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Argylle
Argylle: A Novel | Elly Conway
27 posts | 28 read | 8 to read
The globe-trotting spy thriller that inspired the upcoming action blockbuster Argylle (February 2024), featuring a star-studded cast including Henry Cavill, Bryce Dallas Howard, Samuel L. Jackson, and John Cena, and directed by Matthew Vaughn of Kingsman trilogy fame A luxury train speeding towards Moscow and a date with destiny. A CIA plane downed in the jungles of the Golden Triangle. A Nazi hoard entombed in the remote mountains of South-West Poland. A missing treasure, the eighth wonder of the world, lost for seven decades. One Russian magnate's dream of restoring a nation to greatness has set in motion a chain of events which will take the world to the brink of chaos. Only Frances Coffey, the CIA's most legendary spymaster, can prevent it. But to do so, she needs someone special. Enter Argylle, a troubled agent with a tarnished past who may just have the skills to take on one of the most powerful men in the world. If only he can save himself first...
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review
Awk_Word_Smith
Argylle: A Novel | Elly Conway
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Pickpick

A very enjoyable romp. Obviously, nothing to do with the movie. (Full Disclosure: I have not seen the movie but do know the premise of it)

I saw the plot twist coming but the payoff of the reveal was well-played. I like the characters and the villains were well-written. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

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ElizaMarie
Argylle: A Novel | Elly Conway
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Got 8% on audio (a little over an hour) and just… I couldn‘t get into it. Maybe because the film was so good? Or something. Taking this off my #TBR.

dabbe @TheBookHippie YES! 🤩🤩🤩 6mo
5feet.of.fury I haven‘t watch the movie yet, but the tone of the audio seemed at odds with the story 6mo
28 likes3 comments
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Awk_Word_Smith
Argylle: A Novel | Elly Conway
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Don‘t normally start two new books in the same week, but my hold came in for this one. What can you do?

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MaggieCarr
Argylle: A Novel | Elly Conway
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Mehso-so

Expand Your Horizons 2024 task, a book with a one word title.

Spy thrillers aren't my go-to genre but it reads more like the National Treasure movie franchise with more dismembered body parts but predictable in... of-course-someone-will-double-cross-another.

tpixie The movie was a corny, tongue in cheek caper. Very different from the book! 8mo
26 likes1 comment
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Librarybelle
Argylle: A Novel | Elly Conway
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Bailedbailed

At 12% into the story, I‘m just not loving it, and quite honestly, I‘m not invested enough to continue. I purely checked this out for the hype, which I usually wait for a very long time before curiosity gets the best of me, but sadly it‘s just not for me. There are plenty of other books out there to try!

@dabbe - #HailtheBail !!

Hooked_on_books You‘re really not missing anything. I found it entertaining enough, but pretty ludicrous. I‘m bewildered by the hype around it. 8mo
dabbe 🤩🤩🤩 #betterbooksahead! 8mo
Librarybelle Good to know, @Hooked_on_books ! 8mo
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5feet.of.fury Yeah this didn‘t have any depth, you‘re not missing anything 8mo
Librarybelle Thanks, @5feet.of.fury ! I just was not feeling it 🤷🏻‍♀️ 8mo
tpixie The movie was a corny, tongue in cheek caper. Very different from the book! The hype was no one knew who the author was and some thought it was Taylor Swift! 8mo
Librarybelle @tpixie I heard the Taylor Swift rumor! 😂 8mo
tpixie @Librarybelle 😂 I enjoyed the campy humor in the movie. It wasn‘t Oscar- worthy, but was fun. 8mo
Librarybelle @tpixie Good to know! 8mo
72 likes10 comments
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vlwelser
Argylle: A Novel | Elly Conway
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Mehso-so

This was fine. But there are other spy thrillers out there that I liked a whole lot more. Like James Rollins, Steve Berry, Ted Bell. Basically glad I got this out of my holds even though it seems to have lost its hype.

#BookSpinBingo @TheAromaofBooks

TheAromaofBooks Great progress!! 9mo
39 likes1 comment
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tpixie
Argylle: A Novel | Elly Conway
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So true! 🩵🦋🩵 #Orphan

dabbe 🖤🐾🖤 9mo
49 likes1 comment
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majkia
Argylle: A Novel | Elly Conway
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For some reason I never really clicked into this book. It wasn't badly written, the characters were pretty well fleshed out, there was lots of action, but it never really engaged me as I like to be engaged. Oh well.

BookishMadHatter That makes sense. I feel like that with books sometimes too 9mo
5feet.of.fury I had the same sentiment. There‘s nothing wrong with the book, but I couldn‘t get attached. 9mo
29 likes2 comments
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5feet.of.fury
Argylle: A Novel | Elly Conway
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Panpan

I decided to read it because of all the hype &strange rumors… but past the intrigue I do not get it…
There‘s nothing horribly wrong with it, but the writing style (& 🎧narration)are very light &fluffy even when the subject matter deserves some gravitas, I didn‘t connect with any of the characters throughout the story & it was predictable af.

dabbe #fanofthepan! 🤩🤩🤩 9mo
47 likes1 comment
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Larkken
Argylle: A Novel | Elly Conway
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This is the second book I‘ve read this year that was supposed to be a spy novel but was really something else in spy clothing! I‘m giving the first a pass bc it was the first George Smiley and le Carre basically created the genre… but this book has no such excuse. This is a heist novel and it tries a little too hard to be Hollywood, even if it is a movie tie-in.

Photo is of a cow butt I saw in Denver for no good reason. Just thought it was fun…

Texreader 😂😂😂 10mo
32 likes1 comment
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Acoleman
Argylle: A Novel | Elly Conway
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Pickpick

This was a fun and exciting spy novel. Treasure, spys, adventure.

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tpixie
Argylle: A Novel | Elly Conway
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I‘m reading the companion book to the movie Argylle. The movie was a fun, campy caper involving an author whose books appear to come to life. It reminds me of Romancing The Stone. The book is supposed to be a book she has written- not a copy of the movie. There was big secrecy on the author- with a fake IG account, etc. That‘s a story in itself. I‘m enjoying the book, but it‘s doesn‘t have the campy humor as the movie. 👇

40 likes3 comments
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Hooked_on_books
Argylle: A Novel | Elly Conway
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Pickpick

I hope Conway got a big chunk of money for this, because while I was entertained by it, there is no way for it to live up to the hype. It also has a ludicrous climax and the audio is poorly done—the narrator is flat and has so many British pronunciations in her “American” accent that it‘s tremendously distracting. But I thought it was a fun book! (I went in with zero expectations.)

ChaoticMissAdventures Oh good to know! I watched the movie and it sounds like they were pretty faithful, the last 40 minutes were totally over the top silly (too much for me and my partner). 10mo
julesG Agree, the narration was off. 10mo
Larkken Heh. I spent the first half of the book wondering what the “amberroo“ was 10mo
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Hooked_on_books @Larkken I get that accent work can be hard, but wowza! 10mo
5feet.of.fury I‘m about a third of the way in and the narrator is throwing me for a loop too. She mispronounced “Semper Fi” …. …. 10mo
tpixie The movie was a corny, tongue in cheek caper. Very different from the book! ( the author is a pseudonym- there was some hype it was TaylorSwift- but it was 2 authors) 8mo
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julesG
Argylle: A Novel | Elly Conway
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Panpan

This was nothing special. Can't believe it's supposed to have been written by a woman. Boring spy story.

I'm Team Marketing Ploy

dabbe #fanofthepan! 🤩🤩🤩 10mo
Dragon The movie is quite fun - but I‘ll skip the book 📚 🐉 ❤️ 10mo
TEArificbooks It is written by a woman and man co writing team 10mo
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julesG @TEArificbooks I didn't check. I know there were lots of rumours about who's behind the pen name 10mo
Teresereading I saw the movie last week and my library hold came in! Glad I saw the movie first because I would have been confused otherwise! 10mo
Teresereading I know who the woman is now, is the man Matthew Vaughn? 10mo
julesG @Teresereading You mean the co-author? No idea. I don't actually care. 10mo
63 likes7 comments
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451Degrees
Argylle: A Novel | Elly Conway
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Mehso-so

This book had massive potential, the classic orphan recruited to work in the CIA to take on a world power with treasure hunting involved. I will say I was invested in the story but the writing was a bit clunky and I think with a bit of refinement from the author their books will become better! Argylle is pulled from the jungles of Thailand and recruited to work in a top secret team trying to find the famed Russian Amber Room before the Russians do

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bookandbedandtea
Argylle: A Novel | Elly Conway
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I have not heard great things about this book- and had not heard the TS theory!- but this article is entertaining and I'm kind of interested in seeing the movie. 🤔🙃

https://www.vox.com/culture/24047134/argylle-elly-conway-taylor-swift-authorship...

vivastory I just read today an article about the reveal of the actual authors behind it. It was interesting. 10mo
bookandbedandtea @vivastory I'll see if I can find that article. 10mo
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Twocougs
Argylle: A Novel | Elly Conway
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Pickpick

Masterpiece? No but a decent spy novel. Yes, there is a film and weird things about who write it.

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Drnkpnkprincess
Argylle: A Novel | Elly Conway

Anyone read this (tagged book) yet? Opinions? Theories? I saw the movie trailer and can‘t decide if it‘s genius to put out both within the same couple of weeks or completely deranged.

CogsOfEncouragement No, but I read an article several days ago that said the movie is based on book four 🤷‍♀️ 11mo
marleed I read the book because the cover called me in, then I discovered the marketing - which may be genious or at least unique! The author is not a character in the book! 10mo
Drnkpnkprincess @CogsOfEncouragement book 4?!? This is even more confusing 🫤 10mo
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Drnkpnkprincess @marleed interesting. Okay, well I guess I‘ll add it to my library holds and wait to see which streaming service it pops up on… I doubt I‘ll get it read before it‘s out of theaters since there are 15 people ahead of me. 10mo
Drnkpnkprincess @CogsOfEncouragement also- I saw an interview with the director who specifically seems to know who elly conway is but I can‘t seem to find any concrete evidence except an article here or there that says there are co-authors. So I‘m assuming that “Elly Conway” is the CIA agent in the movies and the book is one of her covers/tasks.🤷🏼‍♀️ 10mo
CogsOfEncouragement Here is the article reporting the movie is based on the 4th book. https://www.forbes.com/sites/monicamercuri/2024/02/03/does-argylle-have-a-post-c... 10mo
Drnkpnkprincess @CogsOfEncouragement yes this is one of the articles I read stating the two coauthors. I (personally) never thought it was TS so that‘s not an issue for me- I‘m still just floored by the marketing/timing of it all. 10mo
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Eyelit
Argylle: A Novel | Elly Conway
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Saw this yesterday and also found out it‘s based on a book… so now I have that on hold from the library. This movie was bonkers but so much fun - hoping the book is even more so. Anyone read it?

ElizaMarie Haven‘t read the book yet, but just finished the movie and it was so cute! 11mo
thegirlwiththelibrarybag No but I‘m glad they have finally uncovered the mystery of who the author is 11mo
marleed Read the book - haven‘t seen the movie. The author is not a character in the book so that‘s your hint that it‘s not the same story! 11mo
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Eyelit @marleed That's def Interesting- thanks for that heads up! 11mo
Kristy_K The movie was definitely a lot of fun! Interested to see how different the book will be. 11mo
TieDyeDude Good to hear, I'm planning on seeing this next week 😁 11mo
tpixie The book is nothing like the fun campy movie…. 🎥 8mo
Eyelit @tpixie truer words were never spoken 😂 I finally got the book from the library and did not love it. I may have had unrealistic expectations tho 🤣 8mo
tpixie @Eyelit I was hoping for some more campy fun… 8mo
Eyelit @tpixie Same! 8mo
tpixie @Eyelit 💛🖤💛 8mo
54 likes11 comments
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Aims42
Argylle: A Novel | Elly Conway
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Pickpick

Is this a literary masterpiece? No. Is it an entertaining, thrilling read? Yes! I treated it like any other debut (held my breath and crossed my fingers lol). It‘s a decent debut, I‘ve certainly read worse, but I agree the typo in the ‘Authors Note‘ is unfortunate. As if this book needed another conspiracy attached to it, but I wonder if it was planted? There‘s no way an Editor would‘ve missed that, especially on the first page 🤔

Aims42 Themes: The movie ‘Kingsman‘-esque, CIA, Treasure Hunt 11mo
marleed It it was written to market a movie, it‘s rather genius. I agree with your assessment and I‘m curious to see the movie. It certainly helped to picture Henry Clavil as Argylle! 🍿 🎥 11mo
Aims42 @marleed I‘m definitely curious to see the movie now, but may have to cover my eyes during some of the fight scenes (I do not do good with gore and blood 🫣🫠). And more Henry Clavil? Sign me up 🙋‍♀️ 11mo
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Brooke_H
Argylle: A Novel | Elly Conway
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When the first sentence of a new book has a typo. 🤦‍♀️

julesG 😬🙈 Ouch! 11mo
Deblovestoread Just bought this last night and had to go check my copy…it is just 😞 11mo
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LiteraryinPA Are you KIDDING me? 11mo
Caroline2 Crickey. This took me too long to notice the typo!!! 😬 🤦‍♀️ 11mo
Bookwomble First word...! 3mo
18 likes6 comments
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Zoe-h
Argylle: A Novel | Elly Conway
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Panpan

I‘m officially set in the belief that this was written by AI after reading this. I only picked it up because of the movie, and likely never would have touched it otherwise. Its premise is a classic spy novel: hot-shot new agent has to stop bad guy Russians who want to bring back the Soviet Union. The plot itself feels like a side plot even though it isn‘t. The writing is so thick and ridiculous (a sign of AI), that it feels like entire ⬇️

Zoe-h ⬆️ chapters could have been cut and you‘d never know. There were too many characters, they were all 2-D, and none of them had any real emotions (also all AI signs). Not to mention, how the book felt extremely outdated and un-diverse, despite having only coming out a few weeks ago. All efforts at diversity were extremely poorly done. And, to top it all off the fighting in the book got suddenly violent and vivid in the last fight scene. Bad book 2⭐️ 11mo
13 likes1 comment
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Sara_Planz
Argylle: A Novel | Elly Conway
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Pickpick

I had to pick this one up because of all the buzz around it. With a movie based on it coming out in a couple weeks, to the rumors of this being written by Taylor Swift under a pseudonym, to the mysterious identity of author Elly Conway, this has been one on the minds of a lot of people. I wanted to of course read the book before I see the movie.

vivastory I hadn't heard the rumors about it being written by Taylor Swift. I'm really looking forward to the movie 11mo
marleed I‘m so curious about the upcoming movie because I didn‘t read the book as comedic or snarky but I have the impression the movie is both. I also wonder if the book was published solely to create buzz for the movie. If so, it‘s rather genius advertising! 11mo
Amiable Oh my, that kitty face! 😻 11mo
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Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks Sweet kitty 🐾 11mo
Leftcoastzen Beautiful kitty!😻 11mo
dabbe 🖤🐾🖤 11mo
50 likes6 comments
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Branwen
Argylle: A Novel | Elly Conway
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I am very intrigued with all the hype this book has generated! Apparently, I am the exact sort of person this book marketing team is targeting because I couldn't resist grabbing myself a copy! 😂📚💕

mollyrotondo I really want to see the movie lol 11mo
vivastory I can't wait for the movie 11mo
KadaGul @Branwen I only wanted to see the movie 🎦 because of HENRY CAVILL 😍😍😍 #Argylle 11mo
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marleed I‘m so curious to see the movie now having read the book! 11mo
Branwen @mollyrotondo Me too! 💕 @vivastory Same! It looks so good! 🥰 @marleed What did you think of the book? 📖 @KadaGul I won't lie I'm super excited about that part too! 😂🥵 11mo
marleed @Branwen I went into the book blind only choosing it for its cover. I wasn‘t feeling it at first so went to GoodReads for some positive reviews. That‘s when I read the movie was already in post production. So I googled the cast to realize the movie and book are not exactly the same. So intriguing. It really did have me invested in the story and how the movie will go down! 11mo
50 likes6 comments
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marleed
Argylle: A Novel | Elly Conway
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Pickpick

I chose this book on cover art alone knowing nothing of the story as I started reading. It wasn‘t jiving with me so I went Goodreads to realize a film is already in post production - Henry Cavill plays Argylle. Then it got even more confusing because the cast of the film includes the author, and the preview seems like a comedy while the book is not. The true identity of author Elly Conway is also a mystery - no, it is not Taylor Swift. ↓

marleed The book was PG-13 spy thriller fine with no R-rated sex, violence, or language. But now I‘m totally intrigued to see the movie. Funny thing is, totally different story, but the whole thing reminds me of Rainbow Rowell writing Fangirl back in 2013 then following it up with the successful Simon Snow series some years later. So for that reason, my wild and erroneous guess is Elly Conway is a pseudonym for Rainbow Rowell! 11mo
Aims42 I‘m so intrigued by this book! I‘m on my library‘s waitlist for it, hoping I get it before the movie comes out so I can compare 🤞 11mo
marleed @Aims42 The whole book to movie inspiration is such a curious thing. I‘m really glad I accidentally fell upon this book and experienced the book before the movie. And picturing Henry Cavill as Argylle was an added bonus!😍 11mo
Amiable Oh, that is a fabulous cover! 11mo
74 likes1 stack add4 comments
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Rachel.Rencher
Argylle: A Novel | Elly Conway
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Look what came in today!! iykyk

vivastory Can't wait for the movie 🐱 11mo
Teresereading Went to the movies today and saw the trailer for this! 11mo
LeeRHarry From the trailer this movie looks like a lot of fun! 😊 11mo
ElizaMarie Oooo I saw the trailer for this movie and instantly thought it HAD to be a book! Glad to hear it is! I need to check it out! 11mo
74 likes2 stack adds4 comments
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MidnightBookGirl
Argylle: A Novel | Elly Conway
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Panpan

The movie preview looked funny and ridiculous, rumors swirled that Taylor Swift wrote the book, and Libro.FM gave me the audiobook for free, so I made it my first full book of 2024. The book is not funny, the only ridiculousness is the outdated Russian baddies and Nazi gold train plots, and there‘s no way Swift wrote this bland spy novel. It‘s a 2⭐️, but I was mostly bored. #JanuaryReads

5feet.of.fury Wait, what 😂 the only thing I know about Argylle is that Henry‘s hair looks terrible. 12mo
Bookwormjillk Taylor Swift really?🤣 12mo
Sharpeipup Are they making this into a movie? 12mo
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MidnightBookGirl @5feet.of.fury right?! Why would they make that beautiful specimen of a man wear a brush cut? 12mo
MidnightBookGirl @Bookwormjillk I guess bc it‘s spelled wrong? But she did not write the book and. 12mo
MidnightBookGirl @Sharpeipup it‘s already been filmed! 12mo
Sharpeipup The preview looks interesting. 12mo
MidnightBookGirl @Sharpeipup So the preview is NOTHING like the movie, because the movie is about Elly Conway, author of the Argylle spy books, and Argyll is legit just a spy novel with none of the humor or charm. I like to pitch it as the perfect spy novel if you find James Bond too spicy and Jason Bourne to murdery. 12mo
Sharpeipup Good to know. 12mo
VioletBramble I'm listening to the audiobook right now and there are a number of annoying mispronunciations. One of which is repeated multiple times and must be on purpose. At first I thought it was just the narrator, possibly being too young to know how some words were pronounced back when they were current. I read a review of the kindle version that said there are a number of spelling mistakes, possibly including the title. Hidden code? 11mo
tpixie @MidnightBookGirl @Sharpeipup yeah- the movie had this fun, campy, laugh at myself humor to it & the book was trying to be a serious spy novel. A big disconnect. I haven‘t read the true authors‘ books, so I am not certain if this is their styles, but this book does not make me want to read more of their books! (Terry Hayes and Tammy Cohen) (edited) 7mo
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