Minotaur

Starred review from July 1, 2013
Secret agents are not known for their tender feelings, and perhaps for good reason. Tammuz's spare, stern novel considers the question of a secret agent in love and the odds do not favor a happy ending. First published in 1985, and set in Europe and Israel, it follows a young woman of extraordinary loveliness and the three men who are captivated by her. Tammuz (The Orchard) is a deft storyteller, drawing out elaborate histories and conveying both place and character with remarkable efficiency. He paces the exposure of information so effectively that despite knowing the basic events in the first 40 pages, the possibility of clarity and understanding draw us speedily through the rest of the book. The characters are attractive and intelligent, leading sophisticated lives in beautiful cities, all of which contrasts with the distinctly un-pretty story. It is a spy novel wrapped in a romance, which is to say it is much more about power and desire than it is about love, let alone tenderness. And like so many good spy novels, solving the mystery doesn't result in a happy conclusion; the Minotaur may be a lonely monster, but it's the labyrinth that will get you in the end.

September 12, 2005
A major Cold War hit in the U.K. (a blurb from Graham Greene!), this 1981 novel gets much of its bite from the reputation of the Israeli spy network, of which its protagonist is a major, covert player. A melancholic 41, he's married and on a mission in London when, on a bus, he sees a girl of 17 or so with a ribbon tied just so in her hair. When she turns in profile and he sees her features, he is instantly smitten. Using his expertise, he gets Thea's name and address, and begins writing to her and gives her a way of getting letters to him. They correspond for seven years, both revealing extremely high levels of cultivation, until her engagement to a man her age, G.R., threatens the relationship. The protagonist deals with him, or so it seems, accordingly. Her next lover, a few years later, meets a similar fate. As it comes time for our man to finally reveal himself to Thea, his job may prove a final impediment. After the denouement, his identity is traced in flashbacks that recapitulate the history of Israel and a particular sort of early immigrant's experience there. Tammuz has real insight into obsessive, star-crossed love, but the prose throughout is stiff and dated. This suspenseful love story really requires pre-Oslo Israeli and bipolar geopolitics as its background noise.

November 1, 2005
Released in 1989 to critical acclaim, Tammuz's novel weaves a story of a veteran Israeli spy who falls in love with a young woman and uses all his skills to win her without revealing his identity.

Copyright 2005 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.