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    Once a Spy: A Novel
    Unavailable
    Once a Spy: A Novel
    Unavailable
    Once a Spy: A Novel
    Audiobook (abridged)6 hours

    Once a Spy: A Novel

    Written by Keith Thomson

    Narrated by Danny Campbell

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    Drummond Clark was once a spy of legendary proportions.  Now Alzheimer's disease has taken its toll and he's just a confused old man who's wandered away from home, waiting for his son to fetch him.

    When Charlie Clark takes a break from his latest losing streak at the track to bring Drummond back to his Brooklyn home, they find it blown sky high-and then bullets start flying in every direction.  At first, Charlie thinks his Russian "creditors" are employing aggressive collection tactics.  But once Drummond effortlessly hot-wires a car as their escape vehicle, Charlie begins to suspect there's much more to his father than meets the eye.  He soon discovers that Drummond's unremarkable career as an appliance salesman was actually a clever cover for an elaborate plan to sell would-be terrorists faulty nuclear detonators.  Drummond's intricate knowledge of the "device" is extremely dangerous information to have rattling around in an Alzheimer's-addled brain.  The CIA wants to "contain" him--and so do some other shady characters who send Charlie and Drummond on a wild chase that gives  "father and son quality time" a whole new meaning.

    With Once a Spy, Keith Thomson makes his debut on the thriller stage with energy, wit, and style to spare.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateMar 9, 2010
    ISBN9780307705594
    Unavailable
    Once a Spy: A Novel

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    Reviews for Once a Spy

    3.5/5

    74 ratings13 reviews

    What did you think?

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    • 3/5
      A bit over the top spy stuff but an enjoyable read nonetheless.
    • 3/5
      A cute mystery involving an estranged father and son. The father has beginning Alzheimer's and the son is a bit of a ne'er-do-well who bets too much on horses. The adventure begins when the father has to leave his home for a nursing home. He is actually a former spy - but who is trying to kill him? Foreign spies? His old bosses?
    • 3/5
      I like to read authors first book,I finnished this one.
    • 4/5
      Once a Spy is literally chock full of non-stop action. There was almost too much! It had overtures of the James Bond movies - where the protagonist performs near-impossible feats and all with a sense of humour. Not that that's a bad thing. This novel is perfect for anyone who likes action thrillers that move at a very fast pace.
    • 2/5
      Welcome to a new genre: whimsical espionage. The book is written in a light, readable style perhaps more suited to a romance. There are violent confrontations every 2.5 pages, but there is no heat, no fear, no tension; the author could be describing a football play in a strange, unemotionally flippant voice. The basic hook is great: a former high-level CIA operative gets Alzheimers. This brings his son back to him after a long separation, and suddenly they are running for their lives. It seems that the Agency wants to take out father/son to prevent father from blabbering state secrets while in some Alzheimer's babble. Parenting is now kind of reversed as the son quickly tries to come up to speed with espionage basics and his Dad, in moments of lucidity reveals a Jason Bourne level of murderous competence. Basically, you don't believe a word of it.
    • 3/5
      I feel a little bad about giving ONCE A SPY only three stars, but that does indicate "liked it," and I did. I just couldn't make myself love it, and not because it's a bad book, but because it is so NOT my kind of book. It is probably the ideal "beach book," something you'd consume with a giant bag of chips and super-size slurpee. But I don't go to the beach and don't much like chips, so ... I liked the hero-concept of a retired CIA agent with early stage Alzheimer's, but that rather unique device began to wear thin after a couple hundred pages. In fact the "improbability" factor kept getting in my way at every turn when I read about all the amazing skills and extraordinary resources that the supposedly Alzheimer-addled 65 year-old Drummond Clark seemed to be able to call up whenever he most needed them. He was like an aging but still strong white-haired "Batman," and his 30 year-old horse-betting son, Charlie, was no slouch himself, and proved an able "Robin" to his dad. Between the two of them they leave dozens of dead and maimed "baddies" in their wake. Keith Thomson's highly entertaining story combines the best of super-hero comicry with James Bond whiz-bang gim-crackery and last minute rescues, along with all the gunplay, fireball explosions and destruction necessary to these kinds of tales. The story gallops along at a breakneck pace, not unlike the highly successful books of Charlie Huston, so I'm sure that this book and its sequel (TWICE A SPY) will enjoy an enormous readership. I wish I was better at what Coleridge called a "willing suspension of disbelief," but I just couldn't seem to 'believe' all that happened here. I would classify this kind of book as "an entertainment." In any case, Thomson has obviously hit upon a winning formulat. Good on ya, Keith. But I think for now I'll get back to something a bit more serious, perhaps another Frederick Busch novel, or maybe a good memoir, say, Benjamin Busch's DUST TO DUST.
    • 4/5
      Thomson has talent, he is funny, and he found a great couple to talk about: an old spy who faces Alzheimer but is brilliant when his son is in danger, and the son, a gambler who has interesting qualities one discovers along the book. The book is amusing, exciting and deliciously unreal.I am, however mad at the author because he lacks patience and ambition. Anybody is entitled to try to make money by writing a thriller. I wish I could. But if you have enough talent to be a new Cervantes, why do you stop at being the new Ian Fleming?It does not make sense to me. One does not make that much money with thrillers. It is a waste.
    • 1/5
      A very clever premise- a spy with mild Alzheimer's and a no-account son forced to come together. Only problem is the lack of any subtlety in its telling. The characters are stick figures, the body count in multiples of ten and the ending overly cute. Don't waste your time.
    • 4/5
      Drummond Clark is a retired appliance salesman with Alzheimer’s disease. His son, Charlie Clark, has been betting a little too heavily on the horses and is thousands of dollars in debt to loan sharks. After another losing day at the race track Charlie receives a call that his father was found wandering the streets of Brooklyn and could he please come and pick him up. He does and as the two approach Drummond’s home they hear a loud explosion as the house blows up. Charlie thinks the loan sharks are after him but it soon becomes apparent that they are after Drummond who was never an appliance saleman but instead a CIA spy.All of this happens in the first few chapters. The story is fast-paced, original and clever. There are lots of car chases, shootings, bad guys and action as we race across the country evading the assassins that want to eliminate Drummond for security reasons. Drummond possesses sensitive information that could fall in the wrong hands and he can’t be trusted due to his failing memory.At times events seem to occur a little too conveniently as Drummond’s memory and former skills come back to him and then fade away. I don’t know if this is an accurate representation of how Alzheimer’s affects a person, but I will say it was treated with feeling and sensitivity. If this were a tense, tightly wound spy thriller such as those written by Ludlum or Clancy I don’t think it would work, but that is not what this book tries to be. It’s a thriller, yes, but it’s also satire and doesn’t take itself seriously. Accept that premise and enjoy the ride.I would have liked a little more character development and a better understanding of Drummond’s relationship with his son. After years of not being close they are now acting as a team and are very trusting of each other. Maybe that will be expanded upon in book two of the series, Twice a Spy. I listened to the audio version of this book and found the narration to be adequate. It didn’t deter from or add to the story. I have the print version of the second book so I will be able to make a better comparison after I read it.If you like a light, fast-paced spy thriller I would recommend this book.
    • 5/5
      I felt like I got a double dose of excitement from this thriller with a twist. Charlie is a down on his luck gambler used to trying to beat the odds. But he never imagined having to gamble on his very life--with the skills of his Father, a former spy suffering from Alzheimer's disease. Charlie never knew that his boring washing machine salesman of a Father was secretly a spy employed by the government. In fact he doesn't even know of his Dad's condition until he gets a phone call from a concerned social worker after his Dad is found wandering the streets in his pajamas. The next thing Charlie knows he and his Dad are violently attacked on the street outside of the social workers office where his Dad surprises him by skillfully fighting off the attackers. Then they are suddenly on the run, trying to elude a variety of people who want Charlie's Dad dead because of the secrets in his head...secrets they are afraid he will disclose now that he is mentally unstable. So Charlie not only has to figure out how to elude the people hunting them down...he also has to figure out when his Father's mental facilities are working and when they are not. It makes for double the thrills as Charlie has to deal with both of these challenges at the same time as he learns the truth behind his Father--and Mother's--past. This was a fun book to read for the rollicking thrill ride, sure it's not very realistic but it wouldn't be as much fun if it was. Anyone in the mood for a fun, fast paced thriller with a twist should read this one. The sequel, Twice a Spy, comes out in March and I can't wait to read about the over the top adventures Charlie and his Dad will find next.
    • 3/5
      A cute little spy book: too cute. An Alzheimer's patient, once a spy, is triggered intermittently once reunited with is son, a failed horse gambler. They get out of a large number of scrapes to escape the country.
    • 4/5
      Once a Spy is literally chock full of non-stop action. There was almost too much! It had overtures of the James Bond movies - where the protagonist performs near-impossible feats and all with a sense of humour. Not that that's a bad thing. This novel is perfect for anyone who likes action thrillers that move at a very fast pace.
    • 5/5
      An aging spy has Alsheimer's and goes in and out of lucidity. His estranged son is called upon to help him to a retirement facility. Immediately they find they are being stalked for murder. As the time unfolds to keep his father safe, Charlie Clark, finds out that his father was once a very successful spy that knows too much. So much, in fact, that our government is trying to kill him. Wonderful first nove.