What is he up to? What has he done? Why is he recounting this tale and who is his audience? It’s lying in wait to unleash your ambush.”Įd’s brashness may just be due to his youth, but the witty, cultivated, silky smooth way Nat tells their story raises alarm bells for any fan of spy novels–and of course for the countless readers of one of our most admired authors of the genre.
And the game itself, as Nat describes it, sounds a bit like spying: “Badminton is stealth, patience, speed and improbable recovery. Since this is a spy novel, you wonder immediately if either of them is telling the truth about themselves and what their motives are in this relationship–though how they feel about the sport seems real enough. Nat, who’s the novel’s narrator, is a champion player at a ritzy club where Ed seeks him out in order to challenge him. What’s brought this odd couple together? Badminton. He rants and Nat listens with only occasional comments. Ed is a young, gangling, motormouth “researcher” who is bursting with scathing opinions about Brexit, the United Kingdom, and Donald Trump. Nat is a middle-aged, slightly stuffy, introspective handler of agents who is finally back from missions abroad and expecting a much quieter life. His latest is set in contemporary London, a city over-heated by Russian and Ukrainian billions snatching up real estate. Is there any writer who knows the workings of intelligence agencies better than John le Carré? The famed novelist served in MI5 and MI6 and every book of his opens up those worlds with stunning authenticity.
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