The Spy Who Came in from the Cold: A Review - SPOILERS

The Spy Who Came in from the Cold is the novel that propelled John le Carre into bestseller-dom. After reading the book, it's easy to see why.

Le Carre provides a tautly written thriller with excellent characterization. Alec Leamas, station chief for the UK Berlin intelligence office, appears in the novel awaiting the arrival of Karl Riemeck, an agent of Leamas's to arrive from East Berlin. Leamas has had a hard time recently. His agents have been picked off one-by-one, and Riemeck is his last. A car arrives carrying Riemeck's girlfriend, who knows the truth. Leamas realizes that Riemeck has been reckless, which is born out when Riemeck is shot dead before crossing the border.

The rest of the novel is about Leamas and Circus's plan to exact vengeance on Hans-Dieter Mundt, the head of East German intelligence, who Leamas holds responsible for the death of his agents. The method to achieve this revenge is pretty straightforward: Leamas will act the part of a fired and disgraced intelligence officer descending into alcoholism, providing a target for turning against the UK. Leamas and Circus has set up a series of transactions to implicate Mundt and get the East Germans to take care of Mundt. As Leamas acts his part, he falls for a co-worker in a library, Liz Gold. In the end, Circus was actually protecting Mundt and bringing down Mundt's rivals in the East German service, for Mundt is the UK's man on the inside. Gold was brought over to help destroy Mundt's rival, but in hers and Leamas's attempted escape back to the West, both are killed. Leamas turned back for Gold and the circle of the novel is complete: Riemeck dies at the Berlin Wall for trusting his girlfriend. Leamas dies at the Wall for falling in love.

Control throughout the novel remains mysterious, and his larger plan to protect Mundt is hidden from Leamas and the reader, revealing a cold-blooded calculation that Leamas admires even as he realizes his has been used. The novel is not filled with extraneous description, keeping close to Leamas's and Gold's points of view. As in Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, I admire the way le Carre writes Control, an enigma even to his direct subordinates. The Circus seems enigmatic as well, a mystery to itself and its employees, which is probably the nature of spy agencies. Leamas, in contrast, is clear: He wants revenge on Mundt and is willing to go very far to do so. Gold is his weakness. Fatality, as it turns out.

Le Carre is a master. Read the book.

This review can also be found on Goodreads.