A Most Wanted Man

Thrillers and spy novels writers usually fall in the trap of focusing too much on the action while creating flat and very simple characters. Eventually, they also fall short on story telling, and end-up simplifying part of the story.
Different to most of them, John le Carré has done a very good balancing act. Overall, A Most Wanted Man has:
- A credible story: built around the appearance of a strange young illegal immigrant in Hamburg, who seems to have the rights to claim access to deposits in a German private bank. Set-up in the post 9/11 scenario, the story projects the complexities of intelligence agencies' relationships and how they have different methods and objectives.
- Relatively complex characters: le Carre's main characters have a story and a life behind them. They have strenghts but also weaknesses, they are right in some matters but also end up making mistakes. They are human.
- A well-written flow: more focused in story-telling than in action. Well balanced, too.

In short, I was glad to buy this book before a long transatlantic flight. Anyone who enjoys spy novels, thrillers, will probably enjoy this book as much as I did.

The prose is brilliant and the characters well-developed. Unfortunately, my appreciation for this novel ends right there. Many of the characters' actions are silly and nonsensical, but the worst part is the novel's conclusion -- the most disappointing of any espionage thriller I have ever read. Throughout the story the reader is lead to believe the plot is heading towards something big. It is not. The ending is small, gratuitous, unresolving, and doesn't even make sense, since the concluding event could have easily happened 100 pages earlier in the story and saved the reader so much utterly pointless plot development.

This novel ultimately amounts to little more than an anti-America cheapshot. Give this one a pass.

“John Le Carré’s 21st novel situated in Hamburg concerns the arrival of Issa, a ragged, undernourished and tortured Chechen. He puts his fate into the hands of a Turkish family, who in turn ask advice from Annabel Richter, a lawyer from a legal collective assisting asylum seekers. It turns out Issa carries with him a document entitling him to millions from private bank “Brue Frères” in Hamburg. This once venerable institution is headed by Tommy Brue (60), unhappily married, childless, the last scion of a banking dynasty.

The interaction between Issa, Annabel and Tommy fuels much of what happens next, with Tommy assuming the now classical role of seniors in Le Carré’s oeuvre, trying to end a failing career with a resounding victory. However, the intelligence service of Germany, the UK and US always had their eye on Issa and wonder what he will do with his millions... And then the intrigues between the services begin...“

Wrote something like this in a May 2010 review for a Dutch media. Also praised JLC for being an inclusive writer, standing up for the weak like refugees or victims of the pharmaceutical or arms industry. And that here the intelligence services were apparently not operating very smartly.

Events since 2010 have caused a sea change in public opinion and European and US politics re political/humanitarian asylum, immigration and terrorism. The 2015 influx of some 800.000 non-vetted refugees into Germany was said by its top politicians to have prevented a fresh Balkan war, and of course, there were real terrorists among them. In June 2016, the UK panicked and voted itself out of the EU, partly or largely over immigration concerns. Today the EU is busy trying to contain immigration via diplomacy in transit nations like Turkey, Tunisia and Libya and devising concentric defensive-cum-preventive programs in e.g. Gambia, Niger and Sudan. Only months ago, Polish immigration stopped hundreds of suspected Chechen Islamists arriving by bus and train from entering the EU.

Le Carre could not possibly have foreseen all this. Am curious how fresh readers will appreciate this novel. Am also sure there are plenty of people like Annabel left in Germany and elsewhere to defend legitimate asylum seekers. Beautifully composed and written, as always.

Apparently, Mr. le Carre felt an increasing need to spell out his likes and dislikes (hates, actually) more and more clearly as he grew older. The misty grey that distinguished his earlier work has dissolved into almost impeccable white (almost, because some Muslims are still occasionally doing ill-advised things) and total black (oh, those despicable Americans and their English toadies). As far as the rest of the plot goes, the characters in this John le Carre effort get themselves in trouble because they haven't read a single John le Carre book.

I like John le Carré. He is an outstanding stylist who writes with wit and flair. He is also accomplished at writing about "wheels within wheels" intrigues. This one addresses some very topical issues - terrorism and its financing, and the people who watch the terrorists and how far they are prepared to go in bending and even breaking the rules. If you like BANG!-WHAM!-style thrillers, le Carré is most definitely not for you. (The only BANG!-WHAM! comes in the last couple of pages, and, as other reviewers have noted, is decidedly odd).

However, although I enjoyed the style and the characters, I found this one dragged a bit and frequently felt flat, such that, unlike other le Carrés, which I couldn't wait to pick up again, it took me a while to get through it. I think this was partially because I found some aspects of the plot far-fetched and credulity-straining (which might be the result of ignorance on my part, as my knowledge of international banking approximates closely to zero). I just couldn't buy into Tommy Brue and his bank at all.

LeCarre is a great wordsmith. This is well written. However, having read a lot of his work, but not all of it, I have found at least 3 of his novels that end EXACTLY the same way. Infuriating!!!

A great read. I love spy mysteries

Le Carre' is always excellent. Only author i can read over & over again. Highly recommend.

One wonders whether the British government paid John le Carré to produce this piece of propaganda. The basic story is that a Russian soldier rapes and pillages Chechnya and then dumps his financial legacy on his son - born from a raped Chechen.

I have news for you Mr le Carré. The so-called Chechen uprising was entirely financed and promoted by the West and its Salafi allies. It was a regime-change operation just like in Libya, Egypt, Syria and Ukraine. Now, the West is paying for harboring terrorists and creating their organizations. Enjoy!

I have enjoyed to the fullest everything I have ever read by John Le Carre. Great story, believable, thrilling. Nothing further needs to be said.