Karla's choice / Nick Harkaway.

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

The instant international bestseller set in the world of John le Carré's most iconic spy, George Smiley, written by acclaimed novelist Nick Harkaway

It is spring in 1963 and George Smiley has left the Circus. With the wreckage of the West's spy war against the Soviets strewn across Europe, he has eyes only for a more peaceful life. And indeed, with his marriage more secure than ever, there is a rumor that George Smiley might almost be happy.

But Control has other plans. A Russian agent has defected in the most unusual of circumstances, and the man he was sent to kill in London is nowhere to be found. Smiley reluctantly agrees to one last simple task: interview Szusanna, a Hungarian émigré and employee of the missing man, and sniff out a lead.

But in his absence, the shadows of Moscow have lengthened. Smiley soon finds himself entangled in a perilous mystery that will define the battles to come and set him on a collision course with the greatest enemy he will ever make.

Set in the missing decade between two iconic instalments in John le Carré's George Smiley saga, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Karla's Choice marks a momentous return to the world of spy fiction's greatest writer.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

John le Carré's Cold War super spy George Smiley is back in this novel set in the missing decade between The Spy Who Came in from the Cold and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. It's the spring of 1963, and Smiley has retired. He and his wife are enjoying their new life of peace and quiet. Then, a Russian spy on a kill mission defects, and Control insists that Smiley gets back in the game. At first, his assignment is to interview the woman to whom the Russian surrendered. However, Smiley gets increasingly involved in the twisting narrative surrounding the defector and the man he was supposed to assassinate. Writing under the pen name Harkaway (Titanium Noir), le Carré's son Nicholas Cornwell resurrects the characters from his father's novels to create a new and compelling story. Prose, plot, and character building make the old Smiley new again. Harkaway thoughtfully narrates the novel's foreword, explaining his reasons for reviving Smiley and apologizing to listeners who object to this audacious goal. Primary narrator Simon Russell Beale provides a host of accents, including a British voice that contrasts nicely with his renditions of Hungarian and Russian characters. VERDICT This spy thriller gives new life to a much-loved character. Harkaway, whose writing rivals his father's, has delivered a treat for fans of classic spy thrillers.--Joanna M. Burkhardt

Publishers Weekly Review

George Smiley returns in this terrific spy saga from John Le Carré's son, Titanium Noir author Nicholas Cornwell (writing under the Harkaway pseudonym). In 1963, Hungarian publisher Laszlo Bánáti fails to show up at his office in London. Instead, a Soviet assassin arrives, telling Bánáti's assistant, Susanna Gero, "I am here to kill your Mr. Bánáti... but I have changed my mind." Gero cleverly manages to bring the would-be assassin to British intelligence, who task the happily retired Smiley with finding Bánáti and figuring out why the Soviets want him dead. Smiley plunges behind Soviet lines, launching a labyrinthine mission that puts him back on the trail of his old nemesis, Karla, head of the KGB, and fills in narrative gaps between Le Carré's The Spy Who Came in from the Cold and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. Longtime Smiley fans will delight in the enormous cast of familiar characters, the thoughtful meditations on the morality of espionage, and the lived-in tradecraft. Harkaway brilliantly channels his late father's voice, and in the process delivers an essential new chapter for Smiley and Karla. Agent: Jonny Geller, Curtis Brown U.K. (Oct.)

Kirkus Book Review

Harkaway, who's John le Carré's son, slips this spy tale into the 10-year gap betweenThe Spy Who Came In From the Cold (1963) andTinker Tailor Soldier Spy (1974). In London in the early spring of 1963, a Hungarian assassin named Miki Bortnik shows up at a literary agent's office to kill a man named Laszlo Bánáti, on instructions from the Thirteenth Directorate (think KGB). But the repentant killer confesses to Bánáti's assistant, Susanna Gero, that God has told him not to do it. In any case, Bánáti has disappeared. Susanna tells MI6, who naturally wants to know what the Soviets are up to. Meanwhile, George Smiley has retired from the Circus (MI6) and is spending his time with his wife, Ann. "There was a rumour--unconfirmed and a little scandalous--that George Smiley might almost be happy." Control (the head of British Intelligence) orders that Smiley be persuaded to deal with the case. Although it would be a temporary assignment, Smiley at first demurs, saying, "Let the old dog sit by the cooker." But he ultimately agrees, much to Ann's quiet exasperation. She knows he loves her, but the Circus is his "grey mistress." Bánáti is discovered to be a Soviet agent known as Róka, and now he's on the run. Smiley's nemesis is the unseen Soviet Intelligence officer known as Karla, a dark presence in three previous le Carré novels. The best intelligence work is slow, and "spying is waiting." The novel proceeds at a pace to match as it immerses the reader in a world of dread and drear, "shadows and sorrows." A Cold War yarn befitting the world of le Carré. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.