Le Carré delivers a tale for our times, replete with the classic seasoning of betrayal, secret state shenanigans and sad-eyed human frailty, all baked into an oven-hot contemporary thriller that’s partly inspired by the machinations of 21st-century Ukraine, today more than ever the fatal crossroads of great power politics.
Once again, le Carré’s sixth sense about the thrilling fulcrum of jeopardy has not deserted him. Agent Running is right on the money, in psychology as much as politics, a demonstration of the British spy thriller at its unputdownable best.
His devoted readers will note that agent-runner Nat in the Haven is a long way from Smiley and the Circus. We are among the broken statues of old empires. Karla and the iron curtain are long gone and Britain’s spies cling to the wreckage as best they can, while turning a blind eye to post credit-crunch corruption.
At the same time, although le Carré locates much of his plot in a unified Germany, some things don’t change. In the end, it’s the threat of Moscow Centre that will motivate Nat towards his final, desperate and most audacious covert operation, closing with 15 perfect lines about Nat’s “exfiltration”.
Once again, le Carré’s sixth sense about the thrilling fulcrum of jeopardy has not deserted him. Agent Running is right on the money, in psychology as much as politics, a demonstration of the British spy thriller at its unputdownable best.
His devoted readers will note that agent-runner Nat in the Haven is a long way from Smiley and the Circus. We are among the broken statues of old empires. Karla and the iron curtain are long gone and Britain’s spies cling to the wreckage as best they can, while turning a blind eye to post credit-crunch corruption.
At the same time, although le Carré locates much of his plot in a unified Germany, some things don’t change. In the end, it’s the threat of Moscow Centre that will motivate Nat towards his final, desperate and most audacious covert operation, closing with 15 perfect lines about Nat’s “exfiltration”.
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