Customer Reviews: Read 7 more reviews...
 A challenge to bullying swaggering power November 2, 2008
Barton Keyes (England)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I have just finished reading "A Most Wanted Man". It took me a couple of days of after-work reading but I really wish that I had taken it in one long gulp. The pleasure would have been even greater: it is a superbly written story that shrieks out a challenge to injustice and double-dealing and the swaggering, bullying use of power.
In terms of execution, there are sentences and phrases that pull you up short while you register the absolute exactitude of the description of the emotion or experience that Le Carre has put on paper. In terms of plotting it couldn't be better - taught, not a step misplaced, just enough to let the reader see the path without revealing the destination. In terms of finale, although you know early on and in the way of the world, it's not going to turn out well for someone, the ending is so unexpected (but so right) that it's one of the few books that I have ever read that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.
Excellent "War on Terror" thriller October 30, 2008
Mr. S. Harris (Bristol, UK)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
It's great that Le Carre, at 76, has been able to write a "War on Terror" thriller that ranks with his Cold War thrillers. The old master can still construct a cracking plot. And there's important insight here into where our intelligence agencies, under pressure from their political masters, are going wrong (lack of human intelligence and infiltration).
Highly recommended (4.5 stars, but I'm feeling generous so let's call it 5!).
As good a novel as he has written. October 27, 2008
Drambuster (UK)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
There will be those who dislike the controlled anger of this book and those who wish for a nostalgic return to the likes of 'Tinker, Tailor..'. Well you would be missing out.
This is a stunning novel by le Carre, superbly constructed, strong plot, well drawn characters and I would defy anyone to take issue with the message behind the story.
This is vintage le Carre. As well written as anything he has ever done before and a welcome addition to his collection of stunning novels.
Espionage through the eyes of the Master October 24, 2008
Julia Flyte (Seattle)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Afficiandos of the John le Carre spy novel come in at least three basic types. There are many who savor a contemporary, stylish and intriguing plot with fully drawn (and inevitably fallible) characters. There are those who simply appreciate good writing. And then some who expect both.
None will be disappointed by A Most Wanted Man.
In this, his 21st novel, Le Carre returns to his roots: to a post-Cold War Germany and the internecine warfare of competing intelligence agencies (both domestic and international), balancing the conflicting consequences of illegal immigration, religion and the War on Terror.
Le Carre's unique literary style - long, complex, descriptive word paintings (the antithesis of modern, crisp journalism and airport potboiler novels) - draws the reader in from the first page. All his characters, whether principal players or bit parts, emerge fully rounded in all their capabilities and flaws. Each is human, realistic and memorable.
The plot is tantalising. Who is "this most wanted man"? Whom are we to like? Whom to trust? Apparently innocent bystanders, struggling to survive in the new Europe and wanting to believe in their future, are drawn into the action and suffer collateral damage in a contest that is superficially about terrorism but in reality between competing, morally corrupt intelligence agencies - the cream of the espiocracy.
Le Carre slowly, carefully unpeels his onion, layer by layer, to expose its inevitable, venal core. However in his world of deceit, disillusion and bureaucratic testosterone there are ultimately no winners, no solutions, no happy endings. Le Carre's world is not like that.
 Entertaining October 16, 2008
Ethan Cooper (Big Apple)
A MOST WANTED MAN shares many qualities with other le Carre novels. These include a brisk and involving narrative, sly humor, and a plot shaded with lots of bureaucratic menace and heavy handedness. Furthermore, it features characters who, yet again, push back against the intelligence community. This time, they are Annanbel, an idealistic young lawyer, and Gunther, a wily mid-level intelligence veteran. Within character, each is trying to make the intelligence systems of Germany, England, and America act honorably and effectively as they address the situation of Issa, a hapless and stateless Chechen who big shots view as a terrorist. As is common in so many le Carre novels, Annabel and Gunther also operate on a level where they can't counter the actions of the big players, who achieve a ruthless and surprising denouement.
AMWM is more high-caliber work from le Carre. Still, I deduct one star for the clouds of infatuation enveloping Annabel and the banker Tommy Brue. These seemed unnecessary and didn't ring true. Otherwise, AMWM is a very fast and entertaining read.
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