`A work of rare brilliance` The Times Charmer, fabulist and tailor to Panama`s rich and powerful, Harry Pendel loves to tell stories. But when the British spy Andrew Osnard - a man of large appetites, for women, information and above all money - walks into his shop, Harry`s fantastical inventions take on a life of their own. Soon he finds himself out of his depth in an international game he can never hope to win. Le Carre`s savage satire on the espionage trade is set in a corrupt universe without heroes or honour, where the innocent are collateral damage and treachery plays out as tragic farce. `A tour de force in which almost every convention of the classic spy novel is violated` The New York Times Book Review