John Le Carre
The Spy Who Came In from the Cold (1963)
Author: John Le Carre
Genre: Mystery/Thriller (Espionage)
Plot Summary: Alec Leamas is a British intelligence agent during the Cold War who is nearing the end of his long career. His network of spies in East Germany has been unravelling, and many of his German double-agents have been identified and killed by his counterpart in German intelligence, a man called Mundt. He is sent back to Britain and "put on the shelf," working at a desk in the payroll department. He begins to act strangely, and it looks as if he's come unglued. He hits the bottle, lashes out at his neighbors, associates with unsavory characters, gets arrested. His only comfort is a girl named Liz Gold, who takes care of him. And then one day he disappears, on what could be the most important and dangerous mission of his life. Deep undercover, he begins a deadly game of cat and mouse in an effort to destroy the man who destroyed him: the man they call Mundt. As the action mounts, Liz makes an untimely reappearance and the whole affair threatens to blow up in Leamas's face. SPOILER: With Alec on trial for espionage in East Germany, Liz appears as a surprise witness against him. After the mystery unravels and it becomes clear who Mundt is actually working for, Alec and Liz meet a tragic ending that is fitting to Alec's recent rapid decline.
Geographical Settings: England, East Germany
Time Period: 1960s, Cold War
Appeal Characteristics: The book is fast-moving; the action starts right from the beginning. The plot twists are surprising and clever but not so unpredictable that you can't begin to guess where the book is going. Le Carre's inside knowledge of the intelligence business makes the detail of the book especially engrossing.
Read-alikes: Tom Clancy's Patriot Games has same intricate detail and suspenseful unraveling of a masterfully-crafted plot; Like Le Carre, Charles McCarry is a former insider turned novelist, and his Old Boys features a crew of spies who go in search of one of their own who has disappeared; Francine Matthews is yet another former spook turned writer, and his novel Cutout shares the same Eastern European setting as Le Carre's novel; Eric Ambler's A Coffin for Dimitrios is similar in tone but is set in post-WWI Europe; and Ted Allbeury is another former spy who shares the same cynical tone and writing style as Le Carre. Try his novel Rules of the Game.
Red Flags: There is some violence, but it is infrequent and not a big part of the book. The main character uses alcohol regulary. Sexual activity is alluded to but not described in any great detail. A few curse words, but nothing too gratuitous.
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