Book Review 4 – The Man Between (US Title The Moroccan Girl) by Charles Cumming

The Man Between by Charles Cumming
United States Title The Moroccan Girl
Published: 2018
Pages: 368
Format: Audiobook from audible
Listened: February 12 – February 14 2023
Narrator: Charles Anson
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39863480-the-moroccan-girl

Blogger Note: I have no allusions of being a NYT reviewer and I’m aware my grammar is that of a 1^st grader. I'm writing as if I were chatting about the book with my dad over a Guiness.  

My goal is twofold: 

1.     Keep a detailed record of books I've read for my personal reference.

2.     Recommend books for friends and family by writing a succinct synopsis and book rating from 1 to 5 stars.

Charles Cumming keeps moving up my list of favorite authors.  He is without doubt in my top 5.  For some reason, the publishing company has one title for UK and one title for the US…I don’t understand why they do that.  Going forward, I’m going to use the US title, The Moroccan Girl.

The Moroccan Girl is a stand-alone novel that takes place in present day.  The main character, Kit Carradine, is a successful spy novelist who is approached by a shadowy figure from British Intelligence. Kit, whose father was once an intelligence officer with MI6, was immediately excited, almost smitten-like with the thought of representing “King and Queen” while assisting British Intelligence with a secret task while he is attending a book festival in Morocco.

Kit, who has this almost childish fantasy of being James Bond and as a result, finds himself in difficult and very dangers situations.  For most of the book, I found myself annoyed at Kit for trying to play spy-boy. I had this sense that he thought he could play a seasoned agent in a dangerous game of espionage because he wrote spy novels.  With that said, I was thoroughly enjoying the book.  Without giving spoilers, the last 1/3 of the book I admit, I started to admire Kit and by the end of the novel, I was a full fledge Kit supporter. 

This was a fun read and highly recommend it to any fan of spy thrillers.  It has the main character, a good plot, a good ending, and love interest mixed in that made it even more enjoyable. I give it a solid 3.5 stars.

The Moroccan Girl ⭐⭐⭐ 1/2⭐