A study of the dangers and absurdities of intelligence work, in which by definition it’s hard to tell if information was made up or is just really, really hard to find.

The book starts off quite slowly and only really gathers pace when the Wormold’s inventions start to come out – at which point things get very interesting indeed. It’s interesting to compare the slow and rather plodding protagonist to the racier Bond – or even Ashenden, for that matter. Greene almost certainly captures reality more closely.

3/5. Finished Friday 30 October, 2020.

(Originally published on Goodreads.)