欧宝娱乐

Tim Powers is an incredible writer. Some of his early books stutter a bit - while I love them, several of them lack strong endings and aren't as cohesive as they might be. By the time we get to this novel, however, Powers is in full control. Declare is an intricately constructed novel of spies and the nations who run them, with the central character, Andrew Hale, involved in secret radio transmissions from Occupied Paris, agent-running in the Middle East, and occasional interaction with - and against - Kim Philby, another spy ( a real person, not an invented character). In his inimitable fashion, Powers introduces a supernatural element that serves to explain so many oddities that pop up in the biography of Philby and his equally strange father - oddities that may not mean much on their own but which, in the hands of Powers, combine themselves into a plausible...and truly scary...narrative. A book belonging in the secret history genre, where layers are peeled back from reality, revealing deep mysteries beneath. However, Powers never lets his plotting overshadow his characterization. Andrew and Elena and Kim are realistically brave, flawed, scared, heroic, and understandable.