Description

‘Masterly … dazzlingly intelligent and subtle’ Sunday Times

‘Deighton’s best novel to date – sharp, witty and sour, like Raymond Chandler adapted to British gloom and the multiple betrayals of the spy’ Observer

Embattled agent Bernard Samson is used to being passed over for promotion as his younger, more ambitious colleagues – including his own wife Fiona – rise up the ranks of MI6. When a valued agent in East Berlin warns the British of a mole at the heart of the Service, Samson must return to the field and the city he loves to uncover the traitor’s identity. This is the first novel in Len Deighton’s acclaimed, Game, Set and Match trilogy.

A BERNARD SAMSON NOVEL

Publisher Review

Deighton's best novel to date - sharp, witty and sour, like Raymond Chandler adapted to British gloom and the multiple betrayals of the private spy. * Observer * Spying at its most captivating and intricate. -- Marcel Berlins * The Times * Virtuoso top level performance. * The Guardian * Sheer consistent rightness page after page after page. * The Times * A labyrinthine espionage epic lightened with laconic wit. -- Jeremy Duns * The Times * Deighton, as always, makes the familiar twists and turns of spy errantry new again, partly by his grip of narrative, partly by his grasp of character, and partly by his easy, sardonic tone. * New Yorker * Len Deighton's spy novels are so good they make me sad the Cold War is over. -- Malcolm Gladwell