Agent Running in the Field

I'll be honest, some of le Carré's books I have found hard going and while I recognise his talent as a writer, some of his stuff just hasn't landed with me. In later years his anger at the state of the world bled into his novels and this can be a mixed blessing. In Absolute Friends, for instance, it destroyed an otherwise riveting novel with a crass, cartoonish ending. However, Agent Running in the Field is a different kettle of fish. In fact I'd say it's one of the best latter-day spy novels I have read.

Centring on Nat, a veteran of the Service, who thinks his agent running days are over as he's farmed out to be in charge of The Haven, a defunct substation of London General populated by a mix of low grade spies. In post-Brexit UK the goalposts have moved and shifting alliances mean new priorities. So when a young man called Ed tracks him down at his club and challenges him to a game of badminton Nat thinks nothing of it and the games become a regular fixture of his week. Ed is angry, railing at Brexit, Trump and the state of the world over a post-match pint and Nat listens patiently.

Meanwhile one of his agents, Florence, concocts a scheme to ensnare a Ukrainian oligarch, which might give Nat one last chance at glory and a career resurgence. But as ever, politics comes into play, betrayal amongst spies is nothing new and things start to spiral out of control. Has Nat been played? And by who? Is Ed who he seems to be, or something more sinister? And what deals are being made behind closed doors that will affect our long term relationship with Europe?

Le Carré keeps the pace moving along at quite a speed and, best of all, you are not sure how things will turn out until the very last pages of the novel. It's a quite brilliant balancing act, depicting a Service cosying up to Trump's America, while Brexit plays havoc with loyalties. The anger is there, but it never boils over into incoherent rage. Nat is telling the tale after the fact, and keeps us guessing at the outcome and we live the revelations with him as they unfold. For an “old school” spy he's quite a sympathetic character.

A page turner, as they say, and one of le Carré's best novels.