Six Days of the Condor

By: James Grady

Narrated by: Nick Sullivan

When CIA operative Malcolm, code-named Condor, discovers his colleagues butchered in a blood-spattered office, he realizes that only an oversight by the assassins has saved his life. He contacts CIA headquarters for help, but when an attempted rendezvous goes wrong, it quickly becomes clear that no one can be trusted.

Malcolm disappears into the streets of Washington, hoping to evade the killers long enough to unravel the conspiracy - but will that be enough to save his life?

BONUS AUDIO: Includes an exclusive introduction written and read by author James Grady.

©2008 James Grady (P)2009 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

Top 100 "Killer Thrillers" (NPR)

100 Must-Read Thrillers (International Thriller Writers)

First book I've read where the movie was better.

Would you listen to Six Days of the Condor again? Why?

Nope, because I've seen the movie so many times.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No, its a little slow. Had trouble keeping track of the names.

Any additional comments?

The love store isn't believable. I can see why they re-worked the book for the movie. Still a great read. Probably would have been better if I wasn't such a huge fan of the movie.

Ordinary guy in extraordinary circumstances

In case you haven't noticed, "Six Days of the Condor" is the 1974 book on which the 1975 film "Three Days of the Condor" is based. After an good introduction and backstory by the book's author James Grady, the story asks the what-ifs questions of "What if a townhouse with a phony sounding plaque was actually a CIA front?" followed by the question "What if I returned from lunch and everyone was dead?" The protagonist, Ronald Malcolm (code-named "Condor") is employed by the CIA in the very ordinary position of reading and analyzing plots of mystery and spy novels and reporting back to his bosses, but got caught in extra-ordinary circumstances when everyone in his office is killed to cover up for a CIA agent gone rogue. It should be noted that there are significant differences (including changing the setting from Washington DC to New York City) between the book and the movie, including tightening up elements which worked in the book, but would not work in a action movie.

Did I enjoy the plot? Yes. The narration was very good and took me into the book. The problems I have with the story is that it is a product of it's time (mid-1970s), so there are some anachronisms between that time and the late 2010s.

Enjoyable yarn. Well performed

A good listen, well performed. It isn't LeCarre but it has a nice back story which I'm glad is included.

Just ok

The story is ok, but there are literally so many absurd twists and turns for the hero that it becomes more difficult to conceive than anything that Ludlum ever conceived. Not bad, but not great either.

Good

I had seen the series before I listened to the story. Slightly different, but the series really was superb. I kept seeing the characters in my mind. Loved it.