The Human Factor

A very enjoyable Graham Greene novel of espionage in the British secret service.
There are plenty of plot outlines in other reviews, and hard not to offer spoilers to what is a fairly slow moving and sedate story. No car chases, no shootouts or airport arrests. Lots of SIS administration, phone calls from public phone boxes, and dead-letter drops.

Greene, with his background in MI6 during WWII brings to the novel the realism of how espionage works - none of the James Bond fiction here. Lots of bureaucracy, paperwork and process; double agents provide scraps of information and are inevitably not aware of how or why they are being used.

The writing is excellent, with Greene controlling the pace and tension being layered on as the story unwinds. Pressure is ramped on as noose tightens around the double agent. There is a bleakness to the novel, a level of resignation to being caught then killed or imprisoned. The men in the SIS are all flawed, portrayed as sad or lonely - one interested only in fishing; with another we see the increased distance from his daughter and the distaste with which his ex-wife views him; another who drinks heavily and longs for a relationship with his secretary.

The novel mostly though examines morality, loyalty and responsibility - and how they balance to justify actions. All set in a bleak, grey, British background of the 1970s.

Excellent. 4.5 stars