John Le Carré redefined spy thrillers when he wrote The Spy Who Came in from the Cold in just three weeks in 1963. Since then he has grown into a true master, whose books strip open truths about how we live now alongside gripping stories. A Delicate Truth is indeed a very delicately plotted book with hints and insinuations of real events, from the death of David Kelly to recent ministerial scandals, laced into its fictionalised plot and the entire plot turns on a breathtaking trick that will have you wanting to burst into spontaneous applause it’s so brilliant.
Gibraltar, 2008. A counter-terror operation, codenamed Wildlife, is being mounted in Britain's most precious colony. Its purpose: to capture and abduct a high-value jihadist arms-buyer. Its authors: an ambitious Foreign Office Minister, and a private defence contractor who is also his close friend. So delicate is the operation that even the Minister's private secretary, Toby Bell, is not cleared for it. Cornwall, UK, 2011. A disgraced Special Forces soldier delivers a message from the dead. Was Operation Wildlife the success it was cracked up to be - or a human tragedy that was ruthlessly covered up? Summoned by Sir Christopher Probyn, retired British diplomat, to his decaying Cornish manor house, and closely observed by Probyn's beautiful daughter, Emily, Toby must choose between his conscience and duty to his Service. If the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing, how can he keep silent?
'When I was under house arrest I was helped by the books of John le Carre ...they were a journey into the wider world...These were the journeys that made me feel that I was not really cut off from the rest of humankind.' Aung San Suu Kyi
'One of those writers who will be read a century from now.' Robert Harris
'If you want to know about the state of Britain today, forget the Booker shortlist. Just read John le Carre's latest thriller.' Evening Standard
Author
About John le Carré
John le Carré was born in 1931 and attended the universities of Bern and Oxford. He taught at Eton and served briefly in British Intelligence during the Cold War. For the last fifty years he has lived by his pen. He divides his time between London and Cornwall. His works include The Spy Who Came in from the Cold; Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy; Smiley's People; The Little Drummer Girl; A Perfect Spy; The Russia House; and Absolute Friends.