A Most Wanted Man
First edition
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| Author | John le Carré |
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| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Hodder & Stoughton |
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Publication date
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September, 2008 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover) |
| Pages | 336pp |
| ISBN | |
| Preceded by | The Mission Song |
| Followed by | Our Kind of Traitor |
A Most Wanted Man is a thriller/espionage novel by John le Carré published in September 2008 by Hodder & Stoughton in the United Kingdom and in October 2008 by Scribner in the United States.
A young Chechen ex-prisoner arrives illegally in Germany, practically uneducated and destitute, but with a claim to a fortune held in a private bank. This novel, set in Hamburg where the author was once a British agent and consul, is based on the contemporary themes of the international war on terror, money laundering, and the conflicting interests of different officers and agents and laymen who are affected.
The novel provides an extended, if oblique, critique of the American policy under President George W. Bush of extraordinary rendition. The novel's events and characters were inspired by the real-life story of Murat Kurnaz, a Turkish citizen and legal resident of Germany who, after being arrested in Pakistan in 2001, was detained and claims to have been tortured in American military detention camps, first at Kandahar in Afghanistan and then at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, before being released in 2006.
A young Turkish boxing champion in Hamburg notices he is being shadowed by a tall gaunt young man in a black coat, who turns up on his doorstep and demands hospitality. Somewhat suspiciously, they allow Issa to stay in the attic as he announces his desire to become a doctor. He contacts a human rights organisation whose attractive young bike-riding lawyer, Annabel Richter, takes his case to a British bank in the city. She bases her case to the owner, Tommy Brue, on a mysterious Lippizaner fund established by his father and held by the bank. When Brue meets Issa, he claims he is the son of a Russian, Colonel Karpov, who put his money in the fund, but after Brue's grilling, he refuses to claim his inheritance. Brue, who by this time is falling under Annabel's spell, gives her a large personal cheque to cover expenses.
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