The Mission Song

The unchallenged master of the contemporary spy novel turns his attention to the Dark Continent. Bruno "Salvo" Salvador, son of an Irish missionary and a Congolese woman, straddles both worlds as an interpreter of minority African languages, who is married to an aristocratic British journalist and passionately involved with a Congolese nurse. Salvo is hired to be the interpreter for a secret meeting between central African leaders and a mining syndicate. Unfortunately, he hears more than he should about the fate of the Congo--knowledge that could kill him. Award-winning British actor David Oyelowo has the perfect voice--smooth, rich, almost hypnotic in timbre and emotion--to tell this cloak-and-dagger tale. A minor le Carré, but read by a master. M.T.B. (c) AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine

Starred review from December 4, 2006
Bruno Salvo, the illegitimate son of an Irish missionary father and a Congolese mother, is one of le Carré's most interesting lead characters—and one of the most difficult for an actor to bring to life using just his voice. Fortunately, Oyelowo, a veteran of everything from televised comedy to live Shakespeare, has the ability to quickly catch and transmit to listeners the many elements of Bruno's essence in this moving and surprisingly amusing audio version of arguably the author's least typical novel. Oyelowo never falters in presenting the many other characters who flesh out the story, from the Roman mentor who shapes the orphaned Bruno's future as a professional interpreter of African tribal languages to the British intelligence agents who eventually recruit him. Oyelowo positively shines with recognizable truth as he shrewdly recreates Bruno's growing awareness of the power this knowledge gives him—personally, politically and socially. It would be difficult for any other actor, even one with more star power, to take Bruno Salvo into film or television without us hearing Oyelowo's voice in our heads while we watch. Simultaneous release with the Little, Brown hardcover (Reviews, July 31).

Starred review from July 31, 2006
Bestseller le Carré (The Constant Gardener
) brings a light touch to his 20th novel, the engrossing tale of an idealistic and naïve British interpreter, Bruno "Salvo" Salvador. The 29-year-old Congo native's mixed parentage puts him in a tentative position in society, despite his being married to an attractive upper-class white Englishwoman, who's a celebrity journalist. Salvo's genius with languages has led to steady work from a variety of employers, including covert assignments from shadowy government entities. One such job enmeshes the interpreter in an ambitious scheme to finally bring stability to the much victimized Congo, and Salvo's personal stake in the outcome tests his professionalism and ethics. Amid the bursts of humor, le Carré convincingly conveys his empathy for the African nation and his cynicism at its would-be saviors, both home-grown patriots and global powers seeking to impose democracy on a failed state. Especially impressive is the character of Salvo, who's a far cry from the author's typical protagonist but is just as plausible.