Focus is one of the attributes that I like most about myself. It allows me to drop out of the rest of the world and engross myself in a book for extended periods of time. However, it takes a good book to keep me wrapped up, to transport me to it's universe where I can start to imagine that reality as the true one. I Am Pilgrim is a prime example of just such a book.

This book is really quite good. Again, it isn't some deeply artistic book, with complicated allegories or an overwhelmingly emotional presence. No, it was just simply the type of book that you can't put down. You just need to know what is going to happen around the next corner. One book I really enjoyed from my adolescence was Rainbow Six. What got me about that one was how there were so many different story lines going on at once that seemed altogether unrelated. If you haven't read it, I am sorry to break the news to you here, but when all of those stories collide, I felt one of those moments of awe as if seeing someone perform a complicated athletic feat yet make it look effortless. I Am Pilgrim wove a similar narrative. I don't think it was quite as good in that there were less stories going on, but the overall effect was similar.

This is a book about a spy chasing a bad guy to put it simply. But, there was a lot more to this than just plain good versus plain evil. There was nuance to the good that made him seem less wholesome, as well as nuance to the evil that made you feel compassion or at least an understanding of his motivations. The reader is not forced to accept a clear, unquestionable morality. Rather, the book seems to take the reader on the journey with the protagonist, leading you ultimately to one perspective on the events that take place, but nonetheless giving you a sense of freedom.

I would recommend this book to anyone who likes thrillers and spy novels in general. Similar to Tom Clancy or the Jason Bourne series, but much more modern and personally a little more relatable.