Fish Power

Arkady Renko, ageless Soviet investigator, is BACK

Revisado: 01-15-20

Excellent story (though a bit short compared to all of the other Arkady Renko novels), and excellently read by Jeremy Bobb (same man who narrated the Red Sparrow trilogy, another great espionage work by former CIA case officer Jason Matthews). My only qualm with this book is that is was on the shortv side, clocking in at under 10 hours. Also, what's the deal with the sudden helicopter crash, right after Zurin orders the hit, here are Kuznetzov, Tatiana, SVD the pilot out flying around when suddenly Tatiana calls to say they've having technical trouble, and yet Arkady shows up right away to extricate Tatiana, but lets Kuznetzov go under, and STILL didn't do anything for him even when he comes climbing out of the downed helo. I call shenanigans there

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Not so much a novel,rather, anti-Brexit propaganda

Revisado: 12-09-19

I've read every single one of le Carré's works, from A Call for the Dead to A Legacy of Spies, and now of course this, Agent Running in the Field. I have always been a big fan of leCarré's work, ESPECIALLY the Smiley versus Karla trilogy (where he was at the height of his powers), and it is that established excellence that earned and grew my loyalty and interest in his works; that's prompted me to consume every one of his novels going back to 1961. That's said, and upon completing "Legacy" last year, I had somewhat high hopes for this new offering; the title alone making it abundantly clear that espionage was going to be a main theme in some form or fashion. However, it didn't take long upon starting this book to realize that this was the author putting his political beliefs out there for all to see: damn the detractors, damn America, and damn the free-thinking people of Great Britain. It's not like the author's political positions are of any great secret, from his participating in the anti-Brexit mobs in London over the summer, or even the penultimate chapter in A Legacy of Spies, where he makes it quite clear, using his greatest contribution to Western literature, George Smiley, as his proxy, announcing to anyone who would read or listen, the he, Cornwell (le Carré) is VERY Eurocentric, and sees Brexit as a terrible terrible mistake. In this book, using Ed as his proxy, John le Carré (David Cornwell) makes clear his disdain for the United States, disdain for Donald Trump, and disdain for the people of Great Britain who have the temerity to desire a means of maintaining their national identity as Britons, and not simply "European".

Putting aside my own personal offense that he used this alleged "espionage novel" not so much to tell a story, rather, a work of propaganda (that, as a sidenote, would make Goebbels blush, for how ham-fisted and unabashed this vehicle of anti-Brexit propaganda was executed) for espousing his views on these aforementioned matters (the United States, President Donald J. Trump, Brexit, and of course, those pesky Brexiteers. who are all too stupid to realize that they are little more than useful idiots and unwitting thralls for Earth's mightiest villian, Vladimir Vladimirvich Putin, to exploit); rather than telling an actual story, this is basically a propaganda piece, an opinion piece that rightly belonged in the Letters to the Editor section, or, more appropriately (given le Carré's high standing in the world of Western literature), perhaps his very own OP-ED column in The Guardian, but I digress.

The main point that I am trying to make, my main criticism if you will, is that Eden's running in the field is supposed to be an espionage story but alas it is really just an op-ed piece interspersed between little bits here and there of operational intelligence jargon: an op-ed piece posing as a novel. and to add insult to injury, the story itself has all kinds of holes and unresolved issues. for goodness sake the ending the space Lee stopped. for anyone who remembers watching the final episode of The sopranos when it's suddenly went black, well, that is a kin to how this story ended. we have no idea what is going to become of our for mean meanest characters those being Nat, Prue, Florence, and Ed. we do not know what's going to become of Nat and crew for their complicity in assisting ad in Florence abscond to a country where they will not be extraditable, and we have but a two-line note that Florence is supposed to pass to his former agents in Transylvania that is to give us hope that everything will be all well and good for them (them being Ed and Florence) once they arrive in Transylvania. oh, and on that note, just how in the hell are we supposed to believe that Ed and Florence became madly in love, became pregnant, and decided to be married all after a 1-hour badminton match? I was simply incredulous once Ed came back and informs Nat after their final badminton game that he and Florence were engaged in to be married in a matter of days. Seriously! where did this subplot come from? at best, I imagine the author wrote up. storyline with their relationship as a means to show how close not improve remain despite his multiple infidelities, to show that they are a strong couple who were on the same page and fighting for the same things (progressive values that necessarily clash with Nat's service,and by extension, HM Government and Western Liberal Democracy as a whole, but alas, I again digress.

There is just too much garbage to sift through to find a good story in here. I suspect there is a good story in this book, somewhere, if you rearrange things, omit A LOT of things, and perhaps be a little bit more realistic with the humanity of these characters. Alas, that would defeat the purpose of Mr Cornwell's propaganda piece, which can basically be boiled down to " if it feels good do it", "Brexit is bad,", "Trump is bad", "The United States is bad", "Our democracy is under attack, and has been perverted and co-opted by nefarious forces (eg the intelligence communities of sovereign nations') of the Deep State" (which, full disclosure, is incidentally one area where I find myself in tenuous agreement with the author).

I would be horrified if this ended up being the author's final novel. I have high, hot, high hopes that he will write up a sequel or perhaps a prequel to a legacy of spies oh, so that we might know the final disposition / final fate of the legendary George Smiley, his cuckolding wife Ann, and Smiley's trusted friend and lieutenant, Peter Guilliam. Honestly, if John or Carré concludes his literary career, or dies before writing a novel that shares with us the ultimate fates of Smiley and Guilliam (but ESPECIALLY George Smiley), it would be nothing short of a tragedy.

Please, Mr. Cornwell, now that you've had your fun espousing your political views with regards to America, Trump, and brexit, please, please go back to what major career so great and give us some more espionage ,some more Smiley, and be unencumbered as you heroically ride off into the sunset of your amazing career as a writer.

The only real facet / component of this story / performance where I would like to assign any true and heartfelt credit to the author is that he himself actually narrated the thing. I actually kind of got a kick out of hearing a John le Carré a story read by John le Carré.

Thank you

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best book of the series

Revisado: 02-09-19

best book of the series (I've read books 1-4 and 6 and can say that with confidence)

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Slick Willy's back with a vengeance!

Revisado: 06-09-18

I just finished President Clinton's new book and all I can say is wow! I realize this is a work of fiction, but anyone who lived through that administration will see this for what it is: Clinton's fantastic imagination, self-aggrandizement, meglomania, and a bit of wishful thinking (the wife of the titular president had recently does, providing what I can only imagine a dream come true for ol Slick Willy.

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Poor audio quality

Revisado: 12-29-16

The audio quality of this book was very poor. It seems the first and last words of each sentence were cut off. I am going to request a credit for this title.

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