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Fiction. Thriller. HTML: The classic spy thriller about corruption in the CIA that inspired the hit film and TV show: "A master of intrigue" (John Grisham). Sandwiches are a part of Ronald Malcolm's every day, but one just saved his life. On the day that gunmen pay a visit to the American Literary Historical Society, he's out at lunch. The society is actually a backwater of the Central Intelligence Agency, where Malcolm and a few other bookworms comb mystery novels for clues that might unlock real life diplomatic questions. One of his colleagues has learned something he wasn't meant to know. A sinister conspiracy has penetrated the CIA, and the gunmen are its representatives. They massacre the office, and only learn later of Malcolm�??a loose end that needs to be dealt with. Malcolm�??codename Condor�??calls his handlers at the agency, hoping for a safe haven, instead drawing another attempt on his life. With no one left to trust he goes on the run. But like it or not, Malcolm is the only person who can root out the corruption at the highest levels of the CIA. This "chilling novel of top security gone berserk" earned James Grady his reputation as a Grand Master of the spy thriller, inspiring legions of imitators as well as the classic Sydney Pollack film Three Days of the Condor and the new TV series Condor featuring Max Irons, Mira Sorvino, and Brendan Fraser (Library Journal… (more)
User reviews
One of the employees there, Ronald Malcolm, advises another employee (Heidegger) to ignore it when he finds a record for two crates of books that the society never received, but for which they had paid. Malcolm's advice was not followed. Shortly after this, it's Malcolm's turn to go out and get lunch for the group, which he does, taking his time. Upon his return, he finds everyone at the society dead. Sizing up the situation, he realizes that now he's in danger, and he does what he's been trained to do: calls the panic line at CIA headquarters, where he identifies himself as Condor. From this point, things go horribly wrong for Malcolm, and he finds himself on the run, with his life on the line.
An awesome book -- you seriously don't know who you can trust in this story which heightens the experience and the aura of suspense which builds throughout. Even 34 years later this book still has the ability to keep you turning pages. Recommended for people who enjoy espionage fiction, suspense or people who like stories about the CIA.
Ronald Malcolm, code name Condor, works for the CIA, but the closest he comes to cloak and dagger stuff is reading spy novels. That's his job -- reading and analyzing the
But then one day while he is out of his office on an errand, some men show up with a machine gun and kill all of his associates in Section 9, Department 17.
The rest of the novel is one long, breathless chase, as Malcolm runs for his life from both the unknown killers and from the CIA, which has a traitor in its midst.
So, a part of the CIA attacks another part of the CIA, and the Condor is caught in the middle, literally "Malcom" is in the middle!!! And then, he goes to work! This is a short, slam bang action thriller with lots of alphabet agencies and multiple pawns being moved around
In the film, the tension is maintained throughout, and the viewer's attention is held, effortlessly. Sadly, I found that the reverse was the case with the book, and it required a concerted effort to persevere through to the end
Malcolm reads and writes reviews, for a living. For the CIA. Someone learned something he wasn't supposed to and Malcolm and all his co-workers are supposed to be killed. But Malcolm wasn't there. And he's on the run, with no idea who to trust.
Probably a fairly