Absolute Friends
John Le Carré
(Reviewer - Narayan Radhakrishnan)
2004 Little, Brown & Co.
ISBN: 0316000647

A ferocious new novel about a man's good heart being his worst enemy.

Sr. Reviewer Narayan Radhakrishnan writes:

The Cold War has ended; the Soviet Union has collapsed & with it has perished a number of spy thriller authors. The spy thriller, the in-thing in popular thriller fiction in the Sixties & early Eighties suffered a big blow in the changed world order. Being an aficionado of the genre, I missed good spy thrillers. & it is after a long, long time that I am reading a good spy thriller that's not a Historical Mystery.

Carré, the best-selling author of A Perfect Spy & A Murder of Quality, in his latest Absolute Friends focuses on Iraq & the War on Terror.

Ted Mundy is a retired spy, finding it hard to make ends meet as a tourist guide in Bavaria. Out of the blue, he gets a phone call -- a voice from the past -- a former fellow spy from Germany, Sasha calls for his help. Dimitri, a multi-millionaire, wants to enlist the two ex-spies to spread propaganda against the War on Iraq; a strong message that the War on Terror is a waste. There is big money involved, but the thing that attracts the two friends the most is that it will bring the zest back to their lives. What follows is a tumultuous journey, a fine tale of contemporary world politics post 9/11, totally & fully rooted in reality.

Readers might disagree with the viewpoint of the author, his political philosophy, but would have to admit that Carré makes strong & convincing points to support his ideology.

In the end, forget the ideology, forget the politics, you gotta fine, fine read in Absolute Friends.

Highly Recommended.

More from John Le Carré:
The Spy Who Came In from the Cold
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
The Tailor of Panama
The Little Drummer Girl & many, many more!
(02/29/04)

Narayan
2004©Narayan Radhakrishnan
A RebeccasReads.Com Sr. Associate Reviewer

Reviewer's Bio:
I am a 26 years old lawyer practicing in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India. Along with my legal practice, I have finished post-graduate studies for both Business Law & Human Rights. I am a self proclaimed numero-uno legal thriller lover & am the proud owner of all of Grisham's & Turow's novels. I enjoy John Mortimer's Rumpole & relish an occasional Martini & a rare Scot(ch)t-oline with a Patterson on the side.

My work A FICTION OF LAW is now about 500 pages in length & features 500 lawyer authors & 2000 legal thrillers covering a 300 year period - inclusive of entries from the USA, UK, Asia, Europe, China, Middle East etc. Still in search of a publisher.
www.keralatourism.org