Big Bear, Little Bear — David Brierley

Brierley succeeds in escaping from John le Carré's shadow and turning out a book marked by a full measure of originality. New York Times George Orris is a half-Czech British agent working covertly in Prague in 1948 when all of his fellow spies are captured and killed...except for him. There are some spymasters in London who assume his escape obviously means that he's the traitor who betrayed the agents. To prove himself innocent, and to get revenge for the deaths of his colleagues, he sets a trap to expose the mole in war-ravaged Berlin, a city about to be ripped apart by the Communists. It's a complex, deadly game that pits him against the KGB...and his own intelligence service. Praise for Big Bear, Little Bear Quietly impressive: a sort of shorthand le Carré novel, yet with its own voice: chillier, more sour, less consciously literary. The lean narrative authority is unmistakable. Kirkus ReviewsA good, tight spy thriller. Manchester Evening News A tightly-plotted story skillfully told and jam-packed with dirty tricks. Readers who want spinetingling drama will find that this suspense novel ranks up there with the best of them. Ashbury Park Press Done with style. Captures the authentic whiff of a seedy decade. The Guardian Brierley writes taut chase scenes with surprising twists. Cincinnati Enquirer Spy-stalks-spy in a spine-tingling finale as deadly and complex as any ever written. Madison Journal