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Spy Sinker

Penguin Modern Classics

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Spy Sinker

By: Len Deighton
Narrated by: James Lailey
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

Of all the mysteries Bernard Samson has encountered, the greatest is his wife Fiona. Dedicated agent of the Service and a woman of secrets, she will risk everything to play the long game. As the truth about the decision that shattered their marriage is gradually revealed, the web of deception that has snared Bernard for ten years begins to unravel. In the gripping, tragic finale of the Hook, Line and Sinker trilogy, everything we thought we knew is brought into question.

A BERNARD SAMSON NOVEL

'Dazzling ingenuity and cleverness' Independent

'Chilling ... the writing is crisp and brutal' Daily Telegraph

© Len Deighton 2021 (P) Penguin Audio 2021

 Espionage Historical International Mystery & Crime Mystery Spies & Politics Thriller & Suspense Fiction Marriage

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Critic reviews

All done with the chilling competence we expect from Mr Deighton ... No padding, no slowing of pace, and the writing is crisp and brutal.
Dazzling ingenuity and cleverness.
The poet of the spy story.
Deighton's outstanding achievement is the nine-volume series chronicling the life and times of Bernard Samson ... Deighton's Samson trilogies are as much about the elusiveness of human interactions as espionage. Spying is not a secret world sealed off from ordinary life but an extension of the world we all live in. (John Gray)
All stars
Most relevant
There are author's notes from Len Deighton at the end of all these recordings in which the great man is keen to state that each book can be read as a stand-alone novel, with no need to have digested the preceding ones in the series. This is technically true but it would be a somewhat puzzling and frustrating experience as most of the books end with as many questions as answers. 'Sinker' answers a lot of those questions, so if you've made it through Game, Set, Match, Hook and Line, it's deeply satisfying.

It also takes a bit of getting used to. For the first time in this series, the story is told not in the first person from Bernard Samson's point of view, but from that of an omniscient narrator, most of the time following Fiona's story. At first is seems an odd decision but it's the only way to fill in all the gaps. Anyway, you soon get caught up in it and revel in the details and discoveries that flesh out what's been going on all along.

There are some familiar Deighton tics, too. Certain phrases: 'as though seeing it for the first time' and 'as though trying to see into his/her mind' seem to repeat in this series often enough to be distracting. Then there's the character of Samson himself, which never totally adds up: he sees himself as a tough working-class kid and wears a massive chip on his shoulder about those with public school backgrounds and university educations, but he's the son of a senior British Army officer who ran Berlin's SIS station and lived in the same gracious mansion Frank Harrington now occupies. It all smacks a bit of Len Deighton trying to have it both ways - someone with the same outsider class-warrior streak that Harry Palmer had, but who is also an insider because he grew up in this rather rarified world of posh old English spies. Overall, it's a magnificent series though. There are moments where credibility is stretched too far, and some of the set-piece conversations are too long or too familiar, but it's a rich, deep web that Samson moves through.

James Lailey's performance is excellent throughout, with a fine control over all the different voices with the exception of American accents like Brett's, where he is sometimes undone. But to cover everyone, male and female, young and old, in various English, Russian and German voices, is impressive.

A satisfying treat - if you've read the first five

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Knitting together the strands of the previous stories, but from a different and insightful perspective, all the elements are still here: strong, well-drawn characters, gripping plot developments and twists & a superb narration.

Another Deighton classic

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The way, give books in, the author flips the script to explain events through the other characters in this epic is truly brilliant. Loved it.

A piece of satisfying genius

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Book 6 gives as a third person view from 1977 to 1987. This is really Fiona’s book and is fascinating. Superb.

It gets even better

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Great final to the trilogy and particularly helpful to have the perspective of the Bernard Sampson story widened and explained — especially for those amongst us who keep falling asleep, can't remember bits or are a bit slow on making connections and so on ... like ... err ... me!

The narrator, James Lailey, remains the star of the show and does a far better job than I could ever imagine in my head if I were just reading the words on a page.

In some ways, the story brings many of the strands from the previous ones together but in other ways just provides a different view which helps to release some of the frustrations I have felt by identifying with our long-suffering Berndt. It also helps us to learn more about the other characters and provide more depth as people, and not just useful mechanisms within a story.

Great writing by Len Deighton; great reading by James Lailey.

The problem with trilogies is that it means there are only three of something, and I'm still wanting more. Fortunately, there seems to be a trilogy of trilogies in this Sampson story so I'm looking forward to the next batch :-)

Well, I swallowed all three. Maybe I am a fish!

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