Classic LeCarre but I felt the suspense lagged in this one. Admirable writing and developed main characters but the story did not pull me in as much as, say, The Constant Gardener. ( )

I'm not sure what to think of this book. On the one hand, the prose has the usual deft touch of the master. The characters are rich and engaging and the settings colorful. I enjoyed almost every page once it got going. On the other hand, "where's the beef"?

I never really cared what happened to the characters. I think this is because I was never captivated by their needs or their motivations. And when the last few pages started rushing toward me, all I could think was that the ending was going to be tragically unsatisfying or awesomely wonderful. It was unsatisfying and unfairly left a majority of the plot threads dangling, including the ones that I actually did care about. ( )

University lecturer Perry Makepiece and his girlfriend Gail Perkins, a lawyer, are on a tennis vacation in Antigua where they meet Dmitri (Dima) Vladimirovich Krasnov, a self-confessed money launderer. Dima wants to get out of the control of the Russian mob and believes Perry and Gail can help by passing information to MI6 in exchange for protection. John le Carré's writing is elegant and sophisticated, and captures the reader's attention from the first page although I could have done with less dialogue from the brash Dima. It's a captivating story as expected, but I will always miss George Smiley. ( )

¿Qué pasa cuando un mafioso ruso quiere dar la espalda a su pasado, contarlo todo y pedir asilo político? ¿Y si sus confesiones implican a miembros del gobierno? Una joven pareja inglesa, Gail y Perry, decide ir de vacaciones a Antigua, la pequeña isla caribeña. Perry, aficionado al tenis, acaba jugando un partido contra Dima, un carismático millonario ruso. Pero éste, en realidad, es un criminal que quiere pedir asilo político a Inglaterra para él y toda su familia, a cambio de contar todo lo que sabe.

Even more bleak and depressing than others of le Carré's late-career works. ( )