A Most Wanted Man

By: John le Carré

Narrated by: Roger Rees

A half-starved young Russian man in a long black overcoat is smuggled into Hamburg at dead of night. He has an improbable amount of cash secreted in a purse around his neck. He is a devout Muslim. Or is he? He says his name is Issa.

Annabel, an idealistic young German civil rights lawyer, determines to save Issa from deportation. Soon her client's survival becomes more important to her than her own career -- or safety. In pursuit of Issa's mysterious past, she confronts the incongruous Tommy Brue, the sixty-year-old scion of Brue Frères, a failing British bank based in Hamburg.

Annabel, Issa and Brue form an unlikely alliance -- and a triangle of impossible loves is born. Meanwhile, scenting a sure kill in the "War on Terror," the rival spies of Germany, England and America converge upon the innocents.

Thrilling, compassionate, peopled with characters the reader never wants to let go, A Most Wanted Man is a work of deep humanity and uncommon relevance to our times.

©2008 John le Carre (P)2008 Simon & Schuster

was ok

I've read some GREAT LaCarré books, and this one was good, but wasn't his best.

Exactly what I dig about LeCarre.

Perhaps a bit predictable but full of interesting and likable characters. Fast paced and understandably critical of the “war on terror”.

Superb!

Not as complex a storyline as other LeCarre novels, it is a superb tale of good intentions going bad in an ugly world. The performance is first rate, too.

Good Le Carre, nothing extraordinary

This is a very zippy tale with many of Le Carre's common themes: the misguided hippie girl, the wise older spy who's so much better than his bureaucratic superiors, the heavy-handed idiocy of American foreign policy. There's not much more than that, but as always it's well done and all characters are expertly drawn. A Perfect Spy and Absolute Friends are better novels for me that go farther than this, but you can't go wrong with this author.

The Latest from John le Carr?

His latest is A Most Wanted Man, and it is up to his usual standards. The enemy now are Islamic radicals, but the operators portrayed here are probably innocent. The man in the middle is trying to develop them as leads into a terrorist network - resources that are badly needed. But he is opposed by those who not interested in anything so subtle - they want to arrest them, using dubious means, and torture them: mainly American operatives.

Complex and thought-provoking

My favorite Le Carre book and fantastically narrated. As relevant today as when it was written nearly twenty years ago

Good story

If you could sum up A Most Wanted Man in three words, what would they be?

Engaging, smart, and modern

What did you like best about this story?

I thought this was a well developed and believable story. The plot was in keeping with current events.

Which scene was your favorite?

Many of the scenes were interesting, from the beginning when Issa arrives in Hamburg to the very end when government interests collide.

Very engaging story

If you like Le Carrie’s writing style then you will like this book. The story is engaging and less complex than many of his stories, with a timeline that is mostly linear. In typical Le Carre fashion, the character development is robust to the point that I think I would recognize any of them if I met them on the street. The accents are a bit confusing at first but you get used to it as the story progresses. The challenge is that in the story, very little of the dialog is in English so the accent is used to imply that the conversation is being conducted in German or Russian. After getting used to that, I think it works well to convey the storyline. Le Carre’s descriptions of the places in the story are very detailed making you fell like you are standing in the room listening to the scene as it unfolds, and feeling the stress and discomfort that the characters are feeling. I found the end of the story to be very abrupt, as if Le Carre had run out of paper or was faced with a deadline. After a very carefully developed story, the end seems to come as an unanticipated guillotine to the story, leaving several loose ends to be tied up by the reader. But aside from that, I found the audio book enjoyable and entertaining and would recommend it for a listening choice.

Ends well

Would you listen to A Most Wanted Man again? Why?

I would listen to the final 20 minutes again, because the long-awaited climax of the book is fulfilling, and the denouementis even better.

What other book might you compare A Most Wanted Man to and why?

Most of Le Carre's books share elements that are found in this one. Le Carre's gift is to create the unexpectedly complicated inner world of the spy. He has the gift of placing the spy and the people he damages into worlds in which they make meaningful connections with others, while they are deceived by each other, and ultimately betrayed by what they believe in.

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

The narration was especially good when the focus of the story was on Tommy Brue—his hearty conviviality came through well.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No

Any additional comments?

It doesn't match Le Carre's best stories, but it is a satisfactory one to listen too. Sags a bit in the middle.

failure to launch

Is there anything you would change about this book?

I kept on listening waiting for it to get to the exiting part, just not in Le carre's style.
The end reminds me of the spy that came in from the cold. You don't know what happens to one of the main characters.

Would you recommend A Most Wanted Man to your friends? Why or why not?

It's not a bad book. Pick it up if it's on sale, probably not LeCarre's best

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

Didn't like the female impersonations