$62.00

Usually dispatched within 1 to 3 weeks.

Ships from and sold by DMI Media.

Share <Embed>

Flip to back Flip to front

Listen Playing... Paused You're listening to a sample of the Audible audio edition.
Learn more

See this image

Follow the Author

John le Carré

A Delicate Truth Hardcover – International Edition, 7 May 2013

by John le Carré (Author)

2,012 ratings

See all formats and editions Hide other formats and editions

Amazon Price

New from

Used from

Kindle

"Please retry"

$12.99

—

Audible Audiobook, Unabridged

"Please retry"

$0.00

Free with your Audible trial

Hardcover

"Please retry"

$41.98

—

Hardcover, International Edition, 7 May 2013

$62.00

—

Paperback

"Please retry"

$17.93

—

Audio CD, Audiobook, CD, Unabridged

"Please retry"

$32.97

—

FREE delivery: 27 April - 10 May

2008: A covert counterterror operation code-named Wildlife is to be mounted on the Rock of Gibraltar. This one is right off the books; the target code-named PUNTER. The Brits on land, the American mercenaries by sea. Kit Probyn, an upright Foreign Office veteran with a safe pair of hands and no previous experience of the dark arts, will be the minister’s eyes and ears on the ground. His “red telephone.” Toby Bell, a rising Foreign Office star and the minister’s personal private secretary, has been kept out of the loop. Why There are whispers of private armies, bounty, dicey intelligence, corporate wars. 2011: A disgraced Special Forces soldier who took part in Wildlife delivers a message from the dead. The worlds of Toby Bell and Kit Probyn collide. If the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing, at what point do these two good men become guilty bystanders

Special offers and product promotions

Buy this item and get 90 days Free Amazon Music Unlimited. After purchase you will receive an email with further information. Offer valid for a limited time only. Terms and Conditions apply.” Learn more here.

Frequently bought together

Total Price: $146.84

These items are shipped from and sold by different sellers. Show details

Buy the selected items together

This item:A Delicate Truth by John le Carré Hardcover $62.00
Ships from and sold by DMI Media.
Agent Running in the Field by John le Carre Hardcover $39.99
Only 1 left in stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon AU.
FREE Delivery
Our Kind of Traitor by John Le Carre Hardcover $44.85
Only 1 left in stock.
Ships from and sold by Ultimate Treasures AU.

Customers who bought this item also bought

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1

John le Carre
4,311
Hardcover
$39.99
John Le Carre
656
Hardcover
$44.85
John le Carre
273
Hardcover
$32.98
John le Carre
386
Hardcover
$26.25
John Le Carre
1,022
Hardcover
$38.95
John le Carre
613
Hardcover
$32.34

Product details

Publisher : Viking; 1st Edition (7 May 2013)
Language : English
Hardcover : 320 pages
ISBN-10 : 0670067164
ISBN-13 : 978-0670067169
Dimensions : 16.51 x 3.18 x 24.13 cm

Best Sellers Rank: 507,799 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- 7,838 in Military Thrillers (Books)
- 7,945 in Espionage Thrillers (Books)
- 11,546 in War Fiction (Books)

Customer Reviews:
2,012 ratings

Customers who viewed this item also viewed

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1

Customer reviews

5 star		51%
4 star		29%
3 star		11%
2 star		5%
1 star		4%

How are ratings calculated?

Review this product

Write a customer review

Top reviews from Australia

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Susan Armstrong

A delicate truth

Reviewed in Australia on 22 September 2019

Verified Purchase

Not one of Le Carre's best books and believe me there has been many outstanding books from this author. The ending was very open leaving you to guess what might have happened later.

Helpful

Penelope Dennis

Le Carre's layering excels

Reviewed in Australia on 2 October 2020

Verified Purchase

Every chapter adds a layer to this dark and twisted story of guilt, corruption and political manoeuvring. Le Carre combines the tension of the present tense with a unique stream-of-consciousness omniscient narration which challenges the reader but is so worthwhile.

Helpful

Linda Lee

More depth and less delicacy in building character and plot!

Reviewed in Australia on 27 September 2014

Verified Purchase

It is certainly well written, but there is not the depth that you would find in the "Smiley" novels and like most of his recent novels the end does not really resolve all of the plot. You are left wondering what might/shoudl ahve come next.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Amazon Customer

Excellent phsychological profiles of individuals exposed to raw ambition and ...

Reviewed in Australia on 4 September 2014

Verified Purchase

Excellent phsychological profiles of individuals exposed to raw ambition and contempt for moral and ethical standards and the dilemmas encountered when honesty conflicts with ambition. How perception is paramount above all else.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

wazbud

A great rollicking read

Reviewed in Australia on 17 February 2017

Verified Purchase

Le Carre in fine form, a cast of finely drawn characters, act out a winding tale of derring-do that kept me enthralled. Highly recommended.

Helpful

diane

A typical LeCarre, plausible and intriguing to the end.

Reviewed in Australia on 16 April 2017

Verified Purchase

Aside from being a good thriller that stays tight to the very end, this novel is a reflection of modern world and the corporatisation of war. At times too believable.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Adam Potter

Rubbish

Reviewed in Australia on 6 October 2019

Verified Purchase

Very disappointed. Confusing to read. Expected something much better from such an applauded writer.

Helpful

Professor Roger Collins

Classic Le Carre

Reviewed in Australia on 14 July 2014

Verified Purchase

A great read ! Gripping plausible and enlightening. The author draws attention to the potentially devious behavior and morals of our bureaucracies that hopefully provoke us to think nod

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

Liz L

the ulltimate unfinished story!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 21 December 2020

Verified Purchase

Somehow I missed this one when it came out, so reading it very late and after the news of his death. If I had read it at the time I might have been angry with him for leaving us hanging--but reading now, I realise that there will never be "an end". In that he has perfectly captured what I assume was his point all along. We are under the control of those faceless empty people in the office with important names and... free will, and democracy, are am illusion.

Reading during Covid gives me a different perspective; and in the grim days of Bumble Johnson makes it more poignant. Looking at it as an avid reader, it's really very good.

4 people found this helpful

Jl Adcock

Taut, sinister and atmospheric

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 27 December 2020

Verified Purchase

The power of the state and its invisible reach sits at the heart of this extremely well-written and atmospheric novel from John le Carre. When a covert intelligence mission in Gibraltar goes wrong, the ramifications are great on those who took part, those who knew about it and those who stumble across it. Pulling the different threads of the story together with an understated skill that makes for a surprisingly gripping read, le Carre revisits familiar themes of betrayal, identity and the role of the state. From the brooding quiet of Cornwall to the corridors of power in government and the old boy network of clubs and the private sector, this may not be particularly new ground for the spy novel, but the economy of style and the taut writing makes for a thrilling read. Such is the tightness of the plotting and the control in the writing that it could almost be staged as a play. Given the ponderous nature of much of le Carre's later writing, A Delicate Truth emerges as a thoughtful and scathing take on modern Britain. Impossible to read this one without thinking about dodgy dossiers and cover ups. All too real, and a sinister picture of the modern state emerges all too clearly.

3 people found this helpful

Mr. Steve M

Disappointed

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 15 March 2019

Verified Purchase

I was looking forward to reading this novel but ended up wanting to finish it as soon as possible. Unfortunately the ending struck me as inconclusive, with too many loose ends. Neither was I impressed by the number of f-based expletives. You may argue that this reflects the way that some people speak, that it's natural and realistic. I would argue that bowel and bladder movements are also natural but there is no need to be explicit about them in a novel.

8 people found this helpful

Avid Reader

Brilliant!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 31 December 2020

Verified Purchase

This is a delightful story, told in the sort of impeccable English that Mr. le Carre is famous for. Toby Bell, a rising young star in the firmament that is the foreign Office, is attached to the Minister of Defence in Whitehall. Said minister plays his cards close to his chest, so close that Toby is routinely out of the loop, with no idea what is going on. There is a reason for this which eventually becomes clear. It involves an undercover operation carried out overseas by British Special Forces, in collaboration with the Americans, very much under the official radar. Toby’s diligent investigations strip away the covers, only to find the revelations too hot to handle... I believe I have read, perhaps four or five of John le Carre’s novels and his autobiographical The Pigeon Tunnel. I must read more. We will miss him. He must be the best English writer of his generation.

2 people found this helpful

Sid Nuncius

Not one of le Carré's best

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 10 March 2019

Verified Purchase

John le Carré doesn’t write bad books, but I don’t think this is one of his best.

A Delicate Truth is le Carré’s take on Extraordinary Rendition and the increasing involvement of private contractors in national security in the late days of the New Labour government in 2008. It deals with an operation in Gibraltar to exfiltrate a terror suspect which, it emerges later, has gone badly wrong. Much of the book is concerned with the activities and fate of two Foreign Office officials who try to act as whistle-blowers.

It’s a decent story and the last sections are quite tense and exciting, but as a book it’s not in the same league as the great Smiley novels, for example, or the recent, excellent A Legacy Of Spies. Part of the problem, I think, is that le Carré is plainly (and rightly) outraged by what he describes and his indignation affects his style. The calm, measured tone which gives the great novels such impact is replaced by a more frenetic feel, including the modern fad for a fractured timescale. Both these things diminished the book for me.

This is still well worth reading, but my recommendation does come with reservations.

4 people found this helpful

See all reviews

Follow the Author

Similar authors to follow

A Delicate Truth Hardcover – International Edition, 7 May 2013

Special offers and product promotions

Frequently bought together

Customers who bought this item also bought

Product details

Customers who viewed this item also viewed

Customer reviews

Review this product

Top reviews from Australia

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Top reviews from other countries