About this Event
Nick Harkaway's bestselling take on George Smiley is back, and this time the iconic spy is on the trail of a traitor right at the top of American intelligence…
- Date: Thursday 12 November
- Time: 7pm
- Venue: The Drive Methodist Church, The Drive, Sevenoaks, TN13 3AF
- Tickets: from £12
'Le Carre’s legacy is in good hands - Smiley is back with a vengeance!' IAN RANKIN
'Smiley is back at the Circus in the safest of hands' RICHARD OSMAN
'Note-perfect' MICK HERRON
The Taper Man
The Taper Man, the latest novel by Sunday Times bestselling author Nick Harkaway, is a gripping return to the shadow world of John le Carré. Elegant, tense and morally intricate, it is an extraordinary and timely continuation of one of literature's greatest espionage legacies and a landmark work of modern spy fiction.
It's 1965, and the world lives on a knife edge. After the nuclear standoff in Cuba, and with Vietnam even now becoming a major conflict zone, the Cold War is colder than ever. The Circus, home of British intelligence, has one formidable clandestine asset in Moscow: a senior officer in the Red Army who is privy to deep Soviet secrets. But when a British agent is shot on a routine visit to Helsinki, George Smiley uncovers a counter-intelligence operation which puts all that in jeopardy.
The trail leads not to Berlin or Vienna but to Los Angeles, where Smiley's nemesis, the Russian master spy known only as Karla, may have a long-term, low profile agent - a Taper Man - poised to expose London's man in Moscow. Hunting the traitor in the heart of US intelligence, Smiley must reckon with American's stark internal divisions over race, patriotism and belonging as he tries to find an answer to the present crisis in the secrets of the past. Meanwhile Roy Bland, a daring but fragile Circus spy presently in Leningrad without the protection of diplomatic cover, must push his luck to breaking point to reveal the Russian end of the operation and rescue a defector whose time is running out - and get Smiley the last piece of Karla’s puzzle.
Nick Harkaway
Nick Harkaway is the author of eight novels, including: The Gone-Away World, Angelmaker, Tigerman, Gnomon, Titanium Noir and Karla’s Choice.
He is the son of John le Carré, and has a unique insight into his father’s work. The Guardian writes of Harkaway that ‘his great gift as a novelist is to merge the pace, wit and clarity of the best “popular” literature with the ambition, complexity and irony of the so-called “literary novel” – a rare combination which le Carré himself also achieved.’ He lives in London with his wife and two children.
Some of the ticket options that don’t include the author’s book, or are specially priced for couples, are limited in number and can sell out quickly. Our aim is to try and bring the best and most interesting authors to our town. We are always trying to balance accessibility and affordability for our audiences, alongside requirements from publishers to sell enough books for events to be worthwhile enterprises for their authors.
Event venue & nearby stays
The Drive Methodist Church, The Drive, Sevenoaks, United Kingdom
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