The highly anticipated Penguin debut by John le Carre, "one of the most intelligent and entertaining writers working today" ( Chicago Tribune) In this new, exquisitely told novel, John le Carré shows us once again his acute understanding of the world we live in and where power really lies. In the wake of the collapse of Lehman Brothers and with Britain on the brink of economic ruin, a young English couple become helpless pawns in a game of nations that reveals the unholy alliances between the Russian mafia, the city of London, the government, and the competing factions of the British Secret Service.