Truly an enigmatic
figure, the main character and narrator of I Am Pilgrim remains nameless for a good part of the story and it isn’t until much
later that his true identity is revealed.
It’s espionage on a very deep level, hiding the identity of the main
character even from the reader. In a
tale that bounds back and forth across the globe and time itself, follow this
nameless man, this pilgrim, as he relives his past and draws from an incredibly
deep pool of skills in order to save the world.
Fair warning. The book opens up with a particularly clever murder and, if you’re looking forward to seeing how it unfolds and if it’s solved, you may need to wait awhile. Starting with the murder, the story backtracks far into the protagonist’s personal history, showing how he came to be where we first find him: trying to solve a murder his book on impossible to solve/never solved cases may have helped to develop. It’s almost funny how far the story diverges from the opening scene, not in a bad or tactless way but, in explaining the narrator’s history, you’re soon left trying to quickly recall how you got from a dead woman in a forensically spotless apartment to wherever you find yourself at that moment. Ultimately, it’s this divergence and variety in information and storytelling that gives the story something fun and adds to its overall thrill.
An impressive aspect of this novel is that, for a good portion of the story, we have no clue what the narrator and main protagonist’s name is. And it doesn’t matter. This same scenario wouldn’t work in most other situations, as a large portion of the book is about his time working as a man who doesn’t exist in an agency that doesn’t exist, so the added level of mystery adds to the espionage nature of the book. At points throughout you’ll realize you don’t know much about his true identity or name and that will only serve to add to the mystery of it. The reader is side-by-side with the characters as the protagonist’s past is slowly revealed. Given that his time as a spy plays a key role in the plot, it’s enthralling to go along with the rest of the world in not knowing who he is, until all of his fake identities are seen through and connected and his real identity is revealed.
I have an appreciation for my appreciation of this book. Typically at the end of each chapter—sometimes multiple times within each—I was made to pause and think about the wider implications of what was being said, about my own life and views and how that might agree or disagree with others’. There are some moments of the book that are outright chilling, moments when I was struck with a sort of tunnel vision and what the book had just said was all that existed in my world. Whether this was the intended goal, whether I empathized with something in the espoused ideology, or whether I’m just really easy to impress, I can’t say. However, by the end of the book I couldn’t even think to pause and shot through the final couple hundred pages. On top of being well written, any book that can so adamantly make me think is one I can respect.
There’s always something exciting about espionage in fiction, as it has the luxury to focus on all the exciting moments and put aside the mundane. Whether it’s how agents travel around the world, how thin the line between life and death appears, how often the world seems to be in peril, or the fact that it’s a thankless job that offers little to no reward, there’s something to be found that can captivate just about any reader. Thanks to the saturation of secret government agency films in today’s media, I’d be surprised to find someone who hasn’t, if only for a moment, wondered about entering into such an organization. Something where you put yourself away in a cupboard for a later day, only thinking to protect something bigger than yourself. The main character’s involvement in this hidden world is almost surreal. A secret agency within a network of secret agencies. As for the pilgrim himself, I can’t for the life of me place what it is about his history that makes it so captivating. Could it be all the places he’s traveled or the reasons he traveled there? The hardships of his life before and after entering the agency? How obscure and marred in secrecy everything is? No matter how I look I just can’t find a clear reason.
The story knows how to keep you with it. Every story is bound to have a few moments of down time, which is often unavoidable in getting from one event to another organically. However, in the case of I Am Pilgrim, there is hardly a moment of pause, jumping from one exciting event to another without providing any time to breathe while, at the same time, allowing for a decline in action without losing any excitement in order for the reader to prepare themselves for the next drop.
Clearly, there is a lot of enjoyment to be found in I Am Pilgrim.
However, while it starts out as acceptable, thanks to a good bit of suspension of disbelief, at a certain point all of the coincidences become too much. Yes, our narrator and lead character is one of, if not THE, best covert operatives to have ever lived, with a wealth of knowledge, connections, and money. Even then, only so many coincidences can begin to pile up in a story—not all of which even center on him—before you have to say enough is enough. It might be the danger of having a story that’s so lengthy and tightly packed, but that’s a risk that should be understood when such a project is undergone. The worst part is all the coincidences aren’t even necessary to the story, only being useful to tie every last detail to one single storyline. Yes, most of them had a reason, something to make you feel something more or to connect parts of the story but, again, too much. The only thing I could think at the end was rather than coinciding plots why not concurring plots?
As a final note, I will admit that I was a bit disappointed by the manner in which the story was told. As exciting as it was, the fact that the narrator was recalling all of these events, rather than actively living them, did give away the ending to a degree.
All in all, for a man with Hayes’ experience and background, this is an incredible first novel, as is expected. I’d recommend this book to anyone with an interest in Hayes’ filmography, anyone with even so much as a passing interest in espionage, and anyone who enjoys a thrill ride that carries you from page one straight through to the end.
Rating: 4/5
Fair warning. The book opens up with a particularly clever murder and, if you’re looking forward to seeing how it unfolds and if it’s solved, you may need to wait awhile. Starting with the murder, the story backtracks far into the protagonist’s personal history, showing how he came to be where we first find him: trying to solve a murder his book on impossible to solve/never solved cases may have helped to develop. It’s almost funny how far the story diverges from the opening scene, not in a bad or tactless way but, in explaining the narrator’s history, you’re soon left trying to quickly recall how you got from a dead woman in a forensically spotless apartment to wherever you find yourself at that moment. Ultimately, it’s this divergence and variety in information and storytelling that gives the story something fun and adds to its overall thrill.
An impressive aspect of this novel is that, for a good portion of the story, we have no clue what the narrator and main protagonist’s name is. And it doesn’t matter. This same scenario wouldn’t work in most other situations, as a large portion of the book is about his time working as a man who doesn’t exist in an agency that doesn’t exist, so the added level of mystery adds to the espionage nature of the book. At points throughout you’ll realize you don’t know much about his true identity or name and that will only serve to add to the mystery of it. The reader is side-by-side with the characters as the protagonist’s past is slowly revealed. Given that his time as a spy plays a key role in the plot, it’s enthralling to go along with the rest of the world in not knowing who he is, until all of his fake identities are seen through and connected and his real identity is revealed.
I have an appreciation for my appreciation of this book. Typically at the end of each chapter—sometimes multiple times within each—I was made to pause and think about the wider implications of what was being said, about my own life and views and how that might agree or disagree with others’. There are some moments of the book that are outright chilling, moments when I was struck with a sort of tunnel vision and what the book had just said was all that existed in my world. Whether this was the intended goal, whether I empathized with something in the espoused ideology, or whether I’m just really easy to impress, I can’t say. However, by the end of the book I couldn’t even think to pause and shot through the final couple hundred pages. On top of being well written, any book that can so adamantly make me think is one I can respect.
There’s always something exciting about espionage in fiction, as it has the luxury to focus on all the exciting moments and put aside the mundane. Whether it’s how agents travel around the world, how thin the line between life and death appears, how often the world seems to be in peril, or the fact that it’s a thankless job that offers little to no reward, there’s something to be found that can captivate just about any reader. Thanks to the saturation of secret government agency films in today’s media, I’d be surprised to find someone who hasn’t, if only for a moment, wondered about entering into such an organization. Something where you put yourself away in a cupboard for a later day, only thinking to protect something bigger than yourself. The main character’s involvement in this hidden world is almost surreal. A secret agency within a network of secret agencies. As for the pilgrim himself, I can’t for the life of me place what it is about his history that makes it so captivating. Could it be all the places he’s traveled or the reasons he traveled there? The hardships of his life before and after entering the agency? How obscure and marred in secrecy everything is? No matter how I look I just can’t find a clear reason.
The story knows how to keep you with it. Every story is bound to have a few moments of down time, which is often unavoidable in getting from one event to another organically. However, in the case of I Am Pilgrim, there is hardly a moment of pause, jumping from one exciting event to another without providing any time to breathe while, at the same time, allowing for a decline in action without losing any excitement in order for the reader to prepare themselves for the next drop.
Clearly, there is a lot of enjoyment to be found in I Am Pilgrim.
However, while it starts out as acceptable, thanks to a good bit of suspension of disbelief, at a certain point all of the coincidences become too much. Yes, our narrator and lead character is one of, if not THE, best covert operatives to have ever lived, with a wealth of knowledge, connections, and money. Even then, only so many coincidences can begin to pile up in a story—not all of which even center on him—before you have to say enough is enough. It might be the danger of having a story that’s so lengthy and tightly packed, but that’s a risk that should be understood when such a project is undergone. The worst part is all the coincidences aren’t even necessary to the story, only being useful to tie every last detail to one single storyline. Yes, most of them had a reason, something to make you feel something more or to connect parts of the story but, again, too much. The only thing I could think at the end was rather than coinciding plots why not concurring plots?
As a final note, I will admit that I was a bit disappointed by the manner in which the story was told. As exciting as it was, the fact that the narrator was recalling all of these events, rather than actively living them, did give away the ending to a degree.
All in all, for a man with Hayes’ experience and background, this is an incredible first novel, as is expected. I’d recommend this book to anyone with an interest in Hayes’ filmography, anyone with even so much as a passing interest in espionage, and anyone who enjoys a thrill ride that carries you from page one straight through to the end.
Rating: 4/5