Not as riveting as I had hoped.

As this book had several excellent reviews, I thought it would be right up my street. However, it was not as riveting as I had hoped.

The main character is Freddie Makin, a loner, who is basically a spy for hire. After spending his time watching Jiang Cheng, a leading maths professor, an unexpected murder occurs, and Freddie finds his life is now in danger.

Freddie has his own issues following a previous mission in Yemen five years ago which I found confusing, especially as his current problems take him all over Vienna. I gather that Freddie’s poor decisions in the past have left him feeling very troubled. This impacts on his present situation whereby he is fleeing for his life.

I usually find spy/espionage thrillers real page-turners, but after a slow start the reading style plodded somewhat and didn’t quite reach my expectations. I gather that ‘To Die In Vienna’ is to be made into a film, so maybe this will do justice to Kevin Wignall’s plot.

Galadriel.

Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of this book to review.

Wignall hits the mark again, consistently adding to his portfolio of black ops characters. Maintaining a high standard of complexity and complicity. Loving the hipster hotel larks.

#ToDieInVienna #NetGalley

Intrigue and mystery. The characters and the story blend perfectly in this spy novel.

Well written novel in the espionage genre, found it hard though to get very interested in the protagonist. The ending also seemed incomplete, no doubt seeking to make the reader want to read the next installment of the series.

To Die in Vienna is both the title of this book and an avid description of Freddie Makin’s anonymous existence spending a year surveilling a boring routine university professor In Vienna. Freddie is in some ways like a Jason Bourne, unaware of the part he’s playing in the great espionage games and determined to nevertheless survive. But, Freddie is no James Bond and no Jason Bourne. He’s hamstrung by migraines and visited by nightmares. He once (before he became a spy for hire) worked a clandestine operation in Yemen, leading his small team to a bitter end, including his lover. Haunted by guilt over his affair and guilt over the sacrifices of his team members, he is a troubled outsider, who is barely existing. Until one day, something pops up in the operation and all hell breaks loose and there’s no one to trust or rely on.

To Die in Vienna is as much a psychological portrait of Freddie and his survivor’s guilt as it is the usual cat and mouse 🐭 espionage thriller. Although at times the action hits furiously, much of the novel is a bit slower-paced, foreshadowed by the enveloping fog. And for that reason, because it is not the usual over-the-top action thriller, it is quite an engrossing read.

Many thanks to the publisher for providing a copy for review.

Thankyou to NetGalley, Amazon Publishing UK and Kevin With All for the opportunity to read an advanced readers copy of To Die In Vienna.
This is the first book I have read from this author but it will not be the last. I enjoyed reading this book. I thought the storyline was well thought out. It keeps the reader glued to their chair until you reach the end.
Am looking forward to watching the movie adaptation of this novel.

Book Review: To Die in Vienna by Kevin Wignall

Well-written, not entirely predictable nor plausible, but still an unputdownable, good quick read. I've read the author before and wasn't disappointed.

It's one of those light-hearted spy for hire stories set in exceptionally elegant Vienna "teeming with espionage". A university student spy type dealing with university denizen, hip types - one who's supposed to be a hot-shot super agent with some history in a botched Middle-East operation but comes across as a youngster spook with a lucky punch. One-trick pony with stealth cameras and a ubiquitous messenger bag (bulging in the end with four guns), mysterious tough antagonists, plus a little bit of romance in where else but Wein.

Review based on an advance reading copy presented by NetGalley, Amazon Publishing UK and Thomas & Mercer.

Hi Karen,
My next review is as follows:-

"To Die In Vienna" written by Kevin Wignall and published in Paperback by Thomas & Mercer on 14 Jun. 2018. 270 pages. ISBN-13: 978-1477805169

Freddie Makin is a spy for hire. For a year he’s been watching Jiang Cheng, an academic whose life seems suspiciously normal. To Freddie it’s just a job: he never asks who’s paying him and why—until the day someone is sent to kill him, and suddenly the watcher becomes the watched.

On the run from whoever wants him dead, Freddie knows he must have seen something incriminating. The only trouble is, he has no idea what. Is the CIA behind all this—or does it go higher than that? Have his trackers uncovered his own murky past?

As he’s forced into a lethal dance across Vienna, Freddie knows one thing for sure: his only hope for survival is keeping the truth from the other side, and making sure the secrets from his past stay hidden.

This espionage story was very fast moving and I was totally immersed in the story from the first page, which is a relief when so many books expect the reader to get through a couple of chapters of detailed description before getting the story really starts. I was left breathless by the speed of this very well plotted story. I found the story immensely gripping and fast moving and the pages just shot by. The story was highly atmospheric and deftly plotted and the various characters including the main protagonist are very richly drawn.

I was initially attracted to the book as I intended to visit Vienna back in April but the trip was called off. Whilst the story is based in and around the main centre of Vienna it didn’t matter as it could have been located in any major city as much of the story takes place in various hotels there.

Kevin Wignall is a British writer, born in Brussels in 1967. He spent many years as an army child in different parts of Europe and went on to study politics and international relations at Lancaster University. He became a full-time writer after the publication of his first book, People Die (2001). His other novels are Among the Dead (2002); Who is Conrad Hirst? (2007), shortlisted for the Edgar Award and the Barry Award; Dark Flag (2010); The Hunter’s Prayer (2015, originally titled For the Dogs in the USA), which was made into a film directed by Jonathan Mostow and starring Sam Worthington and Odeya Rush; A Death in Sweden (2016); The Traitor’s Story (2016); and A Fragile Thing (2017).

This very experienced writes a truly exciting story which had me really gripped until the very dramatic conclusion. I enjoyed reading this very much and will certainly look out for more books by him in the future. Strongly recommended.


Best wishes,

Terry
(To be published on eurocrime.co.uk in due course)

At the beginning of this novel it was very confusing for me. Then it all started to build up. There’s a man who was hired to watch Cheng named Freddie. All of a sudden Cheng is missing and Freddie walks into his place being burgled. The guy runs but then comes back and so Freddie bashed his face in. Now he is on a mission to find out why or who is after him. He hides in plain sight following leads. When this novel picks up it really picks up. Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to review this book. I look forward to the movie.

Set in the wonderful city of Vienna, we are introduced to a rather unlikely spy. Freddie Makin has been watching a Chinese academic, Jiang Cheng, for the past year and thinks he knows everything there is to know about him. Until one day, someone is sent to kill Freddie, his equipment is removed and Cheng disappears. Freddie must have seen something he wasn’t supposed to but what? And who is after him?

Not that I’m an expert on spy thrillers because I’ve not read that many of them, but as far as this one goes, it was a tad on the slow side for the majority of the book. Now, that’s not a bad thing as the tension and action does build up along the way and you get a good feeling about the kind of person Freddie is. He’s quite the likeable character, someone to sympathise with and to root for as he tries to find a way out of this sticky web he’s found himself in. But if you’re looking for fast-paced action, nifty gadgets, car chases and explosions, you won’t find those here. Personally, I thoroughly enjoyed this change of pace.

Things are slightly tricky for Freddie. After a failed mission in Yemen, he left a covert CIA unit five years ago and so he lacks experience, confidence and doubts his abilities. On top of that, he’s also suffering from nightmares and has trouble sleeping. Not the best combination when you need all your wits about you. And so we get that most classic of stories about an innocent person finding himself outside of his comfort zone and desperately trying to make it out alive. But Freddie has no resources to dig into, no fancy gadgets and no idea who to trust.

To Die in Vienna is an intelligently plotted, intriguing and suspenseful spy thriller. I thoroughly enjoyed meeting Freddie, who’s so far removed from the cliché spy we usually get and there are also a few wonderful supporting characters, none of which I trusted at all. This is an entertaining and engaging read that made for quite the fun afternoon. Will Freddie be able to bury the demons of his past? Will he survive this ordeal? That’s for me to know and for you to find out.

By the way, this will soon be a movie starring Jake Gyllenhaal so look out for that! But, as always, read the book first 😉

Like Nick Arvin, I am a fan of Kevin Wignall and have been a long time reader of his work (check out the archive for reviews and interviews).  So I was pleased to be able to get an ARC of his latest novel To Die in Vienna.

I found it be an interesting story from Wignall in that instead of an amoral or detached/closed off serial killer/spy we have a central character who is painfully aware of his own weakness and need for connection.

I really enjoyed the central character Freddie Makin. One of the antagonists (or perhaps she is a friend, or merely an interlocutor)  Marina, was another favorite.

The story is not particularly fast paced or intense but there is a building sense of time running out for Freddie and it communicates the tricky issue of loyalty in the world of espionage.  The hook, that Freddie is just a surveillance contractor caught in a deadly trap for a mysterious reason, was well done and helped build suspense.

An entertaining and enjoyable read from a favorite author.  Great for beach or vacation reading.

BTW, this novel is soon to be a major motion picture starring Jake Gyllenhaal.

An interesting story which is very slow at the start. It was set in atmospheric Vienna. Someone who is into spy novels would probably enjoy it more. I am interested to see what the story will be like as a film.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

I really enjoyed this thriller. It was an intense read and kept me hooked right from the start. The author writes very strong characters that you will instantly fall in love with. This book will keep you guessing until the very end.

An intriguing, engaging, espionage story…

Five years ago Freddie Malkin worked for a covert section of the CIA, when an assignment in Yemen went horribly wrong he turned in his resignation. Now he works as a freelance high-tech surveillance expert for a private company and most of the time for persons unknown to him. He’s currently watching a Chinese academic in Vienna and he finds the days rather routine. After a year he’s gotten to know the subject well and wonders why this man, who leads such a normal life, needs watching.

Everything drastically changes when the subject mysteriously vanishes and Freddie’s apartment is ransacked. Someone was cognizant of the surveillance and Freddie must find out what changed the status of his mark to survive. In his daily observations, the implication of something seen had to have eluded him, and that is the enigma he must solve as he tries to stay ahead of those that now hunt him. Years being out of the espionage business he’s at a disadvantage, out of practice, but the skills returned to him quickly with the motivation his life. He suffers from nightmares, flashbacks and ocular migraines in relation to that last CIA mission. Leaving the agency appears to have been an attempt to find some semblance of peace after what happened though that hadn’t yet materialized. This journey to find the truths of a missing man will lead Freddie to understand many things about himself and let him find his own redemption in the process.

This was an intriguing espionage story that kept my attention engaged. Freddie was a great character, flawed yet believable, we get an in-depth psychological look into the mind of a man who was once a spy and has since remained on the outskirts of that world until circumstances drew him fully back in. As we learned of the actions he took in the past, we also learn how they affected him, and how time changed him as he responds to events in the present and comes to comprehend both the past and the present. The story was well-written and highly descriptive, I feel like I know about Vienna, a place I have never been. The suspense was slightly muted but there was an increasing sense of time running out as the story progressed. The supporting characters were interesting, and likable, a diverse set of people.

An advanced reading copy was obtained from the publisher via NetGalley.

4.5 stars

Interesting main character but a story which took a long time to get going and a long time to get to its purpose.

To Die in Vienna
by Kevin Wignall

An engaging mystery thriller that will have you turning to the last page.

Freddie Makin is a spy for hire, with a past of pain and hurts. A year of a simple harmless job suddenly goes belly up, and the body count starts to mount. Freddie becomes a hunted man, with very few options.

This is the first of Kevin Wigall’s books that I have read, but it had me looking for more.

While it is an easy read, there is depth in the storyline, and most of the characters spring to life off the pages, leaving the reader wanting more and they finish the last page.

An easy read mystery, that keeps the reader engaged.

#ToDieInVienna #NetGalley

www.books-reviewed.weebly.com

Who doesn't love a good spy thriller? Looking at the cover of 'To Die in Vienna' you cannot mistake it for being anything but. Set in the capital city of Austria, Wignall's latest book follows Freddie Makin, a surveillance operative whose life is saved by a migraine.

Freddie had been following math professor - certified genius - Jiang Cheng for around a year, when suddenly he finds his life is at risk. His bosses are convinced he saw something while watching Cheng, but what it is, and why has it cost so many people their lives, is something Freddie needs to find out.

Like most tales of espionage, our protagonist is a lonesome fellow, suffering undiagnosed PTSD after making a bad judgement call in Yemen five years before the events of the book. He frequently dreams of his fallen colleagues and the many poor decisions he made before, during and after the Yemen incident. His life has become a rum-drum excuse for existing, and somehow having these big bads on his tail makes him feel alive. The reader, however, isn't quite as lucky.

The book is atmospheric and vivid; there is no doubt that the central concept lends itself well to a film adaptation. Jake Gyllenhaal is attached to star and produce the adaptation after rights for the book were acquired by Focus Features. The film is likely to be less 'Bourne' and more of a slow-burn. The majority of the book takes place in Freddie's mind - his thoughts racing through the present and the past. His interactions with the supporting characters are minimal, and most of it isn't directly relevant to his mission.

His mission is survival: but to get through the book he has to overcome his PTSD and his underdog status to get the better of the villain. First, he has to understand what exactly it is that the shifty agency that recruited him think he saw. The only way he can do that is by meeting the people in Cheng's life. Wignall makes sure that Freddie is in the dark about plenty of the proceedings that have taken place prior to the start of the book. This means lots of exposition and plenty of contrived surprises. The book fails its protagonist by ensuring he's an idiot every step of the way. There's 'underdog' and just plain dumb; Freddie Makin is definitely the latter.

Freddie is also incredibly lucky. I think the author was trying to give the character a John McClane vibe - lone gunman taking down an entire unit by his wits and smarts, except Freddie doesn't have either of those. He gets through because the people on the other side are inert and caught unawares. He is either too low a priority for the bad guys to concentrate their firepower on him, or he's incredibly lucky. Probably both, because that's how the author wants it.

[SPOILER ALERT] The climactic face-off proves Freddie's stupidity, but even more than that, he was done for had it not been for one character deciding to save him. Mariana has no personality or arc other than being a sounding board for Freddie and then being used as a red herring during the climax. But, in the end, she's there to save his life, and no one knows why. Freddie was rightfully dead, because he was just too cocky, but Mariana's arrival just sealed the deal on how poorly contrived the entire book was. [END SPOILER]

The author's attempt at humanizing a character like Freddie, one who is not averse to violence, is to make him interact with wistful and beautiful women, all of whom have this innate need to reveal their entire life story to him. He doesn't, thankfully, do a James Bond on us and end up in bed with any or all of them, instead Freddie appears to have a healthy respect for women.

Unfortunately, the author does not. Each woman we meet is beautiful, conventionally so. One has 'supermodel bone structure' (direct quote), another is much more beautiful in person, while the third is the most beautiful person that Freddie has ever seen. Even the 60-year-old is gorgeous. It gets pretty silly after the very first such statement. They and their clothes are described in detail, but the author spares us crude descriptions of them, which I suppose we should be thankful for. In contrast, we cannot describe most of the male characters, barring one who is drunk and fat, another who is getting soft around the edges just like Freddie. We do not dwell on what they look like or what they are wearing, unless it is directly relevant to the plot. Who knows if Cheng has wavy black hair, large, soulful eyes and taut legs from all the time on the treadmill; not us, because the author didn't think it necessary to describe Freddie's main quarry seemingly because he was male.

Clunky and lazy language hinder the reading experience further:

"...And then he felt sharply sober as he realized the feed in Cheng's apartment had pinged last night and that, understandably, he'd missed it. It seemed impossible, but could it be that Cheng hadn't been killed, and that he'd come back?
Freddie clicked on it, then went over and fetched his coffee. He smiled to himself, remembering now that he'd spent quite a lot of time the previous night thinking about his past hubris and complacency, and while he'd been thinking about those things he's missed a potentially vital development in the present."
Up until that point, Freddie had been ridden with guilt about Cheng's possible death. He was also at his wit's end trying to figure out what he'd seen that had put his life at risk. So, why wouldn't such a tense moment be punctuated by a coffee and reminiscing?

Freddie's culinary habits are the central focus of this book; we spend more time with him waking up in bed after a restless night, eating a detailed breakfast/ meal and ending the day with food and a drink. If the film adaptation is faithful, we will spend a lot of time watching Jake Gyllenhaal eat, sleep and watch footage, because that is what happens in the book.

1.00
Expect two hours of this from the film adaptation

Passive language, like the above excerpt, leads to way too much exposition, and that leads to a tedious read. 'To Die in Vienna' isn't much of a page-turner. We never feel 'in the moment', which is a sin in any book and especially so in a thriller. Too many pages are spent on Freddie browsing some footage, but instead of emulating the ups and downs of surveillance, such as attentiveness at the start, restlessness partway through and catching snippets during those moments of boredom, the text wanders off into Freddie's thoughts or skims over quickly. There is such a reliance on Freddie's friendship with Eva, the hotel desk clerk, that it makes one wonder where the author's interests lay - did the author want to write a buddy comedy, but was obligated to make it a thriller? Freddie is also written as highly emotional - deeply missing Cheng's presence but it is always written as overwrought sentimentality puncturing any tension that had been built up. For example:

"...He stared in disbelief, thinking not only of the beating he'd given him, but of the explosive collision of body and fast-moving tram, and he felt tears in his eyes and willed this man to stay alive, more than he'd ever willed it of anyone, this man who had been sent to kill him."
Honestly, this is the kind of writing that takes you out of the book, because it is saccharine in its attempt to add depth to a character. There are better ways to write rounded characters, but Wignall doesn't grasp that in this book.

I may have been expecting to read Fleming, le Carré, even Horowitz, but I got none of that from 'To Die in Vienna'. I didn't even get a feel of Vienna, an astounding city that should have popped off the page, especially for someone who has been there. For example, near the end of the book, the author writes about one of the characters:

"Even now, he couldn't believe that he was here, a resident of Vienna, a real resident, part of its cultural fabric."
We are supposed to rejoice at this statement but have not felt the importance or read the beauty of Vienna in the book, so the line falls flat. I mean, Dan Brown brings every city he writes about come alive on page, and he is the exact opposite of a literary writer. Vienna should have been part of the fabric of this book, but is conspicuous in its absence. Also, the character in question never mentioned feeling a sense of belonging to the city, so there's that disconnect as well.

Far too many contrivances, lackadaisical writing and an underwhelming protagonist make 'To Die in Vienna' unmemorable. While it lends itself well to a film adaptation, it isn't a gripping thriller for the ages.

There are books that have intricate plots. There are stories intended to be profound, with nuggets of truth the reader can take away and apply to their own life. And there are narratives with memorable characters that you genuinely care about and want to see succeed.

Occasionally, all of these components combine, as they do in To Die in Vienna. This could be called a spy thriller but it's really the story of Freddie Makin. Freddie has been putting in time, punching a clock and living like a ghost, haunted by memories of mistakes from his past. That all changes when his surveillance operation goes south and Freddie finds himself running for his life without any idea why anyone would want him dead.

Being threatened with death may ultimately be what forces. Freddie to face his past and embrace life... or he may end up paying the ultimate price by repeating the same mistakes that cost him so dearly before.

I've never read a book by Kevin Wignall that I haven't enjoyed, and To Die in Vienna is no exception. I was really caught up in Freddie's story and what was going to happen to him. It builds expertly to an intense ending that is fitting for the character and the story. Wignall is a master storyteller and he breathes life into his protagonist in a way that makes Makin one of the most memorable characters I've read about in a long time.

Will be online Wednesday June 6 accompanying an interview with the author: https://toesixpress.wordpress.com/review-to-die-in-vienna-by-kevin-wignall - will also be posted on Good Reads

Fun fact: I was actually visiting the city of Vienna when I was browsing Netgalley and saw this title, and of course I had to request a copy and see if I would recognize any of the sights. It wasn't until after our trip I was able to pick it up, but that made being able to revisit the city all the better. To Die In Vienna is, as the title already might suggest, a fast-paced and suspenseful story of an ex-spy trying to keep alive while others are closing in with the mission to kill him. Another fun fact: this book will soon be a major motion picture starring Jake Gyllenhaal! And I can see why this story would work very well on screen, because there is a lot of action involved and it includes a conspiracy, a damaged but apparently skillful hero and a lot of twists and different directions that will keep a viewer on edge. The book is highly entertaining to read as well, although I do have my doubts about the credibility of certain aspects. Especially regarding the main character and what happens to him, since it doesn't seem to fit in with his background. I was still able to enjoy To Die In Vienna though and it was great to see a few of the popular sights in Vienna mentioned. The story reads superfast and I'm sure any fan of the spy thriller genre will have a great time reading this one. The ending was a bit too abrupt and felt a bit too 'neat', but I'm sure in the movie people will eat it up. All in all an entertaining and action-packed thriller with an international setting.

If you are looking for a fast-paced, entertaining and engaging spy thriller that is easy to read and will give you a healthy dose of action, To Die In Vienna is an excellent choice. Some little credibility doubts and kind of abrupt ending aside, this spy thriller delivers a very entertaining story where you follow the main character as he tries to both escape the killers and figure out why they want him dead in the first place. Look out for the movie as well! I'm having a feeling both will appeal to spy thriller fans.

I enjoy the author's books and style, and I tried to like Freddie and his situations, but somehow I just never got "hooked" on this book. I ended up reading it more as a duty than a joy.