Jack of Spies by David Downing

[MLHenry]

People often ask me what I like to read, and rather than becoming bogged down in minute details, I simply say, "Anything good!" which will simultaneously elicit laughter and allow me to move on with my day. But once in a while, a book will come along and peg a specific niche of mine so well that I can't help but hold it up and say, "This. I like to read stuff like this."

Jack of Spies is one such novel.

A fast-paced, pre-WWI-era, globe-trotting spy novel (the aforementioned niche), Jack of Spies follows the adventures of Jack McColl (salesman-turned-spy) as he balances the multiple issues of continent-hopping whilst falling head-over-heels for someone who might have ties to the enemy, all while trying to boost sales for his company's latest car model. It's an interesting character make-up to be sure, but I read the novel in one sitting, unable and unwilling to walk away. This is the kind of book you read quickly, only because the writing is so smooth you feel as if you're watching a movie play out before you. The style of language was sophisticated while remaining accessible, and the content was never dry or drawn-out. There were plenty of sudden moments that never felt jolted into the plot-line; reading about characters living on the brink of WWI (without realizing it) weighed me down with such a compassionate sense of dramatic irony that I felt compelled to keep reading and thus find out what happens to each of them. I finished the book and found myself with many unanswered questions, but the act of reading the novel had been so pleasant that I did not mind; I discovered I was simply eager for the sequel to be released later this year.