Spy Hook [Mass Market Paperback]

Len Deighton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 13, 1989

What Bernard Sampson, protagonist of BERLIN GAME, MEXICO SET, and LONDON MATCH, is about to know may hurt him. When word gets to London Central that a cache of millions of pounds has disappeared inside the Service, Samson is determined to learn the truth. But not even that discovery will help if the Department itself wants his blood....

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this first installment of a second trilogy starring British spy Bernard Samson, the reader is always several steps ahead of the disbelieving hero, who becomes the unwilling dupe of a ruthless, super-secret plot by his own agency. The complicated cat-and-mouse game leading up to Bernard's enlightenment moves far too slowly, but the unresolved suspense generated by the powerful cliffhanger finish "ensures readers' anticipation of projected sequels," observed PW.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

This is the first installment in a new espionage series, "Hook, Line, and Sinker," a sequel to Deighton's masterful "Game, Set, Match" trilogy. Bernard Samson, still trying to straighten out his life after his wife's defection to the KGB, finds top level Secret Service complicity in the disappearance of a half million dollars in departmental funds. Is this a simple case of embezzlement or of mismanagement, or is it the work of a KGB mole? Has Samson stumbled upon a top-secret operation, one in which his wife is a double agent? At novel's end Samson is on the run in Berlin, and the reader is eager for the next book. Deighton is the only worthy rival to John LeCarre. BOMC alternate.Charles Michaud, Turner Free Lib., Randolph, Mass.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 339 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books; First Edition edition (December 13, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345365208
• ISBN-13: 978-0345365200
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,151,079 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best of a unique series., August 23, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Spy Hook (Mass Market Paperback)

No other author ever tried so hard -- or succeeded so admirably -- in writing about Cold War spies as human being, as opposed to Automaton (Tom Clancy), UberMan (Ian Fleming) or Captain Angst (John Le Carre). Len Deighton's Bernard Samson actually seems to be a person, juggling the normal burdens of family life with a surreal job situation. It's not great art, or even a great spy novel, but it is superb melodrama.

The fourth of 10 books (nine if you discount Winter), Spy Hook is the high-point of this tautly-written series. The usual characters -- Bernard, Frank Harrington, Tante Lisl, Werner Volkmann, et. al. -- make their appearance with as much charm and skill as Deighton has ever mustered. The espionage is gripping without being overbearing and the characterization more deft and detailed than ever.

To the reader of Game, Set, Match, Spy Hook won't be a revolutionary experience, but it will remind you of how compelling the concept is and how skillful the execution are. It's like returning to an old friend, only he's better than even you remembered.

For new readers -- you will never want to leave.

And if you think Tom Clancy is great, you will hate this series.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Hooked on a new Bernard Samson series, March 2, 2001

By 

"michaeleve" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Spy Hook (Audio Cassette)

The start of the 2nd Trilogy, following on from 'Game, Set and Match'. This story starts with the problem of missing funds (1/2 million pounds). Bernard, ever the gopher and trouble-shooter (or is it just that he get's things done) is sent to Washington to find out what Jim Prettyman can tell London about the missing funds. Jim's not talking. First, he refuses to tell Bernard anything and then, just hours later, is apparently murdered.

We're off. On another Deighton intrigue, this one resolving itself in California. Along the way, Gloria (Bernard's girlfiend) introduces him to Dodo, a Hungarian ex-spook that used to work for the West. He seems to know things - about the money's use, about what's going on in the service, about Bernard's father's intelligence work in WWII. All of this has implications for the plot - perhaps the most convoluted and satisfying of the series.

Bernard's trip to California reveals surprises, by way of persons, thought gone, but whose appearance here helps explain the disappearance of the money and what it is being used for.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The first installment of an excellent trilogy, October 13, 2010

By 

TChris (Tzer Island) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Spy Hook (Hardcover)

This is the first novel of a trilogy that follows the Game, Set and Match trilogy (in which British agent Bernard Samson's wife Fiona defects). Spy Hook begins with the beleaguered Samson asking former agent Jim Pettyman, now working for an American corporation, to return to England to answer questions in the investigation of missing agency funds. After considerable intrigue involving (among other characters), a Hungarian known as Dodo, Samson learns something he isn't supposed to know about Bret Rensselaer, an agent who played an important role (and died) in the Game, Set and Match trilogy. To the consternation of his bosses, Samson keeps nosing into the missing money, following his suspicion that Fiona set up the account. Eventually Samson comes under suspicion (could he be working with his treasonous wife?) and as the noose begins to tighten, we come to a cliffhanger ending.

As some other reviewers note, the sheer number of characters involved in the story can make it a bit confusing, but that complexity is just a reason to pay attention, to look back from time to time, or to take notes, not to dislike the book. The story is fast paced, intriguing, tightly plotted and well written with sharply defined characters. Samson's growing confusion as he defies orders and investigates matters he's supposed to leave alone makes him an appealing, sympathetic character. The supporting characters are often recognizable components of bureaucratic institutions -- the ones who get ahead by knowing the right people and stay there by creatively doing nothing, taking credit for the hard work of their subordinates. I would give this novel 4 1/2 stars if only to distinguish it from the 5 stars I've given the next book, Spy Line, which is even better.