The 7th book in the Bernard Sampson series.

Despite not having read his earlier Samson books, I quite enjoyed this as a stand alone. I don't care enough about spy novels any more ( I used to enjoy John Le Carre) to now go back and read the others, but I appreciated Deighton's writing style and characterization. ( )

Seventh in the Samson series with Bernard coping - just - with office politics and difficult personal relationships while still turning up as Man of Action. Just as well that he still has reliable Werner to talk to.

My only grouse is Deighton's assertion that each book is a stand-alone work. You really do need to know what is going on before you start and I doubt that many readers wouldn't want to know what happens next. ( )

Warning: this review contains spoilers for Spy Sinker and possibly Faith itself.

Bernard Samson has his wife back. Fiona has returned from her years as a "defector" behind the Iron Curtain, and they're both back in London after being debriefed in California and given a chance to recover from the climactic events of Spy Sinker. But neither of them will be the same. Bernard's affair with Gloria, a coworker half his age, has to be addressed, and Fiona has to fit back in to the world of the top floor of the Service. Then there's the kids -- how will they deal with their mother's return after believing that for years she had defected to the Communists? Bernard too is busy trying to retrieve a Russian agent named Verdi who is anxious to come over to the West. But from the start, the operation does not go as planned…

I knew going in that this would not be able to reach the heights of Spy Sinker, which I loved, so that perhaps helped me enjoy it more than I might have. Bernard is in fine form here, with his always-apt descriptions and not shying away from his own weaknesses (at least when other people point them out). He's starting to feel his age, though; the young field agent he's partnered with on the initial operation judges him as "certainly not young," and his kids are now 14 and 12, no longer small enough to be given piggyback rides. He also has much narrower escapes than he would like from various enemies, making him think he's lost his touch. As a middle-aged spy Bernard is a realistic creation and an endearing one too. (Am I the only one who thinks it kind of adorable that he works for the Service just like his dad, and that he works with a lot of his father's old colleagues, some of whom keep an eye out for him because they promised his father that they would?)

The humour is also very much in evidence. I almost laughed out loud at Bernard's description of Bret's desk, which was compared to Bret's women: "ultra modern, with shiny legs, black drawers and see-through top." Much of Bernard's description has a wry edge, too. And I was quite amused by his son, Billy, wanting to be a curator at a gun museum. Or a car museum.

Overall I enjoyed this book, especially the fast-paced ending, and am looking forward to the next installment in the series. ( )

Read so many of Bernard Samson's adventures lately that I may get one earlier book confused with another, but it seems Deighton had been stingy with adventure and answers in the books following Spy Hook. Deighton continues to build more layers of secrets upon the unresolved secrets from the previous trilogy, and adds subtle hints of more secrets. Now I have so many new questions that I'm not sure I'll remember the old ones. But I enjoy Bernard's plights, so . . . on to the next installment, Hope. ( )