Zoran B. reviewed The company we keep by Robert Baer
Review of 'The company we keep' on 'Goodreads'
2 stars
*note: this is a review of the unabridged audio version of the book and it contains spoilers
The book opens in Split, Croatia, which happens to be my most favorite place in the world. Add a dose of wit, humor and subtle sarcasm, and I was hooked on this true spy love story. But, my enthusiasm faded as the book went on.
Admittedly, the main problem is the one readers of the printed version won't need to face - the reading! Authors read the book themselves, and I wish they hired actors instead. As a result, the reading is dry and unemotional, but rather mechanical - on the level of pre-high-schoolers. Then came the pronunciation of the names of the places they describe. Since I spent considerable time covering Bosnian war as a journalist, I was amazed and put off by the casualness with which both authors mangled the names …
*note: this is a review of the unabridged audio version of the book and it contains spoilers
The book opens in Split, Croatia, which happens to be my most favorite place in the world. Add a dose of wit, humor and subtle sarcasm, and I was hooked on this true spy love story. But, my enthusiasm faded as the book went on.
Admittedly, the main problem is the one readers of the printed version won't need to face - the reading! Authors read the book themselves, and I wish they hired actors instead. As a result, the reading is dry and unemotional, but rather mechanical - on the level of pre-high-schoolers. Then came the pronunciation of the names of the places they describe. Since I spent considerable time covering Bosnian war as a journalist, I was amazed and put off by the casualness with which both authors mangled the names of the places they alleged to have lived in. Call me naive, but I thought that, as a spy, you would have better understanding of the surrounding, and put some effort into learning to say things the way locals do. If nothing else, then to be able to ask for directions.
Finally, there were some grave inaccuracies - the town of Mostar, where Dana's colleague supposedly went for pizza when she was shot, isn't a short 30-minutes drive from Sarajevo. It's at best of times about 2 hours drive. With the traffic and the check points it's much longer, probably more between 3 and 5 hours - so long, in fact, that you would never consider going there for a quick bite from Sarajevo.
Why am I nitpicking on it? Because, if they got wrong the fact that can easily be checked on Google Maps, then how many other things did the spies lied about?
Next, their romance was reduced to a car ride from Croatia to south of France. There really was no romance to speak of, but some dull factual description of the places they drove through where, one must assume, romance happened behind the closed covers of the book.
Finally, the story ends with Bob and Dana adopting a daughter from Pakistan. I don't want to comment on the choice of the location to adopt from, but I was more than annoyed by Bob's insistent questions about whereabouts of Osama Bin Laden, while they waited for the papers for the baby. By this time neither of them is a CIA agent any longer, and this clueless persistence shows naivety unbefitting a secret agent. Besides, as a careful worldly person, wouldn't you try not to antagonize the authorities you expect to decide on the fate of the baby you want to adopt? Not only un-spy-like, but also plain unreasonable.
Since the book is a memoir, it leaves me thinking that the authors either have faulty memories, or are not really telling the truth for other reasons. Or, maybe they are just plain dumb (I don't believe that, though, since they survived in their line of business long enough to retire and start a family). Sadly, what started as a promising and entertaining read, ended as a dry rumble full of details which are difficult to swallow.