This is one of John LeCarre's best. A world of espionage and double agents plus missing people, post the Cold War era.
It is the early post-Cold War era. Tim Cranmer, our protagonist, is another retired spook in Le Carrés world of retired spies. In this case he is forced into retirement with dignitya dignity that of a sudden becomes questionable when he is suddenly the subject of a police probe into money laundering and filtering her majestys filthy lucre into channels that are allegedly favorable to his our interests. Quite a conundrum, as he is quite innocent! So begins his search for one of his former operativesa friend who, it seems, must be at the center of his dilemma. All of the secret-service agent stuff is here, all the interrogations, all of the loose paper trails, all of the innuendo, as well as all of the ennui associated with being a good undercover agent, or investigator. Somewhere in the middle, the book seemed, to me, to drag on; but then it picked up the pace again, until near the end as he gets close on his friends (the operative) trail. Many readers may not be satisfied with the cliff-hanger ending though; one must interpolate the end for ones self.
I've never read a John LeCarre I didn't enjoy tremendously.
Tim Cranmer accepts early retirement and settles in rural England with his young mistress when lifelong rival Larry Pettifer disappears and Cranmer is suddenly on the run.
Very good read. Kept you guessing until the very end.
Another excellent novel from Le Carre...if you are already a fan of the author, need I say more. It is the type of novel that grabs your interest from the first sentence: "Larry went officially mising from the world on the second Monday of October, at ten minutes by eleven, when he failed to deliver his opeining lecture of the new academic year."
Another tautly written, well-researched spy novel from LeCarre. The Cold War is over. The
Russians are our friends. Consequently, spy handler Tim "Timbo" Cranmer and his specially
groomed double agent, Larry Pettifer, are put out to pasture. Tim, a somewhat stolid and
unimaginative civil-servant type, has removed himself and his much younger mistress, Emma,
to his late uncle's vineyard in Somerset, while the idealistic Larry is uncomfortably
ensconced as a professor at Bath University. Then Larry and Emma disappear. They have
apparently run off together. They have also apparently relieved the Russians of more than 30
million pounds. The British police, guessing at Tim's previous occupation, and the Russians,
knowing it, suspect Tim's active participation in, or at least knowledge of, the scheme. All
parties concerned attempt to force him to reveal the whereabouts of the fugitives, which he
honestly does not know. He does, however, still possess some of the skills of his former
profession, and in a suspenseful journey through England, France, and finally Russia, he
tracks down his friends while eluding his followers. In the process, readers learn much
about the dissident Russian regions and some pre-and post-Stalinist history. An engrossing,
exciting spy story.
The actual ISBN for this book is 0-679-44181-6 but if you type that in another book comes up altogether. This is the large paperback.
From Patricia S. Another tautly written, well-researched spy novel from LeCarre. The Cold War is over. The Russians are our friends. Consequently, spy handler Tim "Timbo" Cranmer and his specially groomed double agent, Larry Pettifer, are put out to pasture. Tim, a somewhat stolid and unimaginative civil-servant type, has removed himself and his much younger mistress, Emma,to his late uncle's vineyard in Somerset, while the idealistic Larry is uncomfortably ensconced as a professor at Bath University. Then Larry and Emma disappear. They have apparently run off together. They have also apparently relieved the Russians of more than 30 million pounds. The British police, guessing at Tim's previous occupation, and the Russians, knowing it, suspect Tim's active participation in, or at least knowledge of, the scheme. All parties concerned attempt to force him to reveal the whereabouts of the fugitives, which he honestly does not know. He does, however, still possess some of the skills of his former profession, and in a suspenseful journey through England, France, and finally Russia, he tracks down his friends while eluding his followers. In the process, readers learn much about the dissident Russian regions and some pre-and post-Stalinist history. An engrossing,exciting spy story.
First Trade Edition
