Shake Off, Mischa Hiller
Shake Off, Mischa Hiller
List: $24.99 | Sale: $17.50
Club: $12.49

Shake Off

Author: Mischa Hiller

Narrator: Fleet Cooper

Unabridged: 8 hr 23 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 08/14/2012


Synopsis

An internationally acclaimed thriller of love, espionage and subterfuge, in which Middle East meets West with dangerous consequences.

Years of training have transformed Michel Khoury into a skilled intelligence operative. A refugee whose family was murdered by extremists, he has one mission: the peaceful resolution of the Middle East conflict that upended his life.

An alluring enigma, he attracts the attention of Helen, a pretty English girl who lives in the adjacent apartment. As their relationship develops, Michel is unable to tell Helen about his past -- or the collection of passports and unmarked bills he's concealed in the bathroom they share.

When Michel's secrets turn deadly, Helen and Michel find themselves pursued through the streets of London, Berlin and the Scottish countryside, on the run from the very people they thought they could trust.

A critically celebrated novel that "recalls the cool detachment and compelling eye for ordinary detail that characterized the early thrillers of Graham Greene" (Independent on Sunday), Shake Off is that rare breed of riveting tale -- of intrigue and suspense, love and betrayal -- that announces a bold new voice for our increasingly global times.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Jim on March 21, 2011

I tend to edge away from anything about the Arab/Israeli conflict, which is dispiriting, tragic and stupid no matter where your sympathies lie. When I realized that Michel, the main character of Shake Off, was an undercover agent for the PLO, a survivor of the Sabra massacre, I almost tossed it asid......more

Goodreads review by David on February 09, 2019

A decent thriller about a young Palestinian groomed and educated as a PLO operative and his relationship with an English postgraduate student when his world starts to disintegrate......more

Goodreads review by Trish on July 24, 2014

The main character of Mischa Hiller’s novel Shake Off is Michel, a survivor of the Sabra Massacre in Lebanon in 1982. A child at the time, he is taken under the wing of Abu Leila and gradually trained in languages and spy tradecraft with the idea that eventually he would be able to aid a resurgence......more

Goodreads review by Haley on December 26, 2015

Shake Off was one of those books you listen to and you’re like “Okay this is interesting” and there’s one really exciting part, and then after it’s over, you’re like “oh, I literally spent eight and a half hours listening to this book. That’s fine.” But that’s really all it was—fine. I didn’t partic......more

Goodreads review by Victoria on August 08, 2013

Written in a spare, understated style that makes every word count, this book about a lonely PLO undercover operative haunted by his traumatic past packs a powerful emotional punch. Highly recommended.......more


Quotes

"Hypnotic ... A spy thriller of the highest class."—Charles Cumming, New York Times bestselling author of The Trinity Six

"Poignant and human. ... a unique and engaging voice ... deftly drawn ... Powerful and thought-provoking, this is a book that stays with the reader. Mr Hiller's Shake Off is hard to shake off."—The Economist

"In the best Le Carre tradition ... Hiller brings to his work not only a craftman's skill but also a compassion for his characters that proves infectious."—Haaretz (Israel)

"Ingeniously plotted and skillfully paced ... interlaces compelling human stories with political espionage. The suspense builds until the very end."—Saudi Gazette (Saudi Arabia)

"Successfully mixes the suspense and fast pace of a spy story with a set of complex, compelling characters and unexpected situations."—The Jordan Times (Jordan)

"Gripping [and] taut ... recalls the cool detachment and compelling eye for ordinary detail that characterized the early thrillers of Graham Greene."—Independent on Sunday (UK)

"Melancholy and dreamlike, Hiller's neat upending of conventions movingly captures the realpolitik of a conflict perpetrated by the shared interests of enemies."—Telegraph (UK)

"Excellent ... A fast-moving, literate thriller."—Sydney Morning Herald (Australia)