Spy Story

by Len Deighton

Book Overview

An attempted murder, the defection of a highly placed KGB official, and an explosive nuclear submarine chase beneath the Arctic Ocean seem to have little connection to one another. But they are the sparks that propel Pat Armstrong -- also known as Harry Palmer -- into the heart of a brutal East-West power play. And when Armstrong returns to his own apartment -- where someone who looks and dresses just like him has taken up his identity -- we are drawn...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0151848386
• ISBN13: 9780151848386
• Release Date: January 1974
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt P
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Vintage Cold War Espionage

I've read probably 100s of Cold War spy novels. In my opinion John Lecarre and Len Deighton are the best writers in this genre. I liked Deighton's "Spy Story" when I first read it about 20 years ago. On re-reading it I'm glad to see that it holds up very well. The elements of the plot are all familiar: retired spy reluctantly drawn back into the game, infighting among the various intelligence agencies, opportunity for an intelligence coup or it is really a Soviet trick?, public school Brits vs hardnosed American military types, double agents & double crosses, etc. Len Deighton weaves all these near-cliches into a well-written, fast-paced, action & detection narrative. I never thought I'd use the word nostalgia with regard to the Cold War, but that was my reaction to "Spy Story". As the opening of the Lone Ranger show used to say "Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear".