Helpful Score: 4
The plot of this book involves the efforts undertaken by various European agencies to track and arrest Middle Eastern terrorists. The characters are interesting -- a prominent banker, a liberal attorney dedicated to protecting the rights of suspected terrorists, and of course, a possible terrorist (but no one knows for sure), a well-intentioned Muslim family attempting to get citizenship, the leaders and strategists of several anti-terror organizations.
These characters and their interactions and intersections flesh out the quandries faced by private citizens and agencies in tracking and identifying terrorists, and occassionally how distrustful the agencies are of each other. Ultimately, how one individual may pay a price surfaces as the end result of these intrigues.
These characters and their interactions and intersections flesh out the quandries faced by private citizens and agencies in tracking and identifying terrorists, and occassionally how distrustful the agencies are of each other. Ultimately, how one individual may pay a price surfaces as the end result of these intrigues.
John Le Carre can't write a bad book, and this was no exception. While I did see the excellent movie first, it meant I got to enjoy all the back story they couldn't fit into the film.
I couldn't put this one down. It's absorbing, exciting, and absolutely devastating. what a great read!
Great book as always with this author.
This is a fast paced novel of the war on terror, but you are left to interpret the evidence. Who is guilty? This is also a provocative novel focussing on the myriad of intelligence agencies within the host country (in this case Germany) and nations maintaining diplomatic and intelligence gathering relations with it (England, and the U.S.). Each has its own agenda: some mesh, some do not. You will walk the fine line between human rights, security, and political scuffling. Less spy mumble-jumble than many of his other books makes this one a more enjoyable read.
I haven't read a Le Carre book in some time, but I liked this one a lot. Well written, and a typical psychological rather than violent spy novel.
Le Carre's stories are alway richly detailed and intricately plotted with fully developed characters, and A Most Wanted Man is no disappointment in this regard. I did not care for the ending as it put a thud where I usually expect a boom. And it made the central hero figure, Bachman, appear an average, feckless dupe.
