I have just finished John Le Carré’s Mission Song. It is an thriller, set in the shadier realms of British international relations. The details of the book are well-researched, the plot gripping. However, my enjoyment was marred by the mental stretch necessary to imagine that the protagonist could be so monumentally naive. Typically, the novel ends in a le Carréan anticlimax. If you’ve read The Constant Gardener (or seen the film) you’ll have some idea where the plot is going. Ultimately, nowhere much. The novel is an interesting context piece, but it won’t change your life or outlook.