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Berlin Game

Penguin Modern Classics

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Berlin Game

By: Len Deighton
Narrated by: James Lailey
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

Embattled agent Bernard Samson is used to being passed over for promotion as his younger, more ambitious colleagues - including his own wife Fiona - rise up the ranks of MI6. When a valued agent in East Berlin warns the British of a mole at the heart of the Service, Samson must return to the field and the city he loves to uncover the traitor's identity. This is the first novel in Len Deighton's acclaimed, Game, Set and Match trilogy.

A BERNARD SAMSON NOVEL

'Masterly ... dazzlingly intelligent and subtle' Sunday Times

'Deighton's best novel to date - sharp, witty and sour, like Raymond Chandler adapted to British gloom and the multiple betrayals of the spy' Observer

© Len Deighton 1983 (P) Penguin Audio 2021

 Espionage Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Spies & Politics Thriller & Suspense Fiction

Critic Reviews

The Berlin Game trilogy made lockdown possible. (Olivia Laing)
Deighton's outstanding achievement is the nine-volume series chronicling the life and times of Bernard Samson ... Deighton's Samson trilogies are as much about the elusiveness of human interactions as espionage. Spying is not a secret world sealed off from ordinary life but an extension of the world we all live in. (John Gray)
Spying at its most captivating and intricate. (Marcel Berlins)
Deighton's best novel to date - sharp, witty and sour, like Raymond Chandler adapted to British gloom and the multiple betrayals of the private spy.
Virtuoso top level performance.
Sheer consistent rightness page after page after page.
A labyrinthine espionage epic lightened with laconic wit. (Jeremy Duns)
Deighton, as always, makes the familiar twists and turns of spy errantry new again, partly by his grip of narrative, partly by his grasp of character, and partly by his easy, sardonic tone.
Len Deighton's spy novels are so good they make me sad the Cold War is over. (Malcolm Gladwell)
All stars
Most relevant
Really enjoyed this spy thriller. Love the voices by James Lailey he is amazing. Will definitely be listening to the other books in this trilogy

Really enjoyed this spy thriller

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I must admit that I was tempted to abandon this book 1/3rd of the way through. Little happened of note and the pace was plodding. But Deighton's characterisation and imagery were first rate and luckily with Audible you can speed up the narration to x1.5 to get over the 'hump'. I had a long car journey ahead of me, so I put on Berlin Game and suddenly I found myself hooked.

The final third was breathtaking, and I was one of the 10% of listeners who didn't guess the identity of the MI5 mole until Deighton spelled it out to me close to the end of the book, The final act of betrayal left me dumbfounded and was one of the most profound endings I have ever read. It was so good I had to reread the final chapter immediately I finished the book to ensure I did not miss a single nuance. Bravo.

Would I read another Deighton? Perhaps, but I will read a few books of different genres in between because his style is pretty bleak and I will have to steel myself to do so. I prefer my books to be slightly more contemporary but there is no doubting that Deighton is a class act and the fact that Berlin Game left me thinking about the book for days afterwards is the sign of a damn good read.

Worth persevering with

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