Snapshot: A glossy Polaroid print of Jack McAuliffe and Leo Kritzky
strolling along the sun-saturated bank of the Rhone River in Basel,
Switzerland. Jack, his Cossack mustache and thinning hair riffled
by the breeze blowing off the river, is wearing prescription
sunglasses, a khaki safari jacket, and khaki chinos. Leo, his face
thin and drawn, is dressed in a light Russian windbreaker and a
peaked worker's cap. Both men are so absorbed in their conversation
that they don't appear to notice the street photographer who
stepped into their path and snapped the picture. Leo reacted
violently. Jack calmed him down and quickly purchased the
photograph for 20 Swiss franks, which was twice the normal price.
Leo wanted to destroy it but Jack had another idea. Uncapping a
pen, he scrawled across the face of the picture, "Jack and Leo
before The Race but after The Fall," and gave it to Leo as a
memento of what was to be their last encounter.

Jack McAuliffe, Leo Kritzky, Harvey Torritti, Winstrom Ebbitt II,
James Jesus Angleton, and a host of others: These are just a few of
the characters that put flesh on the bones of Robert Littell's 13th
novel THE COMPANY. Spanning 50 years of intrigue, deceit, and open
warfare, this novel is a finely woven tapestry of historical and
fictional characters couched in real life events that shaped the
world we live in today.

Robert Littell's novel is a great read that kept me entertained for
many, many hours. While this was an enjoyable book, readers should
make no mistake; this is a mammoth work that takes every bit of 894
pages. Littell meticulously weaves his fictional characters with
historical personas and events in a story that is so robust it
almost appears to be nonfiction. Throughout the book I kept
imagining what an excellent film this would make. Towards that end
I pictured John Goodman as the hard drinking Harvey Torritti,
"honcho" of the famed Berlin Base. Known as The Sorcerer, Torritti
is the ultimate gamesman. With skill and daring surely mastered by
only a select few, he deftly runs a critical station, arranges
defections [AKA "putting in the plumbing"] and introduces new
recruit Jack McAuliffe to the real "wilderness of mirrors."

There are other characters who are just as well developed and lend
themselves to striking mental imagery. James Jesus Angleton is but
one such character. A master of the subtleties of the espionage
game, Angleton is a true-life character who was so engrossed in the
world of intrigue that he drew striking parallels between the human
condition and the tremendous effort and patience it takes to breed
orchids. Fantastic imagery. THE COMPANY is a good summer read that,
although a bit on the long side, will hold your attention to the
end.