I love reading about espionage (there is a sense of mystery to this word which never gets dated) and hence I am always open to reading a spy thriller whenever I can get my hands on one. The Moroccan Girl is easily one of the good books to come out in the genre in recent times and it is no surprise-- its author is Charles Cumming, who has worked as a former recruit for the British Secret Service or MI6, so one can expect him to use his knowledge of the espionage world to write a book with a plot line that is at once engaging, fast paced, easy to follow and realistic. The characters, especially the protagonists Kit Carradine, the writer of thriller espionage novels who get approached by an agent of the MI6 (or so it seems) to go undercover for him and Lara Bartok, the 'Moroccan Girl' who is his mission are believable and likeable. The setting of the book too is perfect since no place gives out mystery vibes better than an Arab land (in this case Morocco or Marrakech) and the author has captured this brilliantly in the novel.

My thanks to NetGalley, the author and publishers for an ARC.

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.

This was a pretty good spy thriller. The plot and the characters were interesting and I read the book in an afternoon.

Kit Carradine is a spy thriller writer when he is approached by MI6. He's supposed to go to a writer's conference and deliver a package and get out. Of course, he gets a lot more involved than that when he sees that the target is a well-known woman who disappeared many years before. The plot got a little confusing at times, but the writing was fast paced and I enjoyed it.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This novel is one of those complex ones of international espionage. It is a bit ironic as a writer of spy novels is asked to do some spy work. For author Kit, reality rubs shoulders with his own fiction.

The plot involved Russians, UK protesters, MI6 operatives and even a fellow from the CIA. Kit misjudges many of them as most are not who they claim to be. I found keeping the characters straight as to who was on which side was very difficult. Because there is so much character deception, the character development is minimal.

The novel contains some action with assassinations, kidnapping, secret meetings, fast getaways, etc. It is a long novel, however, and there were many slow parts to it. Cummings has included much from the current political situation in the world and that was interesting. People who like methodical spy novels may like this one. Readers who like the action and suspense amplified, as I do, may find this one a bit tedious, as I did.

I received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher. My comments are an independent and honest review.

I ended up putting this book on my DNF stack. The plot felt like it twisted around unnecessarily and never caught my attention, even fifty pages in. The characters felt slack and underdeveloped. While I can appreciate a book that is plot driven, I still prefer the characters to not come across as fillers or a means to an end. The writing itself wasn't bad, but even with the terrorist plotline and action sequences, I didn't particularly care what happened to anyone which made me bored and unwilling to continue reading.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an advance reading copy of this book, which clearly did not influence my opinion.

The Moroccan setting was probably my favorite aspect of this book. I enjoyed the sights, sounds and intrigue it provided. The structure of the book, however, was off putting and often confusing. Kit is an author of spy novels who is approached by an M16 agent and asked to do a simple task involving a girl, or rather a woman, Lara Bartok. What ensues is much more than Kit ever bargained for. While I thought this would play out in a suspenseful way, it really didn't. I didn't find the resistance group or Lara compelling and I thought the plot came together in a haphazard way. The pace felt off to me as well, sometimes fast but sometimes slow. I don't think I was the right reader for this

The beginning of "The Moroccan Girl" is a little difficult to get into but once I get a hang of the characters and pace, everything moves pacy and exciting enough to make this a page turner. As a thriller, the book provides abundance of tension and thrilling moment. The backdrop of Casablanca and Morocco adds exotic and romantic elements which, to me, is quite appealing.

Overall, this is a good and pacey read with an interesting plot (though not strong.) The title is advertised as a spy thriller but the spy element is a little weak. The protagonist is an amateur spy whose true profession is an author to few published spy novels. Without any proper training, he survives his adventures solely based on his luck, some common sense in the field (his father used to be a spy agent) and his writer's intuition. An interesting character to read perhaps but with almost nil credulity and credibility.

The ending indicates the likelihood of the protagonist's future engagements as a spy because of his good handling of the assignment. Proper spy training not only will make him a better part time agent but will as well enhance the enjoyment of any potential upcoming installments. A solid 3.5 stars rating for the interesting story which has flaws.

THE MOROCCAN GIRL is a contemporary spy novel that feels like Law and Order ripped from headlines. . Carradine’s travels to Casablanca and Marrakech added classic movie-type intrigue to the story. One interestion point in the book was Carradines character was "regular"; he witnessed a Resurrection kidnapping as he was waiting to cross a London street. He was paralyzed by the fear that the majority of us would feel when witnessing an act of terror. He makes mistakes. The story was well-paced and interesting.

“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.

The beginning of "The Moroccan Girl" was a little difficult for me to get into but once I did, what fun! An espionage author stumbles into a real life espionage case and gets the chance to be a real spy...but gets more than he bargained for! Even with the bumpy beginning, I liked this book. It held several little plot twists that kept me guessing and kept me interested to the end. Despite the somewhat heavy subject matter, the novel was easy to read. The authors writing had colorful descriptions and well crafted characters. Giving it a 4 star rating and my recommendation you pick up a copy.
Thanks to NetGalley, Charles Cumming, and St. Martin's Press for the ARC for my honest review.

3 stars

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Kit Carradine is a successful spy novelist that is approached by MI6 and asked to carry out what seems to be a simple task while he attends a literary festival in Morocco. But, Kit finds himself trying to find a woman that is a leading figure in a violent group revolutionary movement targeting prominent right-wing political figures.

I'm sure that a lot of people will like this book, but I had a hard time getting into the book and found myself struggling to read it. It started out really slow and I couldn't get into it. I also didn't like the main character.

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Books and movies typically portray spies as suave, sophisticated men who have the best training and the best equipment—who travel the globe on deadly but romantic secret missions. But in The Moroccan Girl by author Charles Cumming, an unlikely agent finds himself facing off against international spies.

Review published on NightsAndWeekends.com and aired on Shelf Discovery

I think this is the best book that Cumming has written and I was hooked from the beginning.

There is nail biting tension, superb description and many twists and turns as the story unfolds. The characters were well drawn and, importantly for me, the narrator was likeable.

I have enjoyed previous books from this author but this up a level.

I would strongly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys espionage, a tight plot line and a fast paced read. All accompanied with impressive visual descriptions.

Let me start out by saying that I can only assume that the author must have been inspired by the current world political climate. The plot seems to be ripped from today’s headlines and in reading this, the possibilities of such events occurring in real life seem all too real.

The plot follows CK”kit” karradine, a writer who finds himself stuck in a life rut. kit writes spy novels for a living, and while the characters in his novels live lives on the edge, Kit has no formal experience as a spy, and he has recently found that his life has become somewhat of a bore.

Meanwhile, the world sits on edge as a far left terrorist group known as Resurrection executes increasingly violent abductions of right wing commentators and political allies.

One day as Kit is on a train ride, he has an innocent enough encounter with a man who says he works for the British service. Kit cannot believe his luck, as this man could his first real contact with someone who works in the secret world of spies. Kit is cautiously optimistic when the mysterious man offers him a lifetime opportunity to rendezvous with a woman in Marrakech and deliver a package to her. Looking for an actionable opportunity in life , Kit accepts the mission. It is only when he has already on his way to Morocco that he begins to realize he wasn’t given the full story about the woman he tasked with finding, and he has entered a dark underworld where no one seems to be who they claim to be.

The novel is fun. There were several little plot twists that kept me guessing and interested to the end. Despite the somewhat heavy subject matter, the novel was easy to read. Overall, an enjoyable experience.

Ein Stern Abzug, da es hin und wieder ins etwas Zähe abdriftet. Ansonsten sehr schön geschrieben, lässt Handlung und Personen sehr bildhaft lebendig werden.

What happens when an espionage author stumbles into a real life espionage case? This is the premise on which Charles Cumming's fascinating book is based. I was sure the protagonist dies, but this is a book with many twists in the plot. Quite an entertaining read!!

This book ended up just being all right. I kept going back and forth between being interested in the story and being confused/uninterested. I love the premise of the government using a writer as a tool for investigation and I did like the main character of Carradine. However, I never got to a point where I could not put the book down.

The Moroccan Girl was my introduction to the work of Charles Cumming. This book is a page turner and I am delighted to have discovered this author. Definitely adding him to my favorite authors list and plan to acquire more of his work.

The main character is Christopher “Kit” Carradine. He’s a novelist writing about spies and espionage. One day he is approached on a London street by a man named Robert Mantis; he’s posing as a fan of Kit’s books. As Kit writes about the spy world in such detail, evidently convincingly, Mantis makes overtures to recruit Kit into the British Service.

It’s a thrilling prospect for Kit to get out of the day-to-day writing routine and do something exciting. He’s meant to hook up with a British Service contact when he’s in Morocco at a writers event. If he can also locate Lara Bartok and pass off a package, all the better. Lara is a young woman who may be on the run from her own government or she may be a terrorist. Lara was the girlfriend of Ivan Simokov, leader of the group Resurrection. This group seemed to start off with an ideal of exposing bad people, folks in positions of power who abused their positions at the expense of us regular citizens. Eventfully Resurrection turned very violent. Is Lara Bartok on the run because she was involved with Resurrection or is she fleeing Ivan and the people she once worked with? She is a very interesting character.

There are scenes in London but most of the flavors are in the Morocco. Casablanca, Tangiers and Marrakesh come to life in this book. You are immersed in the setting, the heat, sweat, suspicion, the colorful setting and the foods. As Kit makes his way through Morocco he is caught up with British, Russian and American agents but it’s hard to tell which side they are on. What’s the endgame?

Another interesting thing are the references to authors who were tapped by the British service to spy or act as a support agents. Frederick Forsyth and Somerset Maugham in particular were mentioned and now I want to know more about them so my reading list has grown thanks to this narrative. Hoping to read more about Kit Carradine in the future if he becomes a regular character in a series. In the meantime I will be tracking on Mr. Cumming’s other espionage novels.

Lots of food referenced but of course it’s not a foodie book. I always note the dishes or drinks when I read as I’m always up for recreating a dish that appeals. In this case I wanted to make Lamb Tagine but in the interest of getting my post done here, let’s have Lamb Kebabs. (Photo on my blog Novel Meals)

Here’s a sampling of the meals and drinks I noted: Lamb Tagine, Chicken Dhansak, Tarka Daal, Chablis and fish cakes, spaghetti Bolognese, fried fish and Merguez sandwiches, chicken couscous, cheese and pasta salad, baklava.
Black coffee, margaritas, gin and tonic, pints of ale, vodka martini, mint tea.

I’d like to thank NetGalley for an advance copy of this book. I was slow getting to it a “reading group” was supposed to get together for this one. Wish I had just started it earlier because I would be reading another of Cumming’s books now. If you like espionage and mystery then I highly recommend this book. Well done, Mr. Cumming.

I received this book as an ARC for an honest review. The version I downloaded was very poorly formatted for Kindle, but outside of that this was a great book of international espionage. The story was a little slow to start, but once it got going I couldn’t put it down. A British author, Kit Carradine, gets drawn into the world of spys and terriorists to complete a simple mission, but in the end it becomes for more complex. You never really know who is being truthful and who is trying to deceive Kit. American, British and Russian operatives are all trying to find the mysterious Lara Bartok and it is not clear until the end why everyone is so interested in her. The terrorist organization, Resurrection, in this book seems to be modeled after ISIS in that random attacks are happening with the Resurrection claiming responsibility. People are kidnapped and murdered. Hostages are taken. Bombs are detonated. It is scary to think that things like this are going on in the real world. The only issue I had with this book are a couple slight political digs at a United States/ Russia connection. I don’t really want to see real life politcal issues in a work of fiction.

C.K. Carradine is a British novelist who writes books about spies and espionage. When he is approached by the Service in order to perform a task during his upcoming visit to Marrakesh, Carradine is all too eager to help out. Being a writer isn't always all it's cracked up to be, so Carradine is intrigued by this bit of excitement in his life. His task is to find Lara Bartok and deliver documents to her to help her to get out of Morocco. Carradine isn't sure who he can trust and who is working for who. Will he be successful in his mission?

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read and review this book.

When I first received information about this book, I was quite excited to read it and find out more about this author as this is the first I have heard of Charles Cumming. Also, I haven't read too many books dealing with spies, so I couldn't wait to dive into this story. For me, I didn't enjoy this story as much as I thought I would. I couldn't connect to the characters and none of them stayed with me throughout the journey. I was waiting for some big twist or turn to happen, but it never came to fruition.

C.K. Carradine writes about spies and he had no idea that he would become one himself. But is he up for the task at hand. Can he be the type of spy he writes about in his books. The reality is a lot different than what he puts on paper. I kept thinking that Carradine was going to end up being another character we were introduced to.

I may read other books by Charles Cumming, but this one just didn't strike a cord with me.