I have always loved spy stories – the intrigue, the challenge of living on the edge, and the excitement of not knowing what will happen next! How can it be better than that? Two books that I particularly enjoyed were The Thirty-Nine Steps and The Spy Who Came In From the Cold.
The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan is terrific and it is a fast and fun read. The story is about a man (Richard Hannay) who comes to London, is rather bored, and then meets his neighbor who happens to be a secret agent with information that could change history. The agent (Scudder) enlists Hannay to hide him, as the enemy is onto him. Unfortunately, Hannay’s apartment is not quite safe enough and Scudder is killed, leaving Hannay to prevent an assassination. The story (only 100 pages long) is set just before WWI but doesn’t seem dated to me.
Hannay is initially accused of murder, so to escape the charges and to hide from whomever killed Scudder while figuring out what to do to carry out Scudder’s mission, he flees to Scotland. His adventure includes a series of chases and new identities, encountering both good guys and bad guys, and in general trying to stay one step ahead of everyone. What I really enjoyed about this book was that Hannay was sort of an average guy who got caught up in something and used his wits to figure out what was going on. He tried to blend in, e.g., he went to Scotland because his family is from there and he figured he could fake the accent. I love trying to see how people hide in plain sight. It was also fun (for the reader, anyway) trying to figure out who he could trust and who was lying to him. Reading people is a real skill and Hannay’s life depended on his ability to trust the right people.
I also enjoyed the fact that, although there was a lot of running and chasing, it seemed reasonable. The story happened over a few weeks, which seemed believable. It reminded me of the TV show Leverage, which focused on a group of thieves, grifters, and hackers running a series of short cons – they only had to maintain a false identity or play the con for a short time, with the understanding that most people believe what they are told.
The Spy Who Came In From the Cold by John Le Carre is a great read. The plots are so convoluted and the information so minimal, it feels like I’m there in the middle of it all – trying to figure out what is going on. For those who like a lot of background on the characters and a lot of backstory, Le Carre will be frustrating. I actually enjoy the minimalist quality of these books and the “wait … what?” that I invariably felt at some point in the story. Any list of spy novels will need at least one Le Carre title.
In this book, Alec Leamus is the spy who is about ready to come in from the cold – meaning about ready to come back home to England after being in the field. In this case, he is in West Berlin during the Cold War. However, the Circus (MI-6) wants him to go on one more mission – to kill the East German head of intelligence who has killed off Alec’s whole team. How could he refuse this request to avenge his team? An elaborate plan is hatched, Alec pretends to defect and ends up in East Germany, where he thinks everything is going according to plan. Unfortunately, his bosses didn’t let him in on the full plan and he needs to improvise to get home. If you need/want happy endings, this one is not for you – on so many levels, it is sad.
Perhaps because I was born in the mid-60s and grew up during the Cold War and read my fair share of spy novels, this is like coming home for me! The moral ambiguity, national fear, personal danger, and pointed cruelty are a sobering commentary on a time that may be in the past, but is probably not over. Some of the players may be a bit different, but there are still a frightening number of conflicts – hot and cold – going on in our world today. So, not only do I relish the adventure presented in the story, I am reminded of the lengths to which countries and individuals will seek and do whatever they can for power, control, and victory, in the open or in the shadows.
