Hopscotch

By Brian Garfield

Bored with retirement, an ex-spy challenges his old agency to a game.

Miles Kendig is one of the CIA's top deep-cover agents, until an injury ruins him for active duty. Rather than take a desk job, he retires. But the tawdry thrills of civilian life -- gambling, drinking, sex -- offer none of the pleasures of the intelligence game. Even a Russian agent's offer to go to work against his old employers seems dull. Without the thrill of unpredictable conflict, Kendig skulks through Paris like the walking dead.

To revive himself, he begins writing a tell-all memoir, divulging every secret he accumulated in his long career. Neither CIA nor KGB can afford to have it in print, and so he challenges them both: Until they catch him, a chapter will go to the publisher every week. Kendig's life is fun again, with survival on the line.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Head of Zeus
• Release date: Jun 1, 2014
• ISBN: 9781784084462

Brian Garfield

The author of more than seventy books, Brian Garfield (1939–2018) is one of the country’s most prolific writers of thrillers, westerns, and other genre fiction. Raised in Arizona, Garfield found success at an early age, publishing his first novel when he was only eighteen. After time in the army, a few years touring with a jazz band, and earning an MA from the University of Arizona, he settled into writing full-time.   Garfield served as president of the Mystery Writers of America and the Western Writers of America, the only author to have held both offices. Nineteen of his novels have been made into films, including Death Wish (1972), The Last Hard Men (1976), and Hopscotch (1975), for which he wrote the screenplay. To date, his novels have sold over twenty million copies worldwide.

Reviews for Hopscotch

[quondame · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Competent story, the characterization is almost all told, and the viewpoint character other than the central character is well chosen. A version of spy against the system, it moves well, but the pay off is on the limp side.

[jbarr5 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Hopscotch by Brian GarfieldStarts with definitions of the word and then we find them in Paris.FBI, espinoage, spies, revealing secret papers to the public, all kinds of action make this an interesting read.I received this book from National Library Service for my BARD (Braille Audio Reading Device).

[pgmcc · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book was published in 1975 and a film based on its story was released in 1980. The film, also entitled, “Hopscotch”, starred Walter Matthau, Glenda Jackson, Herbert Lom, Ned Beatty, and Sam Waterston, and was directed by Ronald Neame. I have to confess this film is one of my favourites and I am sure my fondness for the screen adaptation has coloured my view of the novel. If you can live with that then so can I. It was only about six weeks ago I realised the film was based on a novel and that Brian Garfield, someone I had never heard of, was the author. I only discovered the existence of the novel when I watched the “additional material” on a DVD of Hopscotch. The additional material was interviews with Ronald Neame, the director, and Brian Garfield, author of the novel and screenplay (Bryan Forbes also worked on the screenplay).The film is a comedy about a very experienced CIA field operative, played by Walter Matthau, who is being taken out of the field and given a desk job. He resents the CIA boss who is doing this to him and decides to retaliate in what turns out to be an hilarious fashion. For what is a relatively basic story the cast assembled was amazing and everyone gave wonderful performances. Walter Matthau and Glenda Jackson were particularly wonderful and Ned Beatty played the arrogant, irritating, pompous boss to perfection. The head of the KGB was admirably played by Herbert Lom.Having seen the film several times I found it difficult to not hear the voices of Walter Matthau and Herbert Lom as their characters were talking in the book.The book did not disappoint but I do not think I would have read the book had it not been for having seen the film. If I were to recommend one over the other it would have to be the film. There were changes made to the plot in the translation from book to screen. The book cannot of course have the benefit of the excellent performances of the cast and given the cast gather for the making of the movie it is not surprising that the screen version delivers a better punch.I will be hunting down more books written by Brian Garfield.

[nodosaurus · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Miles Kendig was a top field agent with the CIA. But when a spy reaches a certain age, he is moved to a desk job. Feeling he was being forced into retirement, he quit. And he took a lot of secrets with him. Depressed from the beginning, a meeting with a Soviet agent inspired him to play a game. The meeting inspired him to play a game. He is writing a book full of secrets, chapter by chapter he is sending them to the CIA and publishers around the world. It is an open challenge to his former colleagues to stop him before he can finish. The book is written well. It is in third person getting inside Miles' head. We watch him set traps, not knowing how they will play out. Then we get to watch the action. Miles anticipates every action his colleagues do and works to not only stay ahead of them, but taunt them at each step. The writing is good and reflects the mood on the page. During his early depression, Brian describes a meal as "he ate something in a café and had two Remy Martins." The tone changes dramatically after the meeting with the Soviet providing a harbinger of action to come. The book is a fast read and fully enjoyable.

[col2910_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Synopsis/blurb......Winner of the 1976 Edgar Award for Best NovelBored with retirement, an ex-spy challenges his old agency to a gameMiles Kendig is one of the CIA’s top deep-cover agents, until an injury ruins him for active duty. Rather than take a desk job, he retires. But the tawdry thrills of civilian life—gambling, drinking, sex—offer none of the pleasures of the intelligence game. Even a Russian agent’s offer to go to work against his old employers seems dull. Without the thrill of unpredictable conflict, Kendig skulks through Paris like the walking dead.To revive himself, he begins writing a tell-all memoir, divulging every secret he accumulated in his long career. Neither CIA nor KGB can afford to have it in print, and so he challenges them both: Until they catch him, a chapter will go to the publisher every week. Kendig’s life is fun again, with survival on the line.“Fun and games: that’s what Hopscotch is all about . . . Garfield is one of the best: he writes as well as any crime novelist around.” - New York Times “Great fun.” - Otto Penzler“Once again Garfield shows his genius for weaving history and fiction into a fabric of fast-paced, high-suspense storytelling.” - Robert LudlumI’ve previously read Garfield’s Deathwish book which was made into the iconic film of the same name starring Charles Bronson. I recall enjoying it without actually being blown away. Hopscotch published 3 years later in 1975 was much more enjoyable for me. Incidentally this was also adapted as a comedy for the big screen in 1980 and starred Walter Matthau and Glenda Jackson.We kick off with Miles Kendig, 53, a retired CIA agent, drifting, bitter and resentful after his forced retirement from the agency. Spending time in Paris, he’s approached by the Russians to get back in the game by working for them. Unable to accept, he still needs something in his life to fill the void that retirement has left him with. Penning his memoirs and drip feeding them a chapter at a time to 14 different publishing houses, offers him the opportunity to prove he still has all the moves necessary to play the game. What follows, with Kendig anticipating every move his former employer and enemies make, was absolutely brilliant. Garfield brings everything to the table in this 200-odd page long classic.....intelligence, pace, action and humour, populated by a believable, likeable hero pursued by his former colleague and friend, Cutter and his underling Ross, both of whom I grew to like as the novel unfolded.It’s a testament to the author’s skill when you can empathise with both the protagonist on his last mission and those now in pursuit and tasked with stopping him at any price. Garfield’s novel won the 1976 Edgar for best novel, it’s not difficult to appreciate just why.5 from 5, and a last minute candidate for my book of the month.I bought my second hand copy from a local charity shop a couple of years ago.