#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERThe undisputed master returns with his first Smiley novel in more than twenty-five years–a #1 New York Times bestseller and ideal holiday gift.Peter Guillam, staunch colleague and disciple of George Smiley of the British Secret Service, otherwise known as the Circus, is living out his old age on the family farmstead on the south coast of Brittany when a letter from … coast of Brittany when a letter from his old Service summons him to London. The reason? His Cold War past has come back to claim him. Intelligence operations that were once the toast of secret London, and involved such characters as Alec Leamas, Jim Prideaux, George Smiley and Peter Guillam himself, are to be scrutinized by a generation with no memory of the Cold War and no patience with its justifications.
Interweaving past with present so that each may tell its own intense story, John le Carré has spun a single plot as ingenious and thrilling as the two predecessors on which it looks back: The Spy Who Came in from the Cold and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. In a story resonating with tension, humor and moral ambivalence, le Carré and his narrator Peter Guillam present the reader with a legacy of unforgettable characters old and new.
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He is the GOAT spy writers, but he is getting old.
Not Le Carre at his best.
best lecarre ever, maybe
I love the way LeCarre’ s language.
I’ve been a lifelong fan of John le Carré. Many of his golden novels are set at the height of the Cold War yet he’s managed to mine other rich seams after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Now, A Legacy of Spies takes us back almost to the beginning. The action takes place today in our more politically correct times, when there needs to be a calling to account of the events of a previous generation. Someone has to pay for those who suffered in the name of the greater good and that person looks to be George Smiley’s old sidekick, Peter Guillam. Le Carré is back on top form as the murky past is gradually revealed. No one writes an interrogation scene like the master.
It might help to revisit The Spy Who Came in from the Cold first – or certainly re-read the last chapter of that book.
“The Spy Who Came in from the Cold” along with Gerald Seymour’s “Traitor’s Kiss” and Charles McCarry’s “The Tears of Autumn” are my all-time favorite spy novels. I even give LeCarre’s “The Spy Who Came in from the Cold” a passing reference in my latest spy novel, “Red Romeo.” But I digress. If LeCarre tried to prove the adage that intelligence work is often tedious, he has spectacularly succeeded with the litany of boring reports, with which he littered “A Legacy of Spies.” He probably had fun concocting these fictitious missives, but they are not fun to read. I ended up skipping most of them. Even LeCarre’s witty turns of phrases here and there could not salvage this book that’s bereft of story.
Peter Bernhardt, Author: The Stasi File, 2011 ABNA Quarter Finalist; Kiss of the Shaman’s Daughter [sequel]; Red Romeo;
http://tinyurl.com/a7rnpql – http://sedonaauthor.com – https://tinyurl.com/ycyvps3b
The Smiley novels are some of the most dense spy fiction ever written. Legacy catches up with some of these protagonists and teases out their lies, ghosts and moral choices against the results-driven environment of modern intelligence services. Usually the blurb on these books states that it is a stand alone novel. In this case you really have to start at the beginning which will be a joy.
An undisputed great spy thriller master’s most recent novels brings back some oh his famous characters such as George Smiley. Not the most easiest to read, but entertaining.
This is my favourite John le Carre, which is saying something! It has everything you need in a spy novel with not a word wasted.
Best book The author has written in years. It’s good to see him get off his soapbox and get back to telling stories.
The ghost of Le Carre’s famous George Smiley haunts this story, and the man’s not even dead yet.
It’s remarkable how fascinating this story becomes, given nothing much is actually happening in the present day when the book is set — the action is all in the past.
The consequences are what this is about, and unravelling the lies and obfuscation is a fascinating journey replete with changing loyalties, blame-shifting and the inherent danger of viewing the past through a modern filter.
I might have liked a more definitive ending, but that’s not the world Le Carre is painting here.
Nevertheless this story kept me intrigued to the end.
ANOTHER GREAT HIT OF JOHN LE CARRE. GREAT FAN OF HIS
Le Carre take the time in creating his characters.
Beautifully written and conceived. A masterpiece from the master.
If you love the Smiley books, this is for completists. Don’t bother reading if you haven’t read Tinker, Tailor, etc.
A great sequel to Le Carre’s previous books with closure of many points and characters in a poignant, and well-thought manner that was thoroughly enjoyable. A reprise of the great Yoda of British spies, George Smiley.
Excellent spy novel, per usual by the Master
Good old Cornwell, the Dickens of the thinking spook novel.