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A Most Wanted Manby John Le Carre |
Arlene Almas:
This is a most engrossing modern-day political thriller about Isa,
a young Muslim man from Chechnya who suddenly appears in Hamburg,
Germany seeking asylum and assistance. He may have been tortured;
he may be a terrorist on a mission. He is befriended by a Muslim
Turkish woman and her son, by a young woman lawyer at an organization
which helps immigrants, and by a sympathetic banker whose family bank
has been the repository for a great deal of money in an account which
apparently belonged to Isa's father. Isa wishes to use his fortune
to become a doctor and to help the struggling people of Chechnya.
His four supporters seem to come under Isa's spell and are determined
to help him gain asylum and residency in Germany. On the other hand,
German, British, and American security agents are desperate to find
the suspected Chechen terrorist and deport him to any of several
countries where he is certain to be arrested and imprisoned.
I greatly enjoyed this novel - it is exciting, intelligent,
and extremely relevant to the world we live in.
Rating: *****
