“The end justifies the means” - the heroes of the novels of the English writer John Le Carré live and act according to this formula. A former diplomat, familiar first-hand with the specifics of the work of the secret services, the author introduces the reader to a world hidden from prying eyes, the inhabitants of which are constantly in mortal danger. The one who survives here is the one who stops at nothing to achieve his goal. But even after getting out of the “high tension” zone, the former agent cannot be calm about his life: it could be cut short at any moment by a bullet sent by “his own people.”