Silverview

Published posthumously (and finished by his son), this novel is a reminder of le Carré's genius. Silverview contains many of the hallmarks of this author's work: a wryly British sense of humour, an astute observation of how the world really works, and a degree of moral ambivalence. While Silverview perhaps lacks the energy of the Smiley novels, the notion of intrigue — and why people often do the “wrong” things for the right reasons — remains fully intact. le Carré is somewhat more sceptical of the Secret Service in this work than in others, which is why — as his son writes in its afterword — the author never published it in his lifetime. Nonetheless, as almost all the critics noted, Silverview remains a fitting coda to le Carré, an author who redefined the whole genre of detective fiction.

By John le Carré