The Taper Man

Name: The Taper Man
Brand: Penguin UK
Price: 19.99 AUD
Availability: PreOrder

A Novel of John le Carre's Circus

By: Nick Harkaway

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Paperback | 10 November 2026 | Edition Number 1

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Format
Paperback

Dimensions(cm)
23.3 x 15.6 x 3.2

Paperback

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Available: 10th November 2026

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Nick Harkaway's bestselling take on George Smiley is back, and this time the iconic spy is on the trail of a traitor right at the top of American intelligence…

It is 1965, and the Cold War has never been colder. The Circus – the secret centre of British intelligence – has one prize asset left in Moscow: a senior Red Army officer with access to the enemy’s deepest secrets. But when a British agent is shot in Helsinki, George Smiley uncovers a Soviet operation that imperils this irreplaceable source.

The trail leads Smiley not to Berlin or Vienna, but Los Angeles – the most foreign place he has ever known. There, in the murky heart of US intelligence, a Communist sleeper agent – a ‘Taper Man’ – is poised to expose Britain’s operative in Moscow. To save him, Smiley must navigate an America riven with political tension, all while his spy in Leningrad, Roy Bland, risks everything in pursuit of a Russian defector who holds the final piece of the puzzle.

The Taper Man, the latest novel by Sunday Times bestselling author Nick Harkaway, is a gripping return to the shadow world of John le Carré. Elegant, tense and morally intricate, it is an extraordinary and timely continuation of one of literature’s greatest espionage legacies – and a landmark work of modern spy fiction.

About the Author

Nick Harkaway is the acclaimed author of Gnomon, The Gone-Away World, Angelmaker, Tigerman, Titanium Noir and Karla’s Choice. He is the son of John le Carré, and has a unique insight into his father’s work. The Guardian writes of Harkaway that ‘his great gift as a novelist is to merge the pace, wit and clarity of the best "popular" literature with the ambition, complexity and irony of the so-called "literary novel" – a rare combination which le Carré himself also achieved.’ He lives in London with his wife and two children.

Industry Reviews

Harkaway has done an extraordinarily good job with his father’s legacy

The Telegraph

Harkaway is a fine writer and he has resurrected his father’s books brilliantly

The I

Le Carre’s legacy is in good hands – Smiley is back with a vengeance!

Ian Rankin

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