Writer Nick Harkaway Expands His Father John Le Carré's Spyverse in New Thriller 'The Taper Man'
Harkaway’s second le Carré novel sends George Smiley to California to hunt a Soviet agent and revisit the spy world’s moral murkiness.
- Published this week in the U.K., "The Taper Man" sends British spymaster George Smiley to 1965 California, where he chases a Soviet agent and navigates a culture clash with The Cousins, le Carré's fictionalized CIA.
- Harkaway, the son of David Cornwell—known as John le Carré—writes in his father's "very uncomfortable" chair and previously released "Karla's Choice" in 2024 to reintroduce The Circus spymaster.
- Harkaway gives the unobtrusive spy a "mouse-eye view" of Los Angeles, contrasting British intelligence's watching-and-listening role with the aggressive ethos of The Cousins, whom he characterizes as "warriors in this Cold War, not shadows."
- Cold War tensions in the novel ripple with modern parallels, which Harkaway describes as "weirdly the same in some slightly alarming ways," noting many discussions from the 1960s remain relevant today.
- The author confirmed he is writing "at least one more" Smiley book, again set in the 1960s, with potential for other writers to eventually contribute to the expanding universe.
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My Mother Lode
The Seattle TimesWriter Nick Harkaway expands his father John le Carré’s spyverse in new thriller ‘The Taper Man’
LONDON (AP) — Britain is wracked with anxiety about national decline, Russians are meddling, and relations are strained with the U.K.’s American cousins. Cold War tensions with modern parallels ripple through “The Taper Man,” a new spy thriller set in the world created by the late John le Carré, and written by his son, Nick...
The Washington Post
Writer Nick Harkaway expands his father John le Carré's spyverse in new thriller 'The Taper Man'
Fictional spymaster George Smiley is back in “The Taper Man,” a new thriller set in the world of John le Carré and written by his son, Nick Harkaway
Writer Nick Harkaway expands his father John le Carré’s spyverse in new thriller ‘The Taper Man’ – WTOP News
LONDON (AP) — Britain is wracked with anxiety about national decline, Russians are meddling, and relations are strained with the U.K.’s American cousins. Cold War tensions with modern parallels ripple through “The Taper Man,” a new spy thriller set in the world created by the late John le Carré, and written by his son, Nick...
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