A novel that le Carre left unfinished at his death that his author son completed. It's set in modern times, but is unmistakably le Carre in tone and would have worked better if set in the Cold War. It's very difficult to believe that in the era of the internet, mobile phones and social media that complex arrangements involving strangers meeting in a cafe at a prearranged time holding a particular book to pass on a confidential letter would ever be required. Particularly when another key part of the plot involve the informer using an unsuspecting patsy's computer to send out the secrets he's flogging. These are minor quibbles though. It was pleasant that WG Sebald's 'rings of Saturn', which I've recently read, played a significant part in the story, and also it's just le Carre, and so enjoyable, challenging and cynical as ever.
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