2008*Signed 1st* A Most Wanted Man - John Le Carré (Hodder & Stoughton) Hardback good unclipped jacket hand signed by John Le Carré
Set in post-9/11 Hamburg, the story centers on Issa Karpov, a half-Chechen, half-Russian immigrant who arrives in the city illegally, starving and carrying a mysterious purse of cash around his neck. He claims to be a devout Muslim and a medical student, but his traumatic past – including time in a Russian prison – and unclear motives draw the attention of intelligence agencies from Germany, Britain, and America, who suspect he may be a jihadist.
Idealistic young civil rights lawyer Annabel Richter takes on Issa’s case, determined to save him from deportation and prioritizing his survival over her own career. In uncovering Issa’s past, she meets Tommy Brue, the sixty-year-old heir to a failing British bank in Hamburg, who holds the key to a fortune Issa claims is his father’s ill-gotten gain. The three form an unlikely alliance – and a triangle of impossible loves – as they navigate the shadows of the city.
Meanwhile, Günther Bachmann, a seasoned German counter-terrorism agent with a commitment to moral integrity, devises a subtle plan to use Issa and the bank fortune to trap a well-respected Muslim scholar suspected of financing terrorism. But rivalries between the intelligence services boil over, and Bachmann’s careful scheme is threatened by the impatience and hardline tactics of his American and British counterparts, leading to a tense, heart-stopping climax.
The novel is a gripping, disquieting exploration of paranoia, disillusionment, and betrayal in the moral grey area of the war on terror, filled with le Carré’s trademark complexity and humanity.
