slow the first 30 % of the book which made me think a couple of times that I wouldn’t finish the book. The remaining 70 % was great in story telling, intrigue, twist and turns. If the first 30% was like that it would have been a solid 5 star. So if you can get past the slow startup I think you will enjoy this book.
I wanted to give a spy thriller a try. Mid way through the book, I found myself wondering if Kit Carradine, a spy thriller novelist gets involved in a real spy ring. With name changes, at times Imwondered if we would find out that he was Walter Mitty in disguise! I found the novel difficult to read with all of the changes in names……..If you are going to read this novel make sure you have a chart handy and keep notes. Just not my cup of tea! My thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Spy thrillers haven’t really been on my reading repertoire lately but when I read the synopsis for this one I was intrigued. And after reading it, I might just be reading more books dealing with espionage. I thoroughly enjoyed The Moroccan Girl. It was a page turner for me and I found myself completely engrossed. Great cast of characters and setting. This is the first Charles Cumming novel I have read and I’m thinking I’ll be reading more of his books. This one was quite satisfying.
Lift the lid off Cumming’s novel The Moroccan Girl and breathe in an exotic tagine stew, redolent of murderous international conspiracy, assassination, kidnapping, and a beautiful dangerous woman, set against the colorful matchstick mosaic of Marrakesh. Another Cumming triumph.
Kit is an author of suspense novels drawn into the world of espionage. Lara is an agent being targeted by some bad people. Kit is sent on a mission to find Lara but doesn’t have all the information. This leads on a death defying journey of mystery and intrigue across several continents. It is told in the present and as narrated by Lara after the event have transpired. The descriptions of the scenes and the characters are brilliant.