I don't agree with their laws limiting women's rights, and the government is guilty of many human rights abuses. Now, I'll admit it: I don't think Saudi practices should be beyond criticism. I know that authors are not their characters, but I swear I could feel Hayes' disdain for the Saudi culture and people dripping onto the pages. These things are, in fact, all minor criticisms compared to the raging Islamophobia. And yes, I absolutely would feel the same way if someone was constantly describing all the gorgeous men with rippling muscles. I'm not even looking at this as a feminist critique - political issues aside, frankly, it's boring. In action, he acts like an idiot for the most part, makes stupid mistakes, is somehow allowed to publish a book about his time as a secret agent (wtf?), and then spends his life running from all the readers who want to hunt him down.Įvery single woman he meets is beautiful beyond belief, and I lost count of how many times we had to hear descriptions of the various curves, boobs, legs and heels wandering around. This super badass former Intelligence Officer who knows everything… or so we keep being told. I felt like I was reading stories told from the perspective of different characters.ĪND it's all tell, tell, tell. almost everyone else.Īlso, it seems strange that his narrative 'voice' changes significantly in each part, depending on whether he is being sad for the war victims or delivering a diatribe against the crazy Muslims. The few times the author attempts to connect us with his protagonist are over the most obvious universal sentiments - by that I mean he is sad for the people who were tortured and starved during the Holocaust, and angry because of 9/11. This book has over six hundred pages surely he will develop a personality in time. The bestest, baddest super spy of them all - the so-called 'Pilgrim' - seems a little generic and lacking in characterization beyond the repeated affirmations by everyone that he really is THE BEST at everything, but that's okay.

murder, sex, perfect crimes - who wouldn't be interested at this point?

The scene is so lacking in evidence that it looks like we got a badass on our hands.Ĭome on. It opens with a grisly murder, seemingly sexual in nature, with the victim dissolving in acid in the bathtub.

The novel is broken up into 'parts', each dealing with a different part of Pilgrim's life - as an Intelligence agent, an assassin, a criminal investigator, etc. I picked up I Am Pilgrim after seeing it on Goodreads' 16 Underrated Books That Deserve Your Attention post, and thinking that it was about time I found myself a fast-paced thriller.Īnd it starts fairly well, I'll give it that. I am giving up around the halfway point - which is arguably very generous for a 600-page book - because I'm just getting more and more irritated.

I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes