Len Deighton Books

Moles abound.


The last book in this trilogy is probably not quite as good as the other two, you could call it a 3.75 if you like, but there is some entertaining commentary on what goes on in the spook office with the whole clueless management versus the footslogging hardworking spy in the field.

MI6 is still a bit worried about Benard because of his traitorous spouse, so when he finds out about what he thinks is yet another mole, he isn't looked on too favourably, particularly as it might just be one of the higher-ups.

People who like the others should still enjoy this.

This book can standalone as a good spy story, as can the others in this trilogy, but the storyline attains excellence when read in series - Berlin Game, Mexico Set, and London Match. The tension ebbs and flows throughout the trilogy, but it isn't until the climax of London Match that we see the full scope. I honestly think this is the best book of the three, but maybe that's just because all the threads finally come together. Highly recommended!

This is the third of the Bernard Samson trilogy set in London, Berlin, Mexico and East Germany. I think that Mr. Deighton possibly felt that the first of the series was meant as a solo effort. Perhaps not. Both Berlin Game and Mexico Set stand on their own and could have been solo efforts; London Match is possibly the weaker of the three, but leaves us with that gritty taste in our mouths that recalls the anti-Bond stories of Harry Palmer, Bernard and the others.

The office wit characterized by working with management types unfamiliar with the "field" is not uncommon to many of us who spent time in the military or big corporations. We toil for those who have never experienced what they ask us to do. Hence Dickie Cruyer and Bret Rennselear. Of course for most all of us the result of the inequity of working for management is several antacid tablets; Bernard is quick to point out for him it may be death.

Len Deighton writes wonderful stories about the Cold War a long time ago. Or was it? 5 stars. Larry Scantlebury

It's one of those hall-of-mirrors British spy stories in which the puzzle is to figure out who is working for whom, and who is double-crossing whom.
I was rereading my Len Deightons, partly to see how much impact they still have post-cold war, and I picked this one up out of order. After the first few pages I remembered that this was third in the Bernard Samson series, set in the 1970's and 80's, but it has close affinities to the Harry Palmer series of the 60's, especially Funeral in Berlin. (This has a 1985 publication date). If you're completely new to Len Deighton I'd start with those, and of course you should read Berlin Game and Mexico Set before this.
Some people think Deighton deteriorated in the later spy books. They contain fewer wisecracks and less descriptive scene- setting. In compensation there's a lot of subtle humor in the portrayal of the Dilbert-like atmosphere of office politics, and the plots are more sharply focussed and draw naturally to a climax. The earlier books tend to jump from episode to episode with a tidying up of plot in the last chapter.

The best of the game, set and match trilogy. Exciting, lean and suspenseful.

This book is brilliantly constructed account of the 24 hours leading up to one of the maximum effort raids on Germany. Large cast of well portrayed character's recounts the incredible courage of the airmen of both sides and the appalling results on the ground.

Only one in three Bomber Command aircrew survived WWII and over 50,000 perished bringing the German war machine to it's knees. There has never been a battle like it. Fought in the middle of the night for 4 years with the prospect of a horrific death ever present night after night.

Imagine going "over the top" in WWI and surviving it, then being asked to do it again the next day. And the next.

Not only that but after the war being branded as murderer's by the very people whose lives you were protecting. The post war government quickly distanced themselves from what Bomber Command achieved, and no gratitude was ever publicly forthcoming for these boys sacrifice.

To this day it still beggars belief.

Though the title implies that this is the story of a single bomber crew over Germany in 1943, "Bomber" goes farther - much farther, only starting with the crew of the heavy bomber "Joe for King". Deighton proceeds to cover the families of the crew, other crew members and their superiors before cutting across the channel to the enemy - night-fighter pilots, their controllers in German air defense, various suspicious characters from across the spectrum of Germany's military - from "respectable" Luftwaffe and Wehrmacht personnel to shadowy types from the "Abwehr" and the SS. We also meet the civilian residents of Altgarten, a Ruhr-area town nobody would think of bombing, but which manages to get plastered all the same. It's mid-summer 1943, when "Joe for King" is sent into the Ruhr as part of a massive night-time raid against the industrial centers of Krefeld. Lacking night-vision goggles, RAF pilots drop their bombs on targets marked by flares left by directing aircraft - in this case, specially equipped Mosquitoe night-fighters. When the marking aircraft for the Krefeld raid is shot down too early, its flares are released over Altgarten. This error is compounded by inherent flaws in RAF tactics (like targeting bombs in the center of cities, where bombs are more likely to hit civilian homes than factories and military installations), and the town becomes the unintended target for the massive strike. "Bomber" is to RAF's wartime bomber command what "Traffic" is to the DEA - a story of massive scale borne by wide cast if characters that never stops growing. Deighton doesn't let something meaningless as nationality get in the way of determining who is good or evil (the Germans get the bombs here, but Nazi genocide also gets prominent mention, with plenty of nasty Waffen SS to remind us why people were fighting). On the British side, we see officers acting less like gentlemen than soldiers. Political correctness is the rule (this is the country that gave us "1984"; "Joe for King"'s commander is suspected of incipient Bolshevism - it's very name hints at Stalin). Those who won't fall in line risk being labeled as LMF (Lacking Moral Fiber) - officially branded as cowards. Though books with such a command of detail normally favor the efforts of those they depict, Deighton is uniformly negative on the subject, a tone reinforced by his many subplots. Lambert, "Joe for King's" rebel pilot, plays the best cricket in Bomber Command - leading his odious superior to compel his participation in an upcoming tournament on pain of getting LMF'd. (Worse - the commander puts pressure on Mrs. Lambert after her husband has departed for the big raid). The bombers fly from Warley Fen, a once verdant field seized from its original owners who now stare at the airfield, mourning for what they know they will never have again. In Germany, ADF is managed by August Bach, an aged warrior preparing to marry his young son's nanny, not knowing how her youthful looks have made her the target of vicious rumors through Altgarten. The pilots of a night-fighter squadron (nichtjagdeschwader), preparing for a feared RAF attack on the Ruhr, are thrown into turmoil when Abwehr and Gestapo appear in search of a stolen classifed memo. The memo, it turns out, details hypothermia experiments on concentration camp prisoners (this may be same memo mentioned early in Robert Harriss' superb "Fatherland"). The corrupt assistant to Altgarten's Burgomeister arranges for the downgrading of the town's remaining Jews (from 1/3rd to 2/3rd "Jewishness" - though these jews are even more likely to face deportation and certain death, they will have greater freedom to marry other jews). Altgarten itself is flooded with profiteers funneling goods looted from conquered parts of Russia and the Netherlands. It seems that war is the only thing keeping the world safe because it occupies all the amoral typed who have to fight it. The only morally just adults are the TENO - the civil safety personnel who dig people out of bombed buildings. Because they are stationed in Altgarten, they get the biggest break: when the raid comes, they have the shortest commute. With so much going on, you just know you're bound to miss something. This is the sort of book that speed-readers hate. You'll probably lose count of all the characters that Deighton throws at you, though this doesn't hurt the plot as much as make the book one you'll want to re-read. Be warned - once you pick up bomber, you'll probably be spoiled for any other novel on the war in the skies over Europe.

This is a superbly plotted panel book in which every story ends with some sort of twist or irony. I write only to correct one error made by an earlier reviewer. Lambert's plane is NOT 'Joe for King', but 'the Creaking Door'. The CO is so out of touch that he mistakes the planes, thereby indirectly saving Lambert's life, much to his young wife's relief. (The casualty rates were horrific for bomber crews.)

It is somewhat amusing that the reviewer made the same mistake.

Bomber follows the progress of an Allied air raid through a period of twenty-four hours in the summer of 1943. It is not for weak stomachs as it shows the brutality of war.

The best fictional account of the "Other Side's" (German) view of being the "attacked". Mr. Deighton obviously has done his homework in showing how one massive,confused attack on a German town in the Summer of 1943 devastates everyone involved from the British RAF planners and pilots, politicians, and even more the German civilian home front, not to mention just about everyone else on the German side,from the SS,Luftwaffe, to the totally innocent on the ground. When the air raid alarms go off in the ficticious German town to the inevitable,terrifying end, mistakes and all, you know you're reading from a master. The ending is as terrible as you can imagine...

It's nice to have this three novel continuous story to help one get thru the winter months. Great companion !!

In Bernard Samson Len Deighton created an everyman character who is smart, tough, intuitive, and is double crossed by everyone he cares about. Since I've read (and re-read) all 9 of the Bernard Samson nonology, it's hard to limit my comments just to "Game, Set, and Match". In any event, Bernard was betrayed by his wife in several different ways, by his best friend in truly horrible fashion, and by all of his cohorts at SIS. These are great and very readable spy stories, but they also provide a very real look into the dishonesty confronting all of us. That is, one never knows how the world looks to friends and colleagues, and when they are being honest and when they are lying. These are really great books that I would recommend to anyone!

I have read (and re-read) the entire Bernard Samson series and thoroughly enjoyed each book. The series, in my opinion, is simply the best of it's genre. The characters, storyline and writing are superb. Bernard Samson is one of my favorite characters in fiction ever. Read the books -- you will not be sorry you did.

Len Deighton is the perfect antidote for those sick and tired of Tom Clancy novels. In all of Deighton's works, the human is the center of the book, and the dialogue and the characters are outstanding. No thrilling machines or gadgets to get in the way of a good spy novel here. I read all of the Game, Set and Match books when they were published, and then all the following books in the series. I just can't get enough of Bernard Samson, Fiona, Bret, Dickie, Werner et al. These are the most memorable characters I've ever come across in the spy genre. They are all believable, possessing strengths and vulnerabilities that we all have. All are driven by duty, love, deceit, conceit and are capable of treachery. Too bad the Cold War had to end so soon. I sort of wish that the Berlin Wall didn't have to come down so that Mr. Deighton can continue to write about the exploits of Bernard Samson.

If you ever thought that paperback novels - even spy novels - were for airports or a quick read on the train home DO NOT READ THESE!
I became seriously adicted to Len Deighton after three chapters of 'Berlin Game' - and you could too! Poetic, ironic, cleverly plotted and evocative, these first three of the nine novel series will have you burning midnight oil and missing meals. Bernard Samson is surely the most clearly realised character from any spy story. His moral struggles to stay true to his ideals whilst everone around him sells out to power or money will have you caring about him as never before. There is never an easy get out or glib phrase. I have read all nine novels five times and still am ready for more. Can you now resist???

I would have to agree with many of the other reviewers in stating that this is one of the better Bernard Samson books. It is a good follow up and great end to this series. He pulled off a book that has a good deal of suspense through out. There is also a lot of human drama outside of the spy vs. spy game. If you are into espionage books this is a great set to send time with.

This tells the story of Fiona Sampson from the third person point of view and not Bernard's. After reading this story I hated every character in the series except Bernard, Gloria, and the Children. It will make you want to see Silas Gaunt and Bret Resseler get the ax. If you have read winter then four pages of this book will iterest you because they tell the final fates of the central characters in that novel and make it even more heartbreaking.

A great read, 6th in the series, dont miss it.

To really enjoy any of the nine books in the three triologies,
Berlin Game, Mexico Set, and London Match- Spy Hook, Spy Line, and Spy Sinker - Faith, Hope, and Charity one should begin with Deighton's Winter. This books traces the story of the German family named Winter from New Years, 1900 through the close of the Second World War and in the process introduces most of the principal characters that appear in the subsequent trilogies. I have recently reread the ten books, starting with Winter and my enjoyment was multiplied many times over the first readings.

Sinker is the sixth book in Deighton's series starring the middle aged and "past it" British spy Bernard Samson. However, this book is different from the other five in that it is written in the third person rather than the first. This allows the reader a greater insight into the doings of other members of the cast, particularly Brett, and makes us realise how Bernard has been used as a pawn in the bigger picture. Previously we were encouraged to believe that Bernard knew everything, that he was the professional in this game played out by amateurs behind their desks in London.

Sinker lets us into the world of Fiona, Bernard's estranged wife who defected to the other side and works for the Stasi in East Berlin. Deighton examines Fiona's life and her fears thoughtfully and realistically, but once again showing how she too is little more than a pawn in what is and also has been a man's game based on old promises, betrayal and the old school tie system.

Unlike many other spy mystery authors, Deighton ensures that the characters are the most important and well developed part of the book. We know their loves and their innermost thoughts, but we are also left with the feeling that we do not quite know everything. It is this air of mystery which keeps the reader hooked until the dramatic conclusion of this book.

Overall, Sinker is essential reading but for absolute enjoyment should be read in conjunction with the preceding five books and the following trilogy.

Archer of the Yard used to laugh but that was some months ago Britain is a conquered state the King is in the Tower of London and Chruchill has been executed. Some Britons carry on the fight there is a government in exile in Canada and there are groups closer to home who ambush mounted patrols but being scattered divided and basically without a plan the groups aren't going to last very long. Some others openly collaborate and Archer who is basically a good guy trying to do his best in a bad situation just wants to do what he has always done-solve crimes.

Now it is this point that things rapidly start to spiral out of control.

Overall-The only issue I have with the book is this why would the weak English resistance look to Archer to help? Also why would the German occupiers trust Archer? Oh course the answer is simple they do this because the narrative requires it but I am not wholly convinced.

What if Germany occupied England during WWII, that is the premise of this novel by Len Deighton. SS GB" is a thoroughly fascinating, absorbing, terrific novel--a first-rate murder mystery wrapped in a huge, wartime conspiracy, with a detailed, completely believable backdrop of Britain defeated and occupied by the Nazis. A real page turner sure to please not just Deighton fans but anyone who loves history.

This was a great book for many reasons. First of all, it was thrilling and moved very quickly. But it also had depth and intelligence. The picture he paints of German occupied England is very beleivable. Most of all, the plot was thick and there were some good turns and twists, especially at the end.

"SS GB" is a thoroughly fascinating, absorbing, terrific novel--a first-rate murder mystery wrapped in a huge, wartime conspiracy, with a detailed, completely believable backdrop of Britain defeated and occupied by the Nazis. It is literally impossible to put this book down once you've started. The characters are unforgettable: cool but overwhelmed Detective Superintendent "Archer of the Yard," the sleek, frighteningly menacing SS Standartenfuhrer Huth, the double-edged General Kellermann, loyal Harry Woods, vivacious Barbara Barga--all come to life in a crackerjack spy plot executed on a global basis. Do not miss this book!

It's November 1941 in Nazi-occupied Britain, and Detective Inspector Archer of Scotland Yard finds himself reporting to SS Gruppenfuehrer Fritz Kellermann. The King is a prisoner in the Tower of London; Churchill has been shot after a brief trial in Berlin; Germany and the USSR are still the best of friends; and the USA is reluctant to intervene. Austerity holds Britain in its icy grip, with luxuries more or less limited to the German occupying forces and those who succeed in ingratiating themselves.

The successful invasion left swathes of ruin and destruction that have not yet been repaired. The blackened shell of a Panzer IV tank still sits halfway up Wimbledon high street. Anyone violating curfew, or breaking regulations, is likely to be shot or sent to a concentration camp. Yet there is no point in rebellion - that would just get more people killed. Apparently, the only way forward is to cooperate with the Germans. Kellermann hints to Archer that his young son might possibly attend the good German school in Highgate... On the other hand, perhaps he should be sent to a training school for young Nazis in Germany.

While developing one of his usual opaque plots, Deighton cleverly shows the dilemma facing Archer and others in positions of responsibility. We see the British resistance as more like the present-day Iraqi insurgency (depicted as terrorists, criminals and diehards) than in the heroic light that has retrospectively fallen on those who persisted in fighting the Nazis after their governments had surrendered.

As usual in a Deighton story, it is no use trying to work out which side anyone is on. Mostly, each of the leading players is on his (or her) own side. The question is: who can profit most by cooperating with whom? The answers turn out to be surprising indeed. Tension starts to build with the abrupt arrival of SS Standartenfuehrer Huth from Berlin - a man who stands for no nonsense, works for Himmler, and has dauntingly direct methods. Can the Resistance exploit tensions between the German Army and the SS to rescue the King? What is the secret of the scientist who is found shot dead, apparently suffering from an extreme case of sunburn? Add a beautiful American journalist, a sinister British secret service officer, a US military expedition, sundry criminals, black-marketeers and collaborators, stir vigorously... and get ready for some stunning entertainment.

This was Deighton's second book, before he became vaguely hackish and joined the Ludlum/Forsythe "hefty Cold War thriller" gang. Here he has style to burn, definitely influenced by Chandler but not at all a pastiche or pale imitation. His sentences are crisp and always un-cliched; his attitude, as filtered through his nameless British protagonist, is cynical and put-upon and tough as a blackjack. You're more than welcome to picture Michael Caine embodying the anti-hero, as he did in the effective (though a bit uneven) film.

on the second reading I found it quite annoying that Deighton is constantly playing some strange game:

1. Colonel Stok is at least 65 years old (the action takes place in 1963 and he participated in the Russian revolution in 1917 as an adult). It is a big stretch to believe that there are some colonels that are that old but it is impossible to believe that he will wear a corporal uniform to hide his position or that he was a captain in 1945. His name is intentionally mangled and his last name is anything but Russian.

2. Jewish girl is thinking about how special is it to visit her mother on Christmas.

3. French are eager to execute a Communist FTP member for war-time assassination of a collaborator. The whole thing seems quite ridiculous in addition to that in 1963 Commies were one of the biggest political parties in France and would be able to protect some of their own on this matter.

4. The whole 15 years long extremely dangerous affair was going to net just a few millions?????

I will read anything by Len Deighton and did so this past summer.7 books in all.
This was one of the best and I am still thinking about it months later.
His sense of style and turn of phrase includeds all the elements that make a fine writer.

This was the second Len Deighton I read and words escape me as to how I felt about it. The suspense started on the first page and carried through the entire book, with virtually no lapses in the storyline. The characters were extremely interesting and well developed...I could almost picture them as real people in post-war Berlin. I rank this book alongside "The Spy Who Came in From the Cold" and the Smiley trilogy, both by John LeCarre. I highly recommend this book to anyone that enjoys a good read.

An oldie but goldie in the cold war spy double double-crossing genre. This has an original 1964 publication date. It came after Spy Story. Some characters recurr in The Ipcress File where the proragonist (nameless in this) is called Palmer. The Spy Who Came in From the Cold had already been written (and we'd had Graham Greene).
I remembered it for the ingenious plotting. Re-reading it I'm struck by the quality of the prose. Later Len Deightons don't contain such fancy writing. He loves describing the shabby and dingy:
"I looked around at Grenade's office: the brown-stained wainscotting, the plaster walls discolored in patches near the ceiling and the old-fashioned metal radiators under which a rash of cream-colored pimples proclaimed the haste of a clumsy painter."

These are the first 3 of the 9 books with Bernard Samson as the major character. Game, Set and Match; Hook, Line and Sinker; Faith, Hope and Charity. Samson works for British intelligence during the cold war era. Samdon, although British, was raised in post WWII Berlin when his father was the Berlin chief of British Intelligence. There is a constant thread with Samson through each book, yet each book stands alone. All are good reads. Deighton is an historian and doesn't skimp on historical details. Deighton's explanation of Berliners reaction to President Kennedy's famous "Ich bin Berliner" speach alone is worth the read. The series, 9 books, gets a 5 star rating.

I would first like to say that this review is not only for "Game, Set and Match", but also for the other two trilogies, "Hook, Line and Sinker", and "Faith, Hope and Charity". I believe that all nine works must be spoken of here, or the mood that the author creates will have been lost.
From the first sentence in "Berlin Match" to the last paragraph of "Charity", Len Deighton has created a masterpiece of intrigue, double-dealing and the cloak and dagger mentality that is peculiar to the British Secret Service. Looking at Bernard Samson and his family, friends, enemies and detractors has made for an extremely interesting read: I believe that I read all nine in about a month and a half.
In a style similar to John LeCarre, Deighton takes the reader on a roller-coaster ride that starts out with trepidation, builds to a almost certain climax, only to finish with an entirely different ending than anticipated. I disagreed with the author's statement that each novel can stand alone and be read in any sequence. I believe that each book laid a groundwork that the following novel picked up and developed further.
I highly recommend this nine volume series and would welcome Mr. Deighton to write a final Bernard Samson work. Enjoy, and good readuing!

These are the first three of nine in the total series, all great reads and able to stand alone, definitely the best trilogy of the nine.

This is a great first book on the Battle of Britain. I have enjoyed many Max Hastings and Len Deighton history books because of their ability to make these subjects very readable. The book includes sections on the equipment of both sides of the Battle and keeps the book personal and interesting. The die hard history buffs will probably not care for this book as much as some because it lacks the thoroughness of an in-depth account. This book is excellent as an introduction to the Battle or military history in general.

This book provides an excellent overview of the the Battle of Britain. One gets the impression that this book was intended to be the pictorial compliment to the author's more in depth account of the battle 'Fighter'. Included are many photographs, drawings, charts and maps which help explain the battle on a day by day basis. The book also looks at air power and technology from 1918-1939, the rise of the Luftwaffe, aircraft designs and radar and some of the personalities involved with the battle. Included are many personal accounts from the combatants themselves that along with the pictorial content bring the battle to life. Some brief analysis is provided on where the RAF got it right and where the Luftwaffe got it wrong. Overall a delightful book which is an easy read and an excellent starting point of reference.

Len Deighton's forward almost says it all... an autobiography about living 100 lives in one lifetime! I would add that Erik Hazelhoff's life story (stories) contained a definite element of metaphysical nous...or perhaps I should say, the detached arrogance of one who knows he does not die. And,I found myself thinking of only one other similar personality who would break a Queen's heart...Captain Jack Sparrow, a complex man who loves his freedom and ignores "Keep Off the Grass" signs. Awaiting the Magnum Opus, please.

So daring and exotic are Erik Hazelhoff's adventures and so strange are some of the coincidences, that if this were fiction, a reader might be excused for finding it "unrealistic." Yet this is the story of a real man who has believed all his life in challenging fate, forging ahead, doing what he had to do, and not looking back. Unwilling to accept "impossibilities," he has constantly challenged the status quo, often in wildly heroic actions. Seemingly fearless, he learned from his earliest childhood in Dutch Java that Fear dwelt in a Black Cave, but "you must defy him, and a pebble in your mouth will protect you." Hazelhoff has spent his entire life with a pebble in his mouth, boldly marching past Black Caves which have swallowed lesser men.

A consummate writer whose first article was published when he was only sixteen, Hazelhoff vividly, often humorously, and always candidly recreates his childhood in Java and his various lives as a ranch hand in Argentina, as a law student in Leiden, as a friend of Queen Wilhelmina during her World War II exile in England, and as a member of the Dutch underground during the German Occupation. Eventually, despite poor eyesight, he became a pilot for the RAF, making many bombing runs over Germany as a Pathfinder pilot. An aide to Queen Wilhelmina after she returned to Holland, he also managed to work in Hollywood, where as Erik Drake, he had some screen roles. As a VP for the fledgling NBC, he worked both in news and in advertising, headed Radio Free Europe, wrote a book about his war experiences, and even engaged in oil exploration off the coast of Israel. In each of these "incarnations," he had adventures galore, always defying fate and accepting whatever happened without complaints and "what-ifs."

Throughout this exciting and beautifully written autobiography, Hazelhoff reveals his belief in core values. He defends his country, honors his word, shows genuine respect for those worthy of it, and refuses to take himself seriously. His autobiography reveals him to be one of the genuine heroes of the 20th century, though he would probably be embarrassed to be considered one, and his notes on his late years, in which he contemplates his own death, are both poignant and memorable for his revelations of what he has learned and the manner in which he will, some day, face the Black Cave. This is a book which has something for everyone, containing personal insights on history, observations about society, and revelations of the personal philosophy which has allowed him to become, over the course of eighty-plus years, an inspiration to men and women of all cultures and all ages. Mary Whipple

The author guides you through the minefields of menus and carte de vins. Here is everything you want to know about French home cooking presented in a form so usable and appealing you will wonder how you ever got along without it! You will find here: a lexique of French/English culinary terms; a guide to the French menu and wine list; a comprehensive and easy-to-follow chart sauces, French cheeses, charcuterie, butchery and ways with the vegetable, and so much more!