Hardcover, 282 pages
Published Sept. 9, 2019 by Viking.
Nat, a 47 year-old veteran of Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service, believes his years as an agent runner are over. He is back in London with his wife, the long-suffering Prue. But with the growing threat from Moscow Centre, the office has one more job for him. Nat is to take over The Haven, a defunct substation of London General with a rag-tag band of spies. The only bright light on the team is young Florence, who has her eye on Russia Department and a Ukrainian oligarch with a finger in the Russia pie. Nat is not only a spy, he is a passionate badminton player. His regular Monday evening opponent is half his age: the introspective and solitary Ed. Ed hates Brexit, hates Trump and hates his job at some soulless media agency. And it is Ed, of all unlikely people, who will take Prue, Florence and Nat himself down …
Nat, a 47 year-old veteran of Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service, believes his years as an agent runner are over. He is back in London with his wife, the long-suffering Prue. But with the growing threat from Moscow Centre, the office has one more job for him. Nat is to take over The Haven, a defunct substation of London General with a rag-tag band of spies. The only bright light on the team is young Florence, who has her eye on Russia Department and a Ukrainian oligarch with a finger in the Russia pie. Nat is not only a spy, he is a passionate badminton player. His regular Monday evening opponent is half his age: the introspective and solitary Ed. Ed hates Brexit, hates Trump and hates his job at some soulless media agency. And it is Ed, of all unlikely people, who will take Prue, Florence and Nat himself down the path of political anger that will ensnare them all.
This is mostly pointless. While it's well-written, it's basically a short story blown up to a short novel, but light years from Carré's best work. I was generally bored.
This is a book which I was sorry to come to the end of and even sorrier that it is John le Carré's last book. It is a fitting end to his oeuvre, with a return to the Russians as a threat (but with a twist of course), but very much set in the present day with Brexit and Trump looming large. I did also enjoy the anti-Brexit rants, especially as it clearly gave the idea that it John le Carré himself speaking.
Just one thing I didn't get. What is it with the microfilm? Surely no-one uses that any more? Perhaps a joke?
As always with le Carré, the characters are expertly sketched, giving great depth in few words and the plot is frighteningly convincing.
Dat was weer een goede Le Carré
