Customer Reviews

Len Deighton: Three Complete Novels- Berlin Game / Mexico Set / London Match

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If you ever thought that paperback novels - even spy novels - were for airports or a quick read on the train home DO NOT READ THESE!
I became seriously adicted to Len Deighton after three chapters of 'Berlin Game' - and you could too! Poetic, ironic, cleverly plotted and evocative, these first three of the nine novel series will have you burning midnight oil and missing meals. Bernard Samson is surely the most clearly realised character from any spy story. His moral struggles to stay true to his ideals whilst everone around him sells out to power or money will have you caring about him as never before. There is never an easy get out or glib phrase. I have read all nine novels five times and still am ready for more. Can you now resist???

In Bernard Samson Len Deighton created an everyman character who is smart, tough, intuitive, and is double crossed by everyone he cares about. Since I've read (and re-read) all 9 of the Bernard Samson nonology, it's hard to limit my comments just to "Game, Set, and Match". In any event, Bernard was betrayed by his wife in several different ways, by his best friend in truly horrible fashion, and by all of his cohorts at SIS. These are great and very readable spy stories, but they also provide a very real look into the dishonesty confronting all of us. That is, one never knows how the world looks to friends and colleagues, and when they are being honest and when they are lying. These are really great books that I would recommend to anyone!

Len Deighton is the perfect antidote for those sick and tired of Tom Clancy novels. In all of Deighton's works, the human is the center of the book, and the dialogue and the characters are outstanding. No thrilling machines or gadgets to get in the way of a good spy novel here. I read all of the Game, Set and Match books when they were published, and then all the following books in the series. I just can't get enough of Bernard Samson, Fiona, Bret, Dickie, Werner et al. These are the most memorable characters I've ever come across in the spy genre. They are all believable, possessing strengths and vulnerabilities that we all have. All are driven by duty, love, deceit, conceit and are capable of treachery. Too bad the Cold War had to end so soon. I sort of wish that the Berlin Wall didn't have to come down so that Mr. Deighton can continue to write about the exploits of Bernard Samson.

Len Deighton tells an exciting story of Spies, Defectors, and Informants set against the background of the crumbling Soviet Bloc during the early 1980's. I truthfully enjoyed reading this novel. Deighton's most obvious talent is creating vivid, believable, and occasionally rather funny characters

Read these years ago and wanted them for my collection. The group is now hard to find. I only wish they were a three volume set instead of one large volume. Books this large (physically) are inherently difficult to read. However Deighton's grasp of the German/East German/Russian/Western tensions is better than most writers. As someone who has spent time in Berlin, I love his descriptions of places and characters. They ring true, both in detail and in the mood of his novels. I'm hoping for a reprint someday soon perhaps now classifiable as "historical" fiction.

Len Deighton is no John LeCarre'. But he is a not too distant second to him in the spy genre, especially the British involvement in the Cold War. Whereas LeCarre' reads slowly and, Deighton is easy reading with a lot of lightheartedness thrown in. The Berlin,Mexico,London trilogy is the first of three featuring Bernard Sampson, long experienced and fairly high up in what must be Britain's MI-6. Two more trilogies follow, written over a few years, are well done in following the Sampson story. This first set is especially effective in gripping readers with interest and anticipation for the other two. It is well worth the investment of money and time to read.

In the 1980s, I had read some books by Len Deighton ("SS-GB", "Fighter", and "Blood, Tears, and Folly") and enjoyed them, but back then my reading tastes did not run to cold war thrillers, so I didn't read any of his spy books about Harry Palmer or Bernard Samson. Recently, however, I happened to pick up "Berlin Game", and discovered it was a pretty good read, so I bought this omnibus book that also included the next two books in the series, "Mexico Set", and "London Match".

These books are about a middle-aged British Intelligence Officer in the 1970's, Bernard Samson, who used to be a field agent in Berlin but is now has a senior level desk job in London. In the first book, an extremely valuable East German spy wants out of East Germany and requests that Bernard, whom he met 20 years earlier and is one of the few people he trusts, be the agent who gets him out. This book, as are the subsequent books, is full of vivid characterizations, suspense, the occasional bit of off-beat humor, intricate plotting, betrayals, and redemptions. The same set of characters, both the good guys and bad guys, basically move from book to book, allowing Mr. Deighton to gradually fill-in their complexities, so that the books are deeper than many spy novels. These are books about people, not super-secret complex technology and gadgets, which I find a welcome change to many popular thrillers written today.

My only complaint about the series, and it's more of a nit than a true complaint, is that while the plot moves along quickly and seems plausible when you're reading it, when you step back and think about things, you find holes in the plot (at least I do). However, since I'm reading these books to be entertained, I can overlook the holes provided they don't rear their ugly heads while I'm acutally reading the book.

I'd probably give the books 4 ½ stars if that were possible, but since it's not, I'll round up to 5 stars. Give them a look; you can get this omnibus (used) pretty inexpensively. I enjoyed them enough that I've ordered the next three books in the series.

When it comes to espionage novels, Len Deighton is as good as it gets. Realistic characters and cold war situations that many of us lived through abound. Ever since "The Ipcress File" introduced readers to the unamed, borderline criminal secret agent (named Harry Palmer in the movies), Deighton's creations have been believeable, realistic, and a fun read. After James Bond and other uber-agents, it was refreshing to see a regular guy that does things that effect the entire world, yet still has to worry about paying the gas bill.

Bernard Samson is such a character. Introduced briefly in an earlier novel, these three novels flesh out his story. This compilation is extremely handy. While each novel is a stand-alone great read, it is fantastic having them all together in one volume, and to be able to read them sequentially. Almost a thousand pages of entertainment for a really trivial price.

The basis of the stories revolves around Bernard Samson, shortly after his wife Fiona apparently defects to the other side. Both Bernard and Fiona are members of the British secret intelligence community. They have two children. Bernard brings off several major intelligence coups, while being suspected of complicity in his wife's defection (after all...how can you not know the person you share a bed with is a senior communist agent?) The plotting is tight, the characters exceptional.

Anyone who remembers civil defense shelters and bomb drills in grade school will love these stories. Read them, and you will want to seek out the other novels printed about these characters, to seee how it all turns out. This book is out-of-print and priced very reasonably. Get it before it goes up, as there is talk of Quentin Tarrantino being very interested in making a film version of these three novels. Read this boook. You won't be sorry.

I have read (and re-read) the entire Bernard Samson series and thoroughly enjoyed each book. The series, in my opinion, is simply the best of it's genre. The characters, storyline and writing are superb. Bernard Samson is one of my favorite characters in fiction ever. Read the books -- you will not be sorry you did.

Deighton is my second favorite spy novellist (after LeCarre). PBS did a really good series on the trilogy, but I've never been able to find it on tape. Continue the story with HOOK,LINE and SINKER then FAITH, Hope and CHARITY!