Agent Running in the Field

About this book

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER Le Carr delivers a tale for our times . . . a demonstration of the British spy thriller at its unputdownable best Robert McCrum Observer Nat a 47 year-old veteran of Britains Secret Intelligence Service believes his years as an agent runner are over. He is back in London with his wife the long-suffering Prue. But with the growing threat from Moscow Centre the office has one more job for him. Nat is to take over The Haven a defunct substation of London General with a rag-tag band of spies. The only bright light on the team is young Florence who has her eye on Russia Department and a Ukrainian oligarch with a finger in the Russia pie. Nat is not only a spy he is a passionate badminton player. His regular Monday evening opponent is half his age: the introspective and solitary Ed. Ed hates Brexit hates Trump and hates his job at some soulless media agency. And it is Ed of all unlikely people who will take Prue Florence and Nat himself down the path of political anger that will ensnare them all. Agent Running in the Field is a chilling portrait of our time now heartbreaking now darkly humorous told to us with unflagging tension by the greatest chronicler of our age. A rich beautifully written book studded with surprises. Narrative is a black art and Le Carr is its grandmaster Andrew Taylor Spectator Blisteringly contemporary . . . Each new book from le Carr is refreshingly different and uniquely compelling Economist A very classy entertainment about political ideals and deception . . . laced with fury at the senseless vandalism of Brexit and of Trump. Le Carr is the master of the spy genre Guardian Subtle wry and seamless its an utter joy from first page to last Daily Mail