Unabridged Audiobook
It is the first audiobook from Len Deighton and I thoroughly enjoyed this the book between Ipcress and Funeral. The narrator does a great impression of "MyCocaine" and other characters in the book, and the book has some really funny wit that was a surpise after hearing a number of John Le Carre books recently. I love the movies and TV series based on Len Deighton books including the Harry Palmer trilogy and 2 later TV movies and the Bernie Samson Game Set and Match TV series. It is too bad more of his books were not translated to film. He is perhaps my favorite spy novelist.
It starts out at 5 stars, simply because it’s by Len Deighton, one of the 20th C’s greatest writers. This one is a bit “damned by faint praise” by some, relative to Funeral in Berlin and the Samson books, but it’s still head and shoulders above 99% of the Cold War spy field. And then James Layley’s incredible narration— just the right touch of Michael Caine, plus subtle characterizations and accents for a broad cast of Brits and non-Brits and Europeans of one ilk masquerading as nationals of another land…MASTERFUL. Leighton+ Lailey is one of those magical combinations which puts the product far beyond any 5 star category.
~~tag-text~~