A review by thisisstephenbetts
Our Kind of Traitor by John le Carré

4.25

Great example of late Le Carré — themes of state-sanctioned and state-encumbered organized crime. Down-trodden, flawed secret service personnel, running wide-eyed plucky innocents who do the hard work out of a mix of idealism, responsibility and a sense of derring do. A young man with zeal and integrity who will come through in a crisis, and a young woman whose beauty is matched only by her integrity and loyalty, but touchingly barely seems to know it (I've mentioned before how Le Carré's women characters tend to be his weak spot). One of the major characters is a vory, and there is a great deal in there about their code of honor and ethics, and how it provided structure in a lawless country. I sound down on this book, but I think it was very good.