1. Entertainment

The Mission Song by John le Carre

Release Date: September 19, 2006

The Mission Song by John Le Carre

The Mission Song - Courtesy Little, Brown

John Le Carre is considered the master of the literary thriller; some of his previous spy novels have even reached classic status (The Spy Who Came Out from the Cold). His 20th novel, The Mission Song is a timely narrative, with an empathetic eye into the open mind of Bruno Salvador, an orphaned child of a Catholic Irish missionary and a Congolese woman, and the state of Africa in word politics. Strong metaphors wash the story like a neo-Biblical parable; but the stalls in suspenseful plot-development and stock characterization, save one, sometimes muddy the strength of the story's impact.

©2012 About.com. All rights reserved.

A part of The New York Times Company.