A Delicate Truth
At 81, John le Carr茅 remains in full command of both the craft of writing and the art of espionage. His latest novel, A Delicate Truth, joins several late-career le Carr茅 works set amid the war on terror.聽
The book begins with a middling Foreign Office diplomat plucked from obscurity and sent into the British territory of Gibraltar as part of a spy mission also involving Americans and a private security firm. The latter bears the inspired, ironic name of Ethical Outcomes.
A shadowy executive at the private contractor serves as the Svengali to former MP Fergus Quinn, the Foreign Office minister who presides over what 鈥� inevitably 鈥� devolves into a botched mission. The cover-up is where le Carr茅鈥檚 tale takes on resonance, both for the bureaucrat, Sir Christopher Probyn, and the minister鈥檚 disillusioned secretary, Toby Bell.
Dubious morals and the ever-present collateral damage, not to mention the corruption of endless hush money, play their usual starring roles in le Carr茅鈥檚 new book. What began as a plot to capture a terrorist-linked arms dealer morphs into horrifying guesswork.
Le Carr茅鈥檚 novels may not be fun (see Lee Child鈥檚 "Jack Reacher" series or Elmore Leonard for that type of thriller), but they are heady and absorbing.
And the author leavens his outrage with solid plotting and dollops of humor.
Early in the book, when one of the team members on the mission frets that a target has changed his mind, a colleague cracks wise. 鈥淗asn鈥檛 got one, darling,鈥� he says. 鈥淗e鈥檚 a bungalow. It鈥檚 all downstairs.鈥�
The author could be criticized for invoking tropes such as evangelical Americans funding black ops and looking the other way when laws are broken except, of course, that much of what le Carr茅 details in his fiction 鈥� or worse 鈥� has really happened.
Covered-up scandals from the Foreign Office minister鈥檚 past bubble up, but to little effect. And this same minister displays some odd work habits, disappearing for extended stretches to foreign shores and refusing to let his secretary see documents or even his schedule. When the minister does happen to be around, he often locks himself in his office and blasts Bach at ear-splitting levels.
At other times, one senses le Carr茅 himself speaking through his characters. For example: 鈥淕iven his head, he would long ago have swept away Britain鈥檚 private education system, abolished all vestiges of entitlement and put the monarchy on a bicycle.鈥�
And, given the terrain of le Carr茅鈥檚 recent books, there is little doubt that at times he moves from ambiguity to op-ed.
Toby Bell, who becomes enmeshed in the botched mission in a sublimely ridiculous and risky manner, sounds like a man whose idealism would leave George Bush and Tony Blair cold.
鈥淎nd if he is right, which increasingly he believes he is, what is the moral distinction, if any, between the man who applies the electrodes and the man who sits behind a desk and pretends he doesn鈥檛 know it鈥檚 happening, although he knows very well.鈥�
Some readers will see this as out-and-out proselytizing. Others will find it to be the gospel truth. And yet others will simply see it as a particular character鈥檚 viewpoint in a well-written novel.
Still, le Carr茅 has never been subtle about his dim view of spying and the infinite ethical lapses inherent in such organizations and operations. Misinformation and mistakes abound as the political machinery chews people up and then discards them in favor of new acolytes. The desultory nature of spying and intelligence, along with the steep costs literally and figuratively, resonate in le Carr茅鈥檚 work.
In Gibraltar, the nighttime raid comes replete with satellite images beamed back to the minister in London, who is among those attempting to coordinate field teams on land and water as blurry images flit on and off computer monitors. Cell phones vibrate as soldiers, spies, and others try to discern what is happening and when to act and in what manner. What could go wrong?
If that鈥檚 not enough, le Carr茅 can still write with a flourish. To wit: "[H]e scowled upward through the grimy net curtains at Gibraltar鈥檚 legendary Rock, which, sallow, wrinkled and remote, scowled back at him like an angry dowager.鈥�
Erik Spanberg is a regular contributor to the Monitor's Books section.
