Funeral in Berlin

Around a mock funeral, the spy, our main protagonist, his allies, and his antagonists, duck and weave, as they seek to either support, or prevent, a defection from the Soviet Union. Deighton's grammar school educated anti-hero, and his MI6 seem far more real, and dare I say likeable, than Ian Fleming......more

Looking back, the Communists were a worthy enemy. There were no suicide vests or improvised explosive devices aimed at innocent civilians. (Religious wars are always the most brutal.) Mind you, the Russians weren’t Boy Scouts, either. But after the ugliness and indiscriminate savagery of the current......more

I quite enjoyed this Len Deighton novel. I had seen the Harry Palmer movies starring Michael Caine (Funeral in Berlin and The Ipcress File) way back when and loved them. So I thought I'd give the novels a try. Glad I did. The writing is sharp and witty and Deighton's style is quite unique. Funeral in......more

Originally published on my blog here in January 2004. Because it is the main focus of the Bernard Samson novels, Berlin might appear to be something of an obsession with Deighton. It actually features remarkably rarely in his other novels, particularly considering its unique position during the Cold......more

This is not a casual read. The plot is complicated, there are numerous devastating plot twists, and a shocker reveal at the end. in my opinion, this is the best of Deighton that I've read so far, and book number three of the Palmer series, although that character is unnamed in these books.......more