Review: A Most Wanted Man

The spy genre’s undisputed master, Le Carré has been floundering a bit since the end of the cold war, producing intelligent, complex, but not particularly compelling novels. Unfortunately, the trend continues.

His latest focuses on an enigmatic, possibly addled, Chechen-Russian Muslim, Issa Karpov. Karpov remains a fairly repellant/pathetic cipher, but his illegal appearance in Hamburg, Germany, is a catalyst for crisis in the lives of those around him.

Skeletal and ill, he throws himself on the mercy of a working-class Turkish family who, although frightened of attracting suspicion, cannot refuse to help him. Then there is the crusading young lawyer, Annabel Richter, who burns to help. Having previously lost an innocent Muslim to the maw of rendition, she’s determined to atone by saving Karpov.

Her first act is to contact the British proprietor of one of Hamburg’s most respected private banks, Tommy Brue, 60, lonely, wealthy and above reproach. Brue’s bank holds Karpov’s legacy – an account left him by his father, a brutal Soviet apparatchik who, together with a small circle of friends, deposited money with Brue’s father. Known as the Lipizzaner accounts (for horses born black that turn white with age), these shady funds have always disturbed the younger Brue, for whom they remain a blot on his father’s otherwise pristine character.

Brue is quickly, naively drawn in to Richter’s plans. He is bored, she is attractive; and the money is Karpov’s, after all. But Karpov has already attracted attention. Rival factions of spooks are homing in on him – including the crass Americans, the ambitious Brits, the compartmentalized Germans and the new, decompartmentalized Germans. At the head of the pack are the brilliant, inscrutable team of Gunther Bachmann and Erna Frey, temperamental opposites with professional precision and élan.

The novel is predictable and the characters are more stereotypical than the usual Le Carré crowd. But mostly, the story never heats up. While any Le Carré novel is worth reading, this one doesn’t possess the power, depth or subtlety of his George Smiley books.

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Lynn Harnett

Please Note: Books reviewed are usually provided by the publisher, author, or an agent. Reviewers usually get to keep the book.

Book Review: A Most Wanted Man

Please Note: Books reviewed are usually provided by the publisher, author, or an agent. Reviewers usually get to keep the book.