This month we have been treated to the cover reveal of Nick Harkaway's eagerly anticipated new George Smiley novel, The Taper Man, which is due to be released by Penguin on 5th November. The latest addition to the world of John le Carré sees Smiley drawn into a Cold War mission that stretches from Helsinki to Los Angeles.
The Taper Man synopsis:
It is 1965 and the Cold War has never been colder. The Circus - the secret centre of British intelligence - has one prize asset left in Moscow: a senior Red Army officer with access to the enemy's deepest secrets. But when a British agent is shot in Helsinki, George Smiley uncovers a Soviet operation that imperils this irreplaceable source.
The trail leads Smiley not to Berlin or Vienna, but to Los Angeles - the most foreign place he has ever known. There, in the murky heart of US intelligence, a Communist sleeper agent, a 'Taper Man', is poised to expose Britain's operative in Moscow. To save him, Smiley must navigate an America convulsed over its identity and freedoms, all while his spy in Leningrad, Roy Bland, risks everything in pursuit of a Russian defector who holds the final piece of the puzzle.
It sounds the perfect book to sit and enjoy over the autumn evenings. Click here to pre-order a signed copy from Waterstones.