I was worried during the first third of what is not a long book, because I thought le Carré had turned bromance analyser rather than the murky spy thriller writer I have always loved to read. But gradually intrigue and surveillance took over and, by way of a complicated sub - plot, we find ourselves in the post-cold war - cold war. I had to read lots of chapters twice, but I always do with le Carré and always thoroughly enjoy it.
