Silverview

Silverview by John LeCarre is another—the last, apparently—spy novel from the master of the genre. Completed by his son and published after his death, the novel focuses on a figure outside the Secret Service. He is a disillusioned former trader from London who has cashed in his former lifestyle and moved to a village where he has opened a bookshop. There he becomes acquainted with a mysterious figure, Edward, who claims to have known his father at school. The two begin a venture that is tangential to the bookshop to build a library of classics. For this purpose, Edward needs a dedicated laptop in the basement room where the library will be housed. (Uh-oh, red flag!). Meanwhile, it seems that Edward, who occasionally did work for the Secret Service, is married to a woman who was formerly high-up in the service who is now dying, but he also made contacts with the Muslim world while working in Bosnia during the war there. It's an engaging book, as all of LeCarre's have been. (I listened the excellent audiobook narration but also perused a hardback copy I borrowed from the library.)