The Cold War may be over, but le Carre still seeks for his villains in the wicked East. This time they are the Georgian bandits, Yevgeny and Mikhail Orlov, who are in the business of selling surplus Russian blood to the West. And to launder their blood money, they use the upmarket law firm of Single & Single, outwardly respectable, inwardly corrupt.
Things fall apart, however, and the Orlovs' hit-man, Alix Hoban, begins killing off the partners. The firm's legendary supremo, Tiger Single, goes on the run, and is chased by British Security, the Orlovs and his estranged son, Oliver. The trail leads to Zurich, Istanbul, and finally to the bandits' ancestral Georgian village, where the son has to negotiate for the life of his father. Anything that le Carre writes has to be of interest and this one, although not in the top rank, is no different.
At his best in plotting the oleaginous trail of conspiracy, our author is not as much at home when dealing with explicit violence, and the climax here, complete with helicopter-borne special forces, gunplay and martial arts, just doesn't ring true. The more civilised methods of poisoned umbrella tip, silent garrotting or the shiv between the ribs suit him much better.