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The Mission Song
The Mission Song
Author: John le Carre
Hailed everywhere as a masterpiece of suspense, John le Carre's return to Africa is the story of Bruno Salvador (aka Salvo), the 25-year-old orphaned love child of an Irish missionary and a Congolese woman. Quickly rising to the top of his profession as an interpreter, Salvo is dispatched by British Intelligence to a top-secret meeting betwe...  more »
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ISBN-13: 9780316016766
ISBN-10: 0316016764
Publication Date: 8/1/2008
Pages: 464
Rating:
  • Currently 3.4/5 Stars.
 28

3.4 stars, based on 28 ratings
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Book Type: Mass Market Paperback
Other Versions: Hardcover, Audio Cassette, Audio CD
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review

Top Member Book Reviews

reviewed The Mission Song on + 15 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Although an avid reader, I didn't think le Carre would be my cup of tea... but this book was so amazing that now I'll be looking for his other well-known best sellers. A most unusual protagonist, and an even more unusual tale. Even while describing the most horrendous of human capabilities, the writing is almost lyrical, and the story unfolds slowly and tantalizingly. Kept me up late to finish it.
reviewed The Mission Song on + 813 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
In allegory, this book never happened. A part-time interpreter for the British government is loaned out for a hush-hush operation. He just happened to be a displaced Anglo-African conversant with the multi-linguistics of Central Africa: Eastern Congo to be more specific. Hes the internal spy at a meeting of quasi-government officials who are trying to broker with several Congolese leaders to consummate a coop sponsored by big money players who are seemingly headed by a highly suspect peer of England. So much for clean government! Most of this novel is a regurgitation of the boring details of the conference. Now it gets more than a trifle incredulous. Our hero, amid superlative security precautions, manages to swap blank tapes and notebooks for the real thing, and then smuggles them out in his pants. All materials were to be thrown into a burn bag which was never checked, not were participants screened physically. So now hero attempts to broker on his own to stop the coup. With whom, you ask? Why with the very people who are involved in the alleged coup. Needless to say it turns out badly; to find out just how badly youll have to read the novel. I will hint this, however; its a typical Honest John finale.
Read All 3 Book Reviews of "The Mission Song"


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