The Spy Who Came in from the Cold by John le Carré

There is a sub-set of the people who watch Bond films. We all know ones. They’re the people who have no idea what’s going on. “Why did he kill that guy?” “I thought he was with him?” I’m pretty sure that’s an opening skit to a Seinfeld episode so I’ll leave it there.

These kinds of people shouldn’t read this book. If Bond stretches their brains that much then this book will puree them into a tasty mush. We follow a recently ‘retired’ British spy (Alec Leamas) at the height of the Cold War. In order to exact revenge on a spy that has eliminated several of his own agents, Leamas is convinced to embark on one more mission – to pretend to pretend to defect to the enemy. What ensues is an at times savage tale of double-crossing, mystery and intrigue. The book is beautifully paced but you have to pay attention to what is going on. Fragments dropped here and there play an important part in the telling of the story. The only part of the book I didn’t really like was the socialist debate between two of the main characters whilst driving at high speed through the streets of East Germany. I would have thought a more pertinent discussion would be “how are we going to stay alive” but obviously not.

Recommended.