A SMALL TOWN IN GERMANY

by John LeCarro ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 21, 1968

Ten days in a ""recent future"" before West Germany must make a stand on the Common Market. Anti-this alliance is one Karfeld, who has reached the reactionaries and is riding on a crest of student popularity, an enthusiasm that runs to lethal demonstrations. Karfeld represents a threat not only to the future of the Market but also to the delicate German-British relationship. And the British Embassy itself has a defector who has vanished with enough secrets to insure a devastating split. The question here is why? And as Leo Harting is traced, the personality of the man becomes a subtle, fascinating puzzle. An archivist, a well-liked man with an astonishing memory and a more surprising ingenuity, he is defended by his colleagues even now. A man with a fatal curiosity and a man obsessed. . . . What did Karfeld ""owe"" this rather obscure individual? Certainly a surprise ending in the Le Carre tradition. And a fused portrait of the men behind the busy-work, men with their own strange madness--""The files get hold of you; and you can't help it. They'd rule your life if you ever let them."" Classify this one Top Secret-A.

Pub Date: Oct. 21, 1968

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Coward-McCann

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1968

Categories: FICTION