Tell Max that it concerns the Sandman . . . A very junior agent answers Vladimir's call, but it could have been the Chief of the Circus himself. No one at the British Secret Service considers the old spy to be anything except a senile has-been who can't give up the game-until he's shot in the face at point-blank range. Although George Smiley (code-name: Max) is officially retired, he's summoned to identify the body now bearing Moscow Centre's bloody imprimatur. As he works to unearth his friend's fatal secrets, Smiley heads inexorably toward one final reckoning with Karla-his "dark grail." In Smiley's People, master storyteller John le Carr#xE9; brings his acclaimed Karla trilogy to its unforgettable, spellbinding conclusion. With an Introduction by the Author