A Most Wanted Man

Roger Rees and John le Carré make a mesmerizing pair in this newest of the author's morality tales disguised as an espionage novel. The bare bones of the plot, which takes place in Hamburg, concern Issa, who is either a tortured refuge from Chechnya or a Muslim extremist. He is aided by Annabelle, an idealistic German lawyer, and Tommy Brue, an aging ex-pat British banker who would like to do something good. The story of Issa's interaction with the West is complicated by German police, and British, German, and Russian intelligence. Narrated by Rees, with many character voices and limpid narrative, the story is un-put-downable. His characterization of Issa, in particular, is beautiful, creating a personality that sounds na•ve, stubborn, and mysterious. Grab your earphones and listen to a great performance. A.C.S. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine

August 4, 2008
When boxer Melik Oktay and his mother, both Turkish Muslims living in Hamburg, take in a street person calling himself Issa at the start of this morally complex thriller from le Carré (The Mission Song
), they set off a chain of events implicating intelligence agencies from three countries. Issa, who claims to be a Muslim medical student, is, in fact, a wanted terrorist and the son of Grigori Karpov, a Red Army colonel whose considerable assets are concealed in a mysterious portfolio at a Hamburg bank. Tommy Brue, a stereotypical flawed everyman caught up in the machinations of spies and counterspies, enters the plot when Issa’s attorney seeks to claim these assets. The book works best in its depiction of the rivalries besetting even post-9/11 intelligence agencies that should be allies, but none of the characters is as memorable as George Smiley or Magnus Pym. Still, even a lesser le Carré effort is far above the common run of thrillers.