My thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group Viking for an advance copy of this new thriller set in the world of espionage created by John le Carré, and his famed character George Smiley, written by his son, Nick Harkaway.

When my father passed away many things in my parents home were showing signs of their age, their unworkability, and a few cases their unsightliness. My father was in no way a master craftsman of any type, but he was good with both tools, his brains, and had an Irish stubbornness that made things work. Or he made them work, just don't look to close. A year or so after he died I began to stop in an see what I could do. At the time YouTube wasn't the video instruction library it would come to be, so most of my knowledge came from numerous How-To books, magazines, questions to my friends who knew things. And I looked at what my father had done, and tried to remember helping him, learning a vocabulary of new words, and times when it was just my Dad and myself. As I did things, I learned how the sausage was made, sometimes copying things, sometimes trying new things, and as in the living room I remade, found myself proud of what I had done. I hope Nick Harkaway feels a sense of pride, for in working in his father's world, making new adventures for characters long thought retired, Harkaway has made something familiar, something new, and something quite good. Karla's Choice: A John le Carré Novel is a new adventure featuring old characters set at the height of the Cold War, with old enemies plotting, morals being compromised, and a battle not between good nor evil, but entrenched bureaucracies fighting for who knows what.

A young woman arrives at the London publishing firm she works at, and is surprised to find that her boss, a Hungarian exile like herself is not already at his desk, which is very unlike him. A knock on the door brings a man who exclaims that he is there to murder her boss on orders from his employers, but has not decided to do so. This little mystery is enough to entice George Smiley back to his old job at the Circus, a branch of British Intelligence. Smiley had left when his last mission had led to the sacrifice of a friend, and vowed never to return. However Smiley has a feeling this story is much bigger than what it seems. And soon, working with many familiar names from other le Carré works, Smiley begins to follow little breadcrumbs that seem to be telling a story, a story that might lead him to Karla, his opposite number in Russian intelligence, a man willing to do anything to keep his secrets.

I have read quite a few things by Nick Harkaway in the past, but did not realise the family relationship between Harkaway and le Carré. However it does seem fitting for espionage authors to have different names. My first thought, as a long time bookseller, upon seeing the continuing adventures of George Smiley, was ughh. Authors never seem to die, they always have more books stashed away in vaults, or desks. Just stop and let new authors make legacies. However I have enjoyed Harkaway so at least it will be good. Highly recommend Titanium Noir. I had no idea about the family relationship, and probably wouldn't have cared. Until I read this. One this is a good novel, one that fits the detached writing of le Carré perfectly, the sadness of failed relationships, the lack of trust. The setting is perfect, the little mentions the gear shift being too big for Smiley's hand, the stores, the little things. And the plot where instead of saving the world as in some spy books, they are just trying to solve a question. Who was this man, and why is so important to be killed by his own people? Also a large part of the story is about fathers and sons. Even father figures and mentoree. One can read a lot into it, but I am not Freud, so I won't touch it.

This is not just a good spy story, this is a good le Carré story. The introduction is interesting in that Harkaway discusses how his father lost the Smiley voice in his writing, from the various portrayals of Smiley in movies and television. Actually the introduction alone is worth the book, I found that and the acknowledgments very informative and interesting. Not just an author aping a style for publisher bucks, this was a real labor of love, and a labor I want to read more about. A father's legacy can be hard to live up to. I hope Harkaway is proud of what he has done.

I had worries which were very soon assuaged. An admirable outing into the world of Smiley, and I would happily read more.