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stevo67 's review for:
The Spy Who Came In from the Cold
by John le Carré
Nearly gave this 4 stars.
Fantastic final chapters. This is the first Le Carre I’ve read. Spy thriller is not a genre I reach for often. But I read this on a recommendation and it didn’t disappoint.
The book is set during the Cold War. Following a death on border between East and West Berlin the British agent in charge, Leamas, is recalled to London and then cast out of the Service. In London his life spirals downwards, despite meeting a nice young woman, Liz, and he ends up in prison for an assault. Out of prison he’s tapped up by foreign agents and is soon heading abroad as a defector. Even the interrogation chapters are gripping. There’s a plot to see Mundt, the head of DDR counter espionage deposed, Fiedler is behind it and Leamas provides key evidence. The matter goes to secret trial and unexpectedly Liz is a witness. After her testimony Leamas has to admit it was a plot and him and Fielder are carted away. But then Leamas and Liz are snuck out of prison later and we learn the whole matter was actually a plot to get Fiedler arrested as he had discovered Mundt was a double agent for the British. The final scene is a mad dash to get over the Berlin Wall back to the West.
Fantastic final chapters. This is the first Le Carre I’ve read. Spy thriller is not a genre I reach for often. But I read this on a recommendation and it didn’t disappoint.
The book is set during the Cold War. Following a death on border between East and West Berlin the British agent in charge, Leamas, is recalled to London and then cast out of the Service. In London his life spirals downwards, despite meeting a nice young woman, Liz, and he ends up in prison for an assault. Out of prison he’s tapped up by foreign agents and is soon heading abroad as a defector. Even the interrogation chapters are gripping. There’s a plot to see Mundt, the head of DDR counter espionage deposed, Fiedler is behind it and Leamas provides key evidence. The matter goes to secret trial and unexpectedly Liz is a witness. After her testimony Leamas has to admit it was a plot and him and Fielder are carted away. But then Leamas and Liz are snuck out of prison later and we learn the whole matter was actually a plot to get Fiedler arrested as he had discovered Mundt was a double agent for the British. The final scene is a mad dash to get over the Berlin Wall back to the West.