In the second in this trilogy, Spy Line, Brett, Bernard and Fiona were still in California.Now, in Spy Sinker, we go back in time to when Brett first conceives of his plan to place a double agent in communist Germany.It is in the earliest chapters we learn an important fact. All through the previous books, and on to the next ones, we hear from Bernard and other characters how he was better suited for the German Desk than Dicky Cruyer. After Brett is told by Sir Henry that it's Bernard's wife who is to be the double agent he reveals that up until that point he was going to give the position to Bernard, but now that was impossible. Bernard never gets to know that his greatest grievance in life was a result of his wife accepting her offer.If you've not read this book yet, or the remainder of the series, there are spoilers ahead.It's Brett and Fiona's story, told from their viewpoints, with a couple of small detours, rather than Bernard's and fills in some of the gaps in the other books.This is the book that made me dislike Fiona. She is under considerable stress from the beginning. Being prepared for her mission by Brett in utmost secrecy, unable to confide in anyone other than Silas, and having to lie to her husband, she takes up with another man, Kennedy.Now whilst I can understand this, whilst not condoning it, it's the fact that after her ' defection ' and vowing to give up Kennedy, she restarts it when in Germany and keeps it going right up to when Bernard brings her back.Considering she knew that she was going, at some point, to return to her husband and children, this does not sit well with me.Not only that, but when she does return she acts as though Bernard was in the wrong for taking up with Gloria. Considering as far as he was concerned Fiona had not only left her country for good, but also her husband and children, her view over Bernard's love for Gloria is grossly misplaced. One wonders what her response might have been had Bernard told her that he knew all about Kennedy, but he held his tongue.It's for this reason that I felt the last book in the next trilogy failed. Deighton says he wrote it in response to people's wish to know ' what happened to.. ' questionable as without that book the last trilogy would consist of two books.I, for one, wanted Fiona to get her come uppance and for Gloria to get what she always wanted, and deserved, Bernard and his children. Deighton sold her short.
If you read the blurb on the cover of this book you find out what happened in the previous five. In a similar manner to Alan Ayckbourn's "The Norma Conquests" you find out what was happening elsewhere during the years in which Bernard Samson has been telling his story. While the book does fill in some of the background behind aspects of the plot which might have left you wondering, without Bernard's voice some of the attraction is missing. While this book is probably essential reading if you have just read the first five, I don't think it really stands on its own. Additionally there is an impression that this is the last in the series, but Len Deighton says in a preamble somewhere that he planned all nine books.
What do You think about Spy Sinker (1992)?
* * * * 1/2I was blown away by this conclusion to the Hook, Line and Sinker trilogy. After five books inside the head of Bernard Samson, we finally take a step back and see the whole operation from other perspectives, most notably that of his wife, Fiona. The amount of planning and detail that went into Operation Sinker, as it's known, is mind-blowing, and actually kind of chilling when you see what lengths the Service will go to to bring things to a successful conclusion: keeping Bernard in the
—rabbitprincess
A fabulous way to wrap up the story. All the previous books are seen from Bernard Samson's pov but this jumps back to before the beginning of Berlin Game & retells events from multiple narrators viewpoints, & we discover that not everything was as it seemed - in fact, practically nothing was as it seemed. Deighton must have had all this planned right from the start and the whole series is a masterpiece of plotting, as well as beautifully written, funny and insightful. A masterpiece, and it is only the prejudice against genre fiction that stops it being regarded as one of the best series of post war novels. I would much rather read Deighton than practically anything that has ever been on the Booker Prize shortlists.
—Stuart
I am 'enjoying' the series if Leighton which so far has included three trilogies plus two intended-to-be stand alone novels. As a youngster, I gre up on the Hardy Boys series and the serial 'mysteries' for children by Enid Blighton. Len Deighton's novels have come to me as on the far end of a bridge in my life from youth to senior years. They do not merit five stars only because in my personal rating system, I reserve 5 stars for those with literary merit AND enjoyment - but this series includes the fun of reading like that of my youth.
—Graeme Stuart Waymark
