My #12Booksof2024 for July is a gorgeous cynical thriller set in postwar Germany, with a villain who would be right at home in our current crop of "populist" hatemongers. Thrilling, thoughtful, worrying.
@Andrew65
pickGood times! Definitely lighter in tone than some of the entries in this series. For all that the stakes include threats of everything from ruination of reputations, careers, to bodily injury and death, I'm pretty sure the body count was non-existent. 1/?
pickThis library hold came in, + I started the book, as the current events in Syria hit the headlines. A very good spy thriller set in the country 10 years ago as revolution threatens the Assad regime who are experimenting with poison gas. A cia operative runs a mole + falls for her as she spys on the regime. The hunt for the mole, discovery of the hidden weapons is well done. The news + revelation of horror, however, made it an uncomfortable read
I love this series sooo soooo much. The characters are so interesting, screwups and fascinating as they try to save the world whilst the big boys are clueless as usual.
#Roll100 @PuddleJumper
pickAfter reading Karla‘s Choice, I had to go back to the original Smiley stories, starting with this first one. It‘s definitely more murder mystery than espionage story, but it introduces a character who will become significant in later Smiley books (and I‘d totally forgotten about that!). This is at least my 3rd time reading this one. It‘s safe to say I love it still.
so-soOh, Mick, you were doing so well in making each entry in this series a tensley-plotted and craftily-resolved story, with maybe a hint about what might be raised in the next novel. This alone provided an experience that had me coming back for more. This book, however, while containing as much tension and as many twists and turns, raised so many concerns, not enough of which were resolved, and those that were, were not very satisfactorily done. 1/?
