The Little Drummer Girl
By John Le Carré

Score: 5/5

The secret world is of itself attractive. Simply by turning on its axis, it can draw the weakly anchored to its centre.

Stepping away from the British secret intelligence agencies and into the world of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, Le Carré creates a beautifuly crafted story about the hunt for a bomb maker blowing up jews in Europe. I've read that some people don't think Le Carré can write female characters but this book shows that as false. Charlie is a perfectly crafted and realised lead, a left-wing actress who has flirted with a few more extreme wings of the movement, although more a fellow traveller than someone of true conviction. You can hate her and her superficial justifications on one page and love her vulnerability on another. As usual, there are wonderful set pieces and exceptional characterisation. The "interview" she is given before accepting the job (an interrogation really) is a marvellous piece of sustained, taut writing.

We are not speaking of some enchanted forest. When the lights go down on the stage, it will be night-time in the street. When the actors laugh they will be happy, and when they weep they will very likely be bereaved and broken-hearted. And if they get hurt - and they will, Charlie - they will surely not be in a position, when the curtain falls, to jump up and run for the last bus home. There's no squeamish pulling back from the harsher scenes, no days off sick. It's peak performance all the way down the line.

Through Charlie, Le Carré also produces a peak performance.