Robert M. (shotokanchef) reviewed on + 813 more book reviews
This is Le Carrés first novel in which he created his master spy, George Smiley: short, stout, mild-mannered, obscure-looking (for ones concept of a spy). It is post WW II and Smiley is being forced into retirement, but first, one last task: an interview. Too bad that his object turns up dead as a door nail the next day: an apparent suicide. Hold on! He left a wake up call and failed to consume a self-prepared snack. So here is Smiley, back on the track of spies as the cold war looms in the future. The novel also forebodes Smileys life to come; his attractive, titled wife has left him, he forced into retirement, he is called back.
