Spies in Canaan: One of the most powerful and probing novels so far this yearFinancial Times, Best summer reads of 2022 by David Park

Spies in Canaan: One of the most powerful and probing novels so far this yearFinancial Times, Best summer reads of 2022 Reviews

• 
  Olivier D'haveloose

  Really good spy novel!
• 
  goodreads Customer

  Read this novel after finishing The Quiet American.Atmospheric sense of the time and place and the horror of the periodWill look for titles from this author
• 
  julie greer

  I read and listened to the audio book of Spies of Canaan. The unfolding narrative caught my attention immediately. Bible references to the 12 spies of Canaan and the unlikely relationship between Michael, a translator and back office staffer for the US at the end of the Vietnam war and his colleague Cory engaged me further.I was there in the streets of Saigon with the heat, chaos and confusion of the last days of the American presence.Regrets, guilt and introspection cast a shadow over the second part of the book. What’s right or wrong, what’s real or imagined, and being pawns in a bigger game are themes explored. Some resolution is delivered, but like Michael, we are required to provide our own closure.Read or listen to this powerful book or both as I did. Not a word was wasted and hearing it read by William Hope was an added bonus.
• 
  NannyPenny

  I was completely taken over by this novel and the style of writing of the author. He writes as if it is a personal memoir and as if he is reciting the story personally to you. He has now become one of my favourites. I also read his short stories, the subjects of which I found rather depressing I have to say! However, his style is terrific and two of the stories in particular are still running around in my mind and making me think about life and death. I have not thought so much about, nor stayed in the settings of his works so long since I was a teenager and read through the works of D H Lawrence!
• 
  CAS3

  I think that this book is a masterpiece. The narrator’s struggle to make sense of a world where true perspective is often obscured, is recounted with a voice that engenders both terrible sadness and genuine hope. That same unquenchable desire to understand, to validate and to believe which he focused upon the stories of the Bible presented in childhood remained strong within him, throughout his life. This book is not simply an account of America’s involvement in the Vietnam war. It is an account of the complex interweaving of our personal beliefs, motivations and actions within the challenging environment of living in the real world.An enriching, multi layered story presented by the gentle yet powerful voice of an extraordinary writer.
• 
  goodreads Customer

  I have enjoyed many of David Park’s novels but this is easily his best yet. He’s taken a series of events often heroically mythologised or obscured by grand narratives, and explored a subtle side of the story. What happens of you are not a natural hero and are thrown into the maelstrom of war? And if you are forced to spend a lifetime examining how you measured up? What does that do to a man’s peace of mind? A real page turner, which provokes much thought about the all too human cost of war.