Spy Sinker

Bernard Samson, Book 6

By: Len Deighton

Narrated by: James Lailey

What kind of woman would leave her husband, her children, and her home to live behind the Iron Curtain and work for the KGB? From the brilliant Oxford graduate who understands the espionage game better than her male colleagues, to the beguiling woman who uses her charm and brains to deceive everyone around her, Fiona Samson presents a complex puzzle. She is by no means alone. Characters we have come to know so well from previous books are not so straightforward either. Bret Rensselaer faces the breakup of his marriage and harbors a secret infatuation for Fiona. Werner Volkmann, Bernard Samson's most trusted friend, also has skeletons in his cupboard. And Bernard himself is not exactly the paragon his own accounts would have us believe. Spy Sinker marks the stunning end to Deighton's magnificent international espionage saga. Viewed from a new perspective, it charts the costs in human terms of swimming with or against the great spy tide.

©1991 Pluriform Publishing Company BV; Afterword copyright 2010 by Pluriform Publishing Company BV (P)2024 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

This is an outstanding book and in many ways "makes the series" to this point!

The story, the structure, the performance and ultimate conclusion are excellently researched, sequenced and written, a true gem!

A crucial book in the series

This book is written in third-person, so we find out just how reliable Bernard Samson is as a narrator of the first five novels (which is an illuminating experience), and more importantly, we really discover a lot about Fiona, and that she has been little more than a pawn in the whole affair. Indeed, her lack of agency prompted her to do something that seems highly out of character, based on the fuller picture we get of her in this book. We also finally understand that many of the events were not exactly what they seemed, and the timeline becomes precise, whereas it had seemed (to me) to take place over a shorter span, thanks to the lack of dates in the other books. Because it recaps the story so far, the excitement it generates is necessarily less vivid, but the omniscient perspective provides a key to unlocking the story so far, which is addictive on its own. *This book does not work as fully as it could if you haven’t recently read the previous installments.* i found myself tied to the book, keen to know more about what I thought I knew. It was a great experience, and the performance was as excellent as ever.

The finale

Having listened to all the books in the Samson series, concluding with Spy Sinker, the experience was a deeply fulfilling listen. The narration was perfect, giving distinct soul to each character. The story line weaves artfully, beginning with the three Samson novels, pivoting to Winter, the continuing on with the final two Samson and ending with the counterpart Spy Sinker. What a layered story. Well done.

Repeats material from previous 5 books.

There is very little new material in this volume, book 6. It is just the Cliff's Notes to the first five books. Most of the new content is dreary soap opera filler. Near zero suspense, action, adventure, or mystery.