More than one generation of readers around the world has eagerly awaited each new book by the British master. A former MI6 employee, John le Carré knows far more about the work of intelligence services than is necessary for peace of mind — his heroes live under the pressure of an eternal choice between duty and honesty. The masterpieces of spy fiction that come from le Carré’s pen, sad and ironic, touching and merciless, rightfully occupy a place of honor on any home bookshelf.
In the new novel “Our Kind of Traitor,” a young English couple takes a romantic holiday in Antigua, where they become acquainted with a wealthy Russian man laundering money for criminal groups whose leaders are about to write him off. To save himself and his family, he offers British intelligence a wealth of valuable information in exchange for protection and patronage. His last desperate hope is in the “English gentlemen” who always “play fair”...