John le Carré

This classic "New York Times" bestseller filled with Cold War espionage now joins Ballantine's monthly "Special Low Price" mass market reissue program.

The Night Manager

With the Cold War over, a new era of espionage has begun. In the power vacuum left by the Soviet Union, arms dealers and drug smugglers have risen to immense influence and wealth. The sinister master of them all is Richard Onslow Roper, the charming, ruthless Englishman whose operation seems untouchable. Slipping into this maze of peril is Jonathan Pine, a former British soldier and current night manager of a posh hotel in Zürich. Having learned to hate and fear Roper more than any man on earth, Pine is willing to do whatever it takes to help the agents at Whitehall bring him down and personal vengeance is only part of the reason why.

Briar's Reviews

I really wanted to read The Night Manager by John le Carré because of the miniseries. I'm that weirdo who likes to read the book first. Why not? I found it cheap on Book Outlet and I love a good spy thriller. Or maybe I don't?

This book kind of put me off spy thrillers. It was long, slow and boring. I love a good spy thriller that keeps you engaged and isn't written to the point of boredom. There was so much explanation, so much random dialogue and content it just was dull. I couldn't get into it. I kept sloshing through it hoping that it might pick up... and it didn't really until the last quarter of the book. I was bored silly! It's a real shame too because everyone I know loves John! They all talk so highly of his books (including this one). It's just not my type of book, which is totally okay.

I think this will be a great miniseries, but the book just didn't translate for me. 

One out of five stars.

Now an AMC miniseries • The acclaimed novel from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Legacy of Spies and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy John le Carré, the legendary author of sophisticated spy thrillers, is at the top of his game in this classic novel of a world in chaos. With the Cold War over, a new era of espionage has begun. In the power vacuum left by the Soviet Union, arms dealers and drug smugglers have risen to immense influence and wealth. The sinister master of them all is Richard Onslow Roper, the charming, ruthless Englishman whose operation seems untouchable. Slipping into this maze of peril is Jonathan Pine, a former British soldier who’s currently the night manager of a posh hotel in Zurich. Having learned to hate and fear Roper more than any man on earth, Pine is willing to do whatever it takes to help the agents at Whitehall bring him down—and personal vengeance is only part of the reason why. Praise for The Night Manager “A splendidly exciting, finely told story . . . masterly in its conception.”—The New York Times Book Review “Intrigue of the highest order.”—Chicago Sun-Times “Richly detailed and rigorously researched . . . Le Carré’s gift for building tension through character has never been better realized.”—People “Grimly fascinating, often nerve-wracking, and impossible to put down.”—Boston Herald

A Novel

Vicky (A City Girl's Thoughts)

John le Carré writes an intriguing spy novel about Jonathan Pine, probably in his early 40's - 50's, who was a former soldier from a tough childhood. He was never loved properly until he met Sophie, Freddie Hamid's mistress. After her murder he embarks on a project Leonard Burr and Rex Goodhew plan for Roper's and Darker's downfall. This novel was intriguing from beginning to end; I loved how le Carré captured Jonathan Pine's angst and confusion towards his loyalties, which didn't make him seem like someone who can easily be pushed-over. The ending had suspense, which made it all the more readable.

However, there are a number of questions that are left unanswered, including random flashbacks which left me confused. The flashbacks are central to the plot but they aren't incorporated smoothly, often dealing with a topic that isn't covered until another (or few) chapters later, such as Burr's meeting with Dr. Apostoll. There are also too many characters to remember; le Carré should've written a list of them at the beginning for reference.

Former British intelligence officer Jonathan Pine attempts to infiltrate the entourage of Roper, a sinister and powerful Englishman responsible for fitting together the pieces for a monumental arms-for-cocaine deal. Reprint.

Kirsten Simkiss

I would like to preface this by saying that I mostly read this so I good go watch the miniseries based on the book because the main cast was so impressive. I also hoped that it would be a good lead in to Le Carré's other works, as I had won another of his books in a giveaway and haven't managed to get ahold of a copy of the books prior to it yet. Looking at the cast listing now, of the actors that I am familiar with, I think they did a fantastic job. (And bravo to genderswapping Burr. When I was looking up who they got to play him, there was a particular line about napalming all the crooks that I could see in my mind's eye being said in the actress's voice. I think that was a marvelous casting choice.)

I found this book to have poor pacing for me, unfortunately. There is nothing more unfortunate to me than being bored for a third of a book. Once it picks up, though, the pace of the book is far more engaging and makes the whole thing a lot more fun to read. Think of it like a roller coaster, except the incline for the drop is way too long. It killed the book a little bit for me.

I think a lot of that pacing was so that you would get attached to your main character, which is Mr. Jonathan Pine. Unfortunately, I found I really didn't like Jonathan much at all. As much as I wanted to like him, he is a sexually repressed, angry, somewhat vile person. There's nothing like listening to him rant about how the woman he is sexually attracted to is a whore because he didn't have to common decency to look away from her while welcoming them to their hotel room. Holy shit, it's just a tit. Imagine if he ever had to take life drawing classes and used a model that was moderately attractive. He'd blow his proverbial lid.

Continuing on that same note, I felt he and Jed had no chemistry whatsoever.

That being said, the spying and the intrigue were very well done. I have to say, I really think that Burr was my favorite character of the whole bunch. I can't wait to watch the miniseries and see him (her) take on all the corrupt politicians that have been making their job of freeing the world of Roper hell. I enjoyed watching him outmaneuver all of his adversaries precisely and cautiously, and then finishing it off in one fell swoop. It had the elegance of building a stack of cards and then knocking it down swiftly and efficiently with a wrecking ball.

Jonathan was a good spy, of course. His intel was invaluable to the story. Albeit if he had just kept his god damn libido in check, he would have been safe a good while longer than he was and they may have actually caught Roper properly. Like seriously, pick a girl who isn't dating an arms dealer - any girl. Vapid, boring Jed cannot be as pretty as risking death for it. Besides, you already have one tragically dead love interest. There's no need to go for two. In any case, Jonathan was not a character I could bring myself to love. He was mostly hell bent on dealing with Roper, which was a cause I could get behind. When I read from his perspective, I strongly felt that tension that the author was going for. However, when threats were made to his safety and character, I found I didn't fear the consequences. I was sort of numb to him because I couldn't in any way relate to him. I read on to see how the story progressed instead of reading on in fear of the death or suffering of the main character who was the glue of the story. An argument could be made that he is an example of the type of person drawn to the field of being a CI, and that the psychology is interesting to the book. However, I didn't much come looking for insight into the psychology of people who can't keep it in their pants when surrounded by some of the most dangerous people in the world.

On the subject of Jed and women in general in the book, I was severely disappointed. The only notable female roles are Jed and Caroline. Caroline is a minor recurring character, who provides Jonathan with some intel at one point when she was pissed off at her cheating husband, but in the end goes back to loving her husband after his affair ends and his endless source of dirty money. Jed, the more significant female role, for me could not pass the sexy lamp test. For those not familiar, the sexy lamp test is basically the idea that this character could have been replace with the leg lamp from A Christmas Story and the plot could have gone on as per usual. Sure, he gives Jed a little backstory, but aside from being a sexual interest for both Jonathan and Roper, she truly served very little purpose. She was there to provide sexual tension and not much else. She has never had a career, she has no personal goals, she exists to sleep with the main male characters. It was insufferable and she was boring. Sophie, unfortunately, was much the same. A sexy woman that dies to push the man forward does not a strong female role model make. As a woman reading this book, this was very disappointing for me, but not unexpected given the author's generation and upbringing. Still, I can't imagine John Le Carré has never met a strong woman in his life.

I feel that I will enjoy this book far more as an on-screen adaptation. There were several places where he spends a few paragraphs describing rooms that Jonathan is in which I find is often more interesting when seen visually than described. Often, these were in run on sentences. THAT was a little annoying for me. These details were just rushed in there and then they never came up again.

I look forward to watching the mini-series, but I will likely never read this book again. I would recommend this book to someone who is interested in the psychology of and the logical workings of how an informant gets into and out of the good graces of someone being targeted by national spy networks.

"At the start of it all, Jonathan Pine is merely the night manager at a luxury hotel. But when a single attempt to pass on information to the British authorities - about an international businessman at the hotel with suspicious dealings - backfires terribly, and people close to Pine begin to die, he commits himself to a battle against powerful forces he cannot begin to imagine. In a chilling tale of corrupt intelligence agencies, billion-dollar price tags and the truth of the brutal arms trade, John Le Carré creates a claustrophobic world in which no one can be trusted"--Publisher's description.

The night manager

Jan Jackson

There are very few books I don’t want to end (the denouement is the reward for your listening, after all) but this was one. Stunning. Marvellous characterisation - again fleshing the bones of the internal morality engine, and mixing the life of the agent with the mandarin machinations of his masters. Definitely a delight. Some nights, the writing would only allow a single page to be read, but as the end drew nearer, it was my own fears for the characters that limited my progress. 

Mike Cavey

In The Night Manager, John le Carré's first post-Cold War novel, an ex-soldier helps British Intelligence penetrate the secret world of ruthless arms dealers. 'Le Carré is the equal of any novelist now writing in English' Guardian 'A marvellously observed relentless tale' Observer At the start of it all, Jonathan Pine is merely the night manager at a luxury hotel. But when a single attempt to pass on information to the British authorities - about an international businessman at the hotel with suspicious dealings - backfires terribly, and people close to Pine begin to die, he commits himself to a battle against powerful forces he cannot begin to imagine. In a chilling tale of corrupt intelligence agencies, billion-dollar price tags and the truth of the brutal arms trade, John le Carré creates a claustrophobic world in which no one can be trusted. 'Complex and intense ... page-turning tension' San Francisco Chronicle 'When I was under house arrest I was helped by the books of John le Carré ... they were a journey into the wider world ... These were the journeys that made me feel that I was not really cut off from the rest of humankind' Aung San Suu Kyi 'One of those writers who will be read a century from now' Robert Harris 'He can communicate emotion, from sweating fear to despairing love, with terse and compassionate conviction' Sunday Times (on The Spy Who Came in from the Cold) 'Return of the master . . . Having plumbed the devious depths of the Cold War, le Carré has done it again for our nasty new age' The Times (on Our Kind of Traitor)

Stephen James

Kirsten Maliepaard

John Le Carre

Enter the new world of espionage, where the skills forged by generations of spies during the darkest days of the Cold War are put to even more terrifying use. Penetrate the secret world of ruthless arms dealers and drug smugglers who have risen to unthinkable power and wealth. The sinister master of them all is an untouchable Englishman named Roper, the charming, unstoppable ruler of a corrupt world all his own. Slipping into this maze of peril is a former British soldier, Jonathan Pine, who knows Roper well enough to hate him more than he hates any other man on earth. Now personal vengeance is only part of the reason Pine is willing to help the men at Whitehall bring Roper down.

Manuel J. Rivera

Patrick Baumann

McKinley Valentine

"At the start of it all, Jonathan Pine is merely the night manager at a luxury hotel. But when a single attempt to pass on information to the British authorities - about an international businessman at the hotel with suspicious dealings - backfires terribly, and people close to Pine begin to die, he commits himself to a battle against powerful forces he cannot begin to imagine. In a chilling tale of corrupt intelligence agencies, billion-dollar price tags and the truth of the brutal arms trade, John le CarrU creates a claustrophobic world in which no one can be trusted."