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Agent Running in the Field

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Agent Running in the Field

By: John le Carré
Narrated by: John le Carré
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

Narrated by John le Carre.


The
SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER

Nat, a 47 year-old veteran of Britain's Secret Intelligence Service, believes his years as an agent runner are over. He is back in London with his wife, the long-suffering Prue. But with the growing threat from Moscow Centre, the office has one more job for him. Nat is to take over The Haven, a defunct substation of London General with a rag-tag band of spies. The only bright light on the team is young Florence, who has her eye on Russia Department and a Ukrainian oligarch with a finger in the Russia pie.

Nat is not only a spy, he is a passionate badminton player. His regular Monday evening opponent is half his age: the introspective and solitary Ed. Ed hates Brexit, hates Trump and hates his job at some soulless media agency. And it is Ed, of all unlikely people, who will take Prue, Florence and Nat himself down the path of political anger that will ensnare them all. Agent Running in the Field is a chilling portrait of our time, now heartbreaking, now darkly humorous, told to us with unflagging tension by the greatest chronicler of our age.

Times Books of the Year

New Statesman Book of the Year

Guardian Books of the Year

Sunday Times Books of the Year

TLS Books of the Year

Daily Mail Books of the Year

Mail on Sunday's Best Books of the Year

Apple Best books of 2019

©2019 John le Carré (P)2019 Penguin Audio
Action & Adventure Espionage Genre Fiction Military Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Political Spies & Politics Suspense Thriller & Suspense War & Military Fiction Russia Crime Witty Thriller War England Law

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Critic reviews

"No other writer has charted - pitilessly for politicians but thrillingly for readers - the public and secret histories of his times." (The Guardian)

"John le Carré is as recognisable a writer as Dickens or Austen." (Financial Times)

"No writer has ever been better at turning the act of two people talking politely to each other across a desk into a blood sport." (Telegraph)

All stars
Most relevant
What a revelation it is to hear JLC read his own work.
A great p!easure, and a wonderful story.

Absolutely Bloody Marvellous

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Rating a JLC book should be a (very) humbling experience for any reader or listener as most evidently much time and work have been consumed to produce the final products.

I'm therefore shocked by some loose listeners comments, however 4 or 5 starish rating.

"David, your reading skills surpass that of Michael Jayston, very possibly because Mr Jayston might not have as much freedom of speech path as you do on your own work."

JLC's reading performance is notable by its clarity, easy flow and most importantly "the tone giving the listener a sense of being inside the story".

Mr. John Le Carré, thank you for producing yet another Masterpiece - for both readers and listeners.

CDT

Best reading performance to date

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Brilliant. Thank you Nat.
Some chilling comments in this tale, and right on the mark as "real" history churns on.
05/01/2020

Sequel please

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John Le Carre is still writing absolute classics, even late in his 9th decade!

I guess that shouldn't be too surprising, but it turns out, he is also quite a brilliant narrator. Over the years I've gotten very used to Michael Jayston reading Le Carre's classics. Tom Hollander did a great job on A Legacy of Spies, which is one of my all time favourites. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but his performance is excellent, I especially loved Eds voice!

A great novel too, really captures the current mood in the UK and gives raw and powerful views on both Putin and Trump.

Best quote on Trump

""He's Putin's shithouse cleaner. He does everything for little Vladi that little Vladi can't do for himself; pisses on European unity, pisses on human rights, pisses on Nato. Assures us that Crimea and Ukraine belong to the Holy Russian Empire, the Middle East belongs to the Jew and the Saudis, and to hell with the world Order.""

Loved it!

Incredible writing, read with a voice like silk!

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Loved this book and doubly so because it was read by the author himself! Intelligent and fun book, that like most le Carre books is spy thriller at its best.

A master reading another masterpiece

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