Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

When I say “Spy Thriller” it conjures an image of James Bond, Jason Bourne, Kim Possible. Bombastic, action-packed and cool. Le Carre’s George Smiley is the antithesis of all of this. Tinker Tailor is quiet and thoughtful and gripping.

Most of the story takes part in conversation, with two characters retelling some part of history as Smiley pieces together a full picture, trying to get to the bottom of a mystery involving a mole in MI6 - the Circus, who reports to Smiley’s counterpart in the KGB - Karla. In this, it’s as much a detective story as a ‘thriller’, cold-war espionage is really just a backdrop. As usual with detective novels, love is as much a motive as ambition, which I found surprising and refreshing given the setting. I thought it might be a bit dry, and there are certainly a lot of names and places to get around, but the characters and plot really shine through.

There are three books in the ‘Smiley vs Karla’ series. And I’ll be picking up The Honourable Schoolboy, and Smiley’s People very soon.