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Berlin Game

Penguin Modern Classics

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Berlin Game

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

Brought to you by Penguin.

Embattled agent Bernard Samson is used to being passed over for promotion as his younger, more ambitious colleagues - including his own wife Fiona - rise up the ranks of MI6. When a valued agent in East Berlin warns the British of a mole at the heart of the Service, Samson must return to the field and the city he loves to uncover the traitor's identity. This is the first novel in Len Deighton's acclaimed, Game, Set and Match trilogy.

A BERNARD SAMSON NOVEL

'Masterly ... dazzlingly intelligent and subtle' Sunday Times

'Deighton's best novel to date - sharp, witty and sour, like Raymond Chandler adapted to British gloom and the multiple betrayals of the spy' Observer

© Len Deighton 1983 (P) Penguin Audio 2021

 Espionage Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Spies & Politics Thriller & Suspense Fiction

Critic reviews

The Berlin Game trilogy made lockdown possible. (Olivia Laing)
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)
Spying at its most captivating and intricate. (Marcel Berlins)
Deighton's best novel to date - sharp, witty and sour, like Raymond Chandler adapted to British gloom and the multiple betrayals of the private spy.
Virtuoso top level performance.
Sheer consistent rightness page after page after page.
A labyrinthine espionage epic lightened with laconic wit. (Jeremy Duns)
Deighton, as always, makes the familiar twists and turns of spy errantry new again, partly by his grip of narrative, partly by his grasp of character, and partly by his easy, sardonic tone.
Len Deighton's spy novels are so good they make me sad the Cold War is over. (Malcolm Gladwell)
All stars
Most relevant
Great story and the performance was excellent. Like all audible performances you have to give it a chance but this was perfect.

Beautifully read

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excellent story and narration . charecterization is wonderful and the plot very engaging. classic spy story.

excellent story and narration

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Good espionage/ spy story read by great narrator. Very good listen!

The story line is quite slow and not that action packed, but the characters as well as the Berlin of the Cold War era is coming to life in this audio book. I am already on the second book 'Mexico Set' and looking forward to listen to even more parts of this series.

Good espionage story read by great narrator

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Brilliant at capturing the time and the drama, with brilliant characters and fun plot.

The voice performance is spot on for the story and characters.

Perfect spy thriller - excellent performance

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This is my first Len Deighton story, but now I realise I have watched, loved and re-watched films based on his stories for decades.

A master storyteller not just in plot but in his ability and insistence to flesh out the characters into real people rather than props. Each could have their own stories and series of back story or follow up novels as each are given enough depth and humanity to engage the reader (listener) into caring about all of them.

I’m intrigued to know more about ‘Lenin’ and the young pasty-faced fast-tracked policeman near the end of this book. What are their fuller stories? What happened to them? Maybe I will meet them again in the later parts of the trilogy of trilogies?

Can’t wait!

The narrator, James Lailey, bring the story and vocal characterisations to life without overplaying or hamming up the necessary switches in accent throughout. Characters are consistently portrayed to be recognisable and the pace of the story, paragraphing and scene changes easy to grasp without effort, distraction or confusion.

A genuine 5***** performance and genuine 5***** writing.

Transported to different times, places and people

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