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The Spy Who Came in from the Cold

by John le Carré

Penguin. 2013. 240p. ISBN 9780143124757. pap. $15; ebk. ISBN 9781101573181.

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Generally considered the greatest spy novel ever written, this work is a flawless model of the form. The former MI6 agent would stretch out in later novels, but this one is lean and mean. Le Carré's world-weary protagonist Alec Leamas feels like a corrective to the flamboyance of James Bond. Time included this book in its list of the 100 best English-language novels since 1923, and no fiction collection is complete without it. (LJ 9/1/05)

Reviewed by Michael Pucci , Oct 01, 2015

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