I think this book is intended more for more of a "thriller series" reader than I am. I didn't find any real originality in the plot or the writing. It certainly is an OK book, but not something that would be extremely entertaining or memorable.

Muir’s Gambit by Michael Frost Beckner
This is not an easy book to read as it is mainly a two-hand set piece between two CIA officers, one an agent and one a CIA lawyer. There are many flashbacks going back over 40 years to cover very dark areas of the agent as well as his mentor. I do not wish to spoil the story by giving away anything. This book is written as a prequel well after Mr. Beckner wrote the screen play for Spy Game a movie starring Robert Redford and Brad Pitt. Here is the back story and now I must read the two additional books all of which are coming out at the same time. As I mentioned even without knowing the movie, I think the book is a rewarding read for someone who prefers their espionage to be cerebral and not “bang, bang, kiss, kiss”. That is not to say there might have been a few kisses and ex-wives do play an off-stage part in this book. Do not buy this if you are looking for something to read on an airplane or hope to complete in a jet-lagged stupor after a trans-Atlantic or trans-Pacific flight. Go easy on the wine and cuddle up a few nights in a comfy chair and you may be rewarded.

I liked the movie but I found the book hard to get into. I felt like it jumped around too much at the first fourth of the book. Just not the pace I prefer.

The movie Spy Game (starring Robert Redford Brad Pitt) is one of my favourites in the genre. It’s visually neat and the story offers a solid plot. So, when I found out a trilogy based on the movie was being released, I was really excited about it. The first book in the Aiken series is a prequel set 48 hours before the movie. The other two are sequels happening after the movie.

Overall, my enthusiasm for the books didn’t reach the level it did for the movie (but again, with books, you don’t have all the movie components like soundtrack to make it fly!). I thought it wasn’t easy to follow the complicated plot, and if you can easily rewatch films to grasp all the nuances, it’s harder to do with books. But, the concept is still a strong one, so don’t hesitate to have a go at it.

A lot to keep track of as this engaging thriller spans long periods of time and complex relationships. I enjoyed getting to know the characters and seeing how they interacted, never sure which narrator was the trustworthy one. Side note, this is linked to the movie Spy Game and I now plan to rewatch that to see if it has added any new perspectives.

This review is for The Aiken Trilogy #1-3:
An excellent spy series. Each book is engaging, and well-written overall. The author created fully formed characters that are interesting to watch. I didn't always enjoy the conversations, but the suspense and strong writing kept me going. Beckner has found a way to write to his strengths.

I really appreciate the free ARCs for review!!

A complex unpicking of decades' old conspiracy, unwinding through a night of astouding amounts of alcohol.

Muir's Gambit is the prequel to the hit film Spy Game(2001) starring Robert Redford and Brad Pitt. The novel takes place over the preceding days before the events of the film. We follow Robert Aiken, the narrator for the book, a former recruit and trusted acolyte of Nathan Muir. Aiken is given the task of confronting his mentor when a retired CIA case officer, Charlie March, who recruited Muir, is killed on his boat, which the CIA believes Muir is responsible for.

The novel uses Aiken's personal problems and his jealousy of Tom Bishop to inform and dispel his views and assumptions of Muir, Bishop, and his own identity as we are drawn into a whirlwind of Muir's early career and subterfuge alongside his mentor, March. The story seems to ramble in places at the outset just by the nature of two spies discussing the past and how it informs the present, all the while unsure of what can actually be believed as fact. But as story works the edges of a tightening spiral, the truth and the ugly nature of the game reveals its core by the end of novel.

The narrator and Muir himself are not as charming as the film presented Redford, but as a fan of the film, the expansive understanding of Muir, and of Bishop in part, made the novel very enjoyable to someone who doesn't necessarily gravitate towards books that focus on dueling spies trying to outwit each other across a table.

I look forward to Beckner's two follow up novels in this trilogy.

I love spy books. Especially old school spy books. I wasn't familiar with the film, but was highly intrigued by the blurb for this book - and the idea of it being a prequel meant that it didn't matter if I wasn't familiar with the film or the books it was based on. Or so I thought.

Maybe I'm lacking some critical context here, but I could not get into this one at all. I found it difficult to follow as it meandered through past and present, through spycraft and domestic drama, in a way that felt wholly disjointed and utterly confounding to me. I would encounter page after page that I found out early engaging and very interesting, then suddenly the whole context would shift and it would lose me as it drifted from spies to adultery and back again... I appreciate that it all went into the making of the man, but I found the unraveling of this tale unnecessarily convoluted for what it was, and a poor fit for me.

This ARC was provided to me via Kindle, from Montrose Station Press and #NetGalley. Thank you for the opportunity to preview and review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

Well written mystery novel that should appeal to fans of several mystery genres. Characters are formed and fleshed out, story is done with forethought and care.

What an amazing story! Kept me on the edge of my seat until the very end wanting to see the film right after finishing the book.

This book is a prequel novel to the motion picture, the Robert Redford/Brad Pitt thriller Spy Game,

Michael Frost Beckner's Muir's Gambit opens with the assassination of retired CIA hero Charlie March. Mentor to Redford's Nathan Muir, by his murder, Charlie March presents Langley with the perfect opportunity to rid themselves of Cold War dinosaur Muir.

This was a really well done mystery novel, I was invested in what was going in this case. The characters were wonderfully done and I enjoyed the writing style in the book. It does what I want when reading a prequel and I look forward to reading Spy Game and watching the movie now.

"I entered the kitchen and switched on the light. “She was seated at the table. She hadn’t answered me because a bullet had made a neat third eye above the bridge of her nose. It wasn’t photo memories all over the table. It was just her dead memories blown gray and bloody out the back of her head.