British spy novelist John Le Carré is mad as hell.

Le Carré is mad at America and its closest ally, UK.

It’s no secret to careful readers of Le Carré that the author has turned anti-American in his autumn years.

In A Most Wanted Man, the young Chechen falls victim at the end to U.S. rendition (a fancy word for kidnapping).

And the anti-American anger continues in Le Carré’s new novel A Delicate Truth.

A Delicate Truth

The book revolves around three central characters – a crooked, arrogant and foolish British politician Fergus Quinn and two bureaucrats Paul Anderson/Christopher Probyn and Toby Bell – and an illegal operation.

Fergus Quinn is a minister in the New Labor government. There’s talk of a scandal in Quinn’s previous assignment at the Defense ministry.

But that doesn’t stop Quinn from embarking on a sleazy, illegal operation in the Gibraltar with the help of shady U.S. defense contractors.

As for the two bureaucrats, they’re a study in contrasts. Christopher is a dodo while Toby is sharp as a tack.

Indelicate Crimes

Quinn’s sleazy operation in the Gibraltar ends in …..

Le Carré is in full form in A Delicate Truth making no secret of his extreme distaste for where America now stands on the military side of things – the reliance on unreliable mercenaries, crooked corporate boors and their thuggish minions who don’t hesitate to resort to murder to prevent unsavory news from coming to light.

The UK government and its leaders are pilloried for being gullible, easily duped by crooked American charlatans who come disguised as corporations bearing names like Ethical Outcomes. 😉

Le Carré weaves a fine plot in A Delicate Truth, and caresses it along with touching phrases and short detours.

A Delicate Truth seems apposite in an age when private defense contractors are running amok in the U.S., UK and elsewhere and governments snoop constantly on their citizens.