The Spy Who Came in From the Cold by John LeCarre George Smiley #3 -- a eview by Elleanore Vance

Welcome back, dear reader! Today's installment is another LeCarre novel. I can't help it. I'm in a groove. The Spy Who Came In From The Cold is the third George Smiley novel, even though Smiley himself is in it very little.

Our main character is Alec Leamas, who is fleeing from his post as  Head of Berlin Station  (the Circus' West Berlin branch) after the last of his ring of agents is killed right in front of his eyes by an enemy intelligence agent. He is done. He is so very done.

Alec wants out. Unfortunately there's some trouble about "interrupted service," which impacts Alec's government pension. Control reminds Alec of this. It would be more accurate to say that Control uses this information as leverage. Control needs Alec to take out that enemy agent. If Alec does one last mission, Control will see what he can do about that pesky pension problem.

And needs must. So Alec goes back. Out. Into the cold. Against his will. And his better judgement. Again.

This is a bitter story. Like coffee with no cream or sugar. It's the kind of story that makes you believe in Fate, because there was no other way any of this could have ended.

Stories like this one help to put a human person in one's mind when the headlines read "Soft Intelligence Compromised" or "Agent Outed by Senator."

Selected as one of the All Time 100 Novels by TIME magazine, this is an excellent example of LeCarre's style. He starts us out with disconnected jigsaw pieces, then he ties them all together and continues the chronology. There is a delicacy or fragility if you will, about the way he builds his stories. You can feel story sway in the breeze like a house of cards.

It doesn't stop there. Like Fleming and Maugham before him, LeCarre created within his books a time capsule. Rich in detail, dense and varied, LeCarre does not waste is words.

As I'm sure you've guessed, I loved it. This may be triggering for people with substance abuse issues, especially alcohol. Also,  if you are sensitive to talk of antisemitism, know that it exists and is talked about in this world of spies. So, reader, beware.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5