Book Review: I am Pilgrim

I am Pilgrim

Terry Hayes

Rating- 3/5

Some books create a lot of hype and makes you feel that your life is incomplete unless you read that book. That is what happened with me, regarding this book. Finally, on last Christmas, some secret Santa (Lucky for having such friends) has sent me the book. I was reluctant to start it immediately, as the size (around 900 pages) was making me little uncomfortable. However, finally 2 weeks back I picked it up.

I am Pilgrim started brilliantly with a creepy murder sequence. However, what happens with such book is, it becomes slow in between but somehow I liked the build up of this story. It's a globe-trotting thriller that goes to places including Paris, Turkey, Bahrain, US and Afghanistan (of course).

The end felt like a bit of a movie script to me and my main problem was, unbelievable coincidences that happen a bit too often for a thriller. The plot was never that tricky and mindboggling. It got stuck somewhere between a globe trotting adventure and a CIA thriller. And, may be for the conservative Americans this is the best thriller of the year, but for people who actually love a good thriller, it remains as a mediocre thriller that could have been shorter by at least 100-150 pages.

I am Pilgrim is not a bad book, but there are better books in this genre. It is definitely an over hyped book and that is why I was disappointed after finishing this.

It starts with a murder and the search for the murdered and from there, it goes to a secret agent who is an existential loner and the best (???) in his field. However, I don't think the "best" secret agents depend on coincidences so much or overlook so many things, so often. Even the antagonist didn't get the chance to become really, actually "scary". Somehow, from the beginning the "race against time" failed to create the desired impact on the reader.

I felt Terry Hayes fell in love with "Pilgrim" and he just went on and on for the sake of that love for the character.