Smiley's People by John le Carré

“Tell Max that it concerns the Sandman. Tell him I have two proofs and can bring them with me.” 

With a more than two hour train trip on the cards for a Wednesday night, it seemed like the perfect time to indulge in a big read. When I say "big read" I mean greater than 300 pages, which is particularly challenging with end of the year deadlines, Christmas party season and the like. So, I settled back on the train and immersed myself in the shadow world of espionage. An ageing George Smiley is chased out of retirement by the murder of one of his former agents. The final instalment  in the series that began with Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is a worthy inclusion in the 1001 novels list and you know how much I love ticking off novels from that seemingly never-ending list. I'm writing this review after a big night out for a friend's significant birthday and so my level of detail on the content is going to be a little light on. Nevertheless this is the moody, suspense ridden le Carré you would expect and it is fantastic - I almost didn't notice how long I was on that darn train trip. It also neatly ties up the series in an entirely satisfactory way.


5 out of 5 spies can not be trusted.