Nick Harkaway

1963. With the wreckage of the West's spy war with the Soviets strewn across Europe, George Smiley has eyes only on a more peaceful life. And indeed, with his marriage more secure than ever, there is a rumour in Whitehall - unconfirmed and a little scandalous - that George Smiley might almost be happy.

But Control has other plans. A Russian agent has defected in the most unusual of circumstances, and the man he was sent to kill in London is nowhere to be found. Smiley reluctantly agrees to one last simple task but he will soon find himself entangled in a perilous mystery…

Set in the missing decade between two iconic instalments in the George Smiley saga, Karla's Choice is an extraordinary, thrilling return to the world of spy fiction's greatest writer, John le Carré.

Sergeant Lester Ferris is in need of a rest, and Afghanistan was the last stop on his road to exhaustion. The island of Mancreu is the perfect place for Lester to serve out his time – and the perfect place for shady business: money laundering, drug factories and deniable torture centres. Lester’s brief is to turn a blind eye. But then he makes a friend: a street kid who might, Lester hopes, become an adopted son. As Mancreu’s society tumbles into violence, the boy needs Lester to be more than just an observer. He needs him to be a hero.