I just finished my first Jim Brodie thriller, THE SPY ACROSS THE TABLE, by award winning storyteller Barry Lancet. Number four in this exciting series, it won’t be my last Brodie read. So many reason why I loved this novel, it’s difficult to know where to begin. Let me try this way:
Some novels are thoughtful and engaging. They make you think. Some novels are just really entertaining, for the sake of entertainment. It is not always that a novel can pull off both at the same time. It takes a highly skilled writer to achieve that. THE SPY ACROSS THE TABLE is one such novel. Lancet is one such writer. You don’t want to miss either Lancet or his stories. Like Daniel Silva’s Gideon Allon, Brodie is part art dealer and part spy, but Brodie makes me engage more than Allon. And that’s saying a lot.
THE SPY ACROSS THE TABLE is a geopolitical and gastronomical delight. Great mystery, great imagery and scenes, great characters, and great tension. From Washington, D.C., to San Francisco, to Japan, to South Korea, to North Korea, to China, to Mongolia, and back. But I didn’t need my globe because Lancet lays it out so effortlessly and so clearly. One heart-pounding challenge after another. If Brodie doesn’t require any anxiety meds to get through it all, you may. And in between each life threatening scene, one great meal in one great restaurant after another! 007’s shake don’t stir (or was it stir don’t shake?) has nothing on Lancet. And what nostalgia for anyone like me who has spent considerable time in Japan, right down to the prefectures and the restaurants!
And while we’re talking about Bond, Brodie is more exciting for me than Bond because, albeit with a bit of martial arts training, people can actually do what Brodie does. Well, almost, and at least some of the time. In the Bond novels, the good guys are all good and the bad guys are all bad. In THE SPY ACROSS THE TABLE, the good guys have some bad in them and the bad guys have some good in them. Well, at least some of the good guys and some of the bad guys. More illustration of how thoughtful Lancet truly is.
Like Lee Child’s Jack Reacher, Brodie is a philosopher. These are characters who can think and do. I wonder if, and when, Lancet’s Brodie will hook up with Lee Child’s Jack Reacher for an adventure or two. They’re made for each other.
No spoilers here, but this reader wonders what will become of Brodie and Rie. I don’t think we’re done with Rie because (i) I’m too much of a romantic and (ii) Brodie’s daughter, Jen, would never stand for it.
And what’s next for Brodie? My prediction: Brodie will take on some menacing challenge threatening Japan’s hosting of the 2024 Olympic Games.
THE SPY ACROSS THE TABLE. Don’t miss it! You’ll be glad you didn’t.
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