Monday, November 5, 2018

Smiley's People

Smiley's PeopleSmiley's People by John le Carré
Reviewed by Jason Koivu
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Smiley comes out of retirement was his people come under attack in this aptly named conclusion to the Karla trilogy.

This is fantastic stuff! Taut tension, high stakes, personal vendettas...ah, it's all wonderful. The characterizations and conversations are finessed with an admirable subtly. The Cold War settings descriptions put you in the middle of these depressingly drab locations. John le Carré is on fire in Smiley's People!

It's far more cerebral cold war spy novel than say Fleming's stuff. This means more talk, less action. That's going to bore some readers. It almost bored off this reader, but I held in there and, man, the payoff... Tremendous!

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