Review: Agent Running in the Field, by John le Carré

When I learned that John le Carré had a new book coming out, I ordered it in advance and began reading it the day it arrived. I did so because his last book, A Legacy of Spies, was surprisingly good. A sequel of sorts to his The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, that book was eminently readable and a real return to form for Britain’s greatest living writer of spy fiction. This book is even better.

Le Carré, who is now 88 years old, has not lost his touch. And this book, unlike the previous one which looked back at the Cold War, is set in the present. At its centre are Brexit and Donald Trump. I won’t give the plot away, only to say that it’s wonderfully complex with character types who will be familiar to those who know the author’s previous work.

My only gripe — and it’s to the publisher, not the author — is the decision they made to include an important plot detail in the inside flap. I advise you not to read it.