Fiction, Fiction Subjects

London Match

Name: London Match
Author: Len Deighton
ISBN: 9781402794926

by Len Deighton

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Overview

In the smash conclusion to Deighton's Game, Set, Match series, Bernard Samson has gotten KGB defector Erich Stinnes to London--but now he has to convince him to talk. Samson is under increasing pressure from his boss to get results, but the tangled web of double agents, moles, and traitors is tightly knit around the truth. As the intricate chess game of spy intelligence is played out, no one is above suspicion--and since his wife's defection to the KGB, Samson is under careful scrutiny by his colleagues. Deceptions unfold and a complex trap from Moscow has been set. Samson must use every resource at his disposal if he wants to survive the game.

About the Author, Len Deighton

Bestselling British author Len Deighton is known for his complex, nuanced espionage thrillers, beginning with his very first novel, The Ipcress File. Along with his contemporary, John le Carré, who also started his career in the early 1960s, Len Deighton transformed the spy novel by writing about the ways in which espionage can not only change the course of history, but how it can affect the morality and personal lives of the individuals involved.

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Editorials

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Winding up the tense story begun in Berlin Game and continued in Mexico Set, Deighton's new thriller follows British intelligence agent Bernard Samson as he careens between troubled spots in Berlin and London. Bernard's recent triumph is persuading the KGB's renowned spy Erich Stennis to defect to England but, since Samson's wife Fiona has gone over to the Russians, he isn't entirely trusted by his colleagues. Now suspicions that another mole has been planted among the operatives in London exacerbate Samson's fears, mostly for his small children, if he is accused. Determined to protect himself from his own fellow workers and the wily plots of Fiona and the KGB, Samson plunges into harrowing situations, climaxing in a bloody battle which both sides claim they've won. Actually, as Samson reveals, everybody loses in the deadly game of espionage. 100,000 first printing; Literary Guild selection. January 3

Library Journal

In this conclusion to his spy trilogy, Deighton's preoccupation is defection and betrayal, just as it was in the popular earlier volumes, Berlin Game and Mexico Set. But readers need not be familiar with those books to enjoy this one. The plot centers on whether a KGB defector is actually a Soviet plant, and whether there is another Russian mole hidden high up in British Intelligence. Deighton can be a master at creating a tingly sense of deepening tension in the cold and dark of Berlin or in the equally dangerous but deceptively polite office politics of London Central. The suspense tightens steadily to the final showdown, which unfortunately is something of a disappointment. Not quite on the level of Le Carre's Smiley trilogy, with its similar themes and plot twists, but surely essential reading for all espionage fans. Literary Guild main selection. Charles Michaud, Turner Free Lib., Randolph, Mass.