Summary

A thrilling tale for our times, Agent Running in the Field proves once again that John le Carré is the undisputed master of the spy genre and chronicler of the post-Cold War world. 

Nat is a veteran of Britain’s Secret Intelligence who believes his years as an agent runner are over until the office has one more assignment – take over the Haven, a group of ragtag spies who find themselves deeply involved with a Ukrainian oligarch with ties to Russia. The deeper they look, the more deception they uncover, until they realize they no longer know whom to trust, including their own.

Why I chose to read this book
I had heard of le Carré’s name throughout the years but had never read anything by him. When I was looking for new books to read, this book came up and I saw that le Carré’s specialty was spy fiction and I had heard of the movie Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and the television series The Night Manager which were both adapted from his novels of the same titles. I thought it would be a good opportunity to finally read one of his books.

Thoughts & Opinions
This is an intricately complex tale of the day-to-day life of an agent runner. Agents, double agents, treachery, politics, and much more are all on the menu. Set in 2018 – a difficult year for Britain – in a Trump and Brexit era, sprinkled with Russia tensions, it’s no wonder that pressures are at their highest for those who serve (or go against) their country as spies. It does start off a bit slow and information-heavy. It felt a bit tedious at times but eventually, it got more interesting. What I found compelling was that the main character included his personal life into the narrative; delicate work-life balance, mother-daughter and father-daughter relationship struggles, which brought a sense of realism to the character. Le Carré was obviously brilliantly talented, not short on words or creativity and I appreciated his clever humor.