"Gripping and moving. . . . A marvelous return to the John le Carre of old, with all the captivating characters, finely rendered landscapes, and messy complexities that have always powered his best work." -<st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">San Francisco</st1:place></st1:City> Chronicle<BR><BR>Hailed everywhere as a masterpiece of suspense, John le Carre's return to <st1:place w:st="on">Africa</st1:place> is the story of Bruno Salvador (aka Salvo), the 25-year-old orphaned love child of an Irish missionary and a Congolese woman. Quickly rising to the top of his profession as an interpreter, Salvo is dispatched by British Intelligence to a top-secret meeting between Western financiers and East Congolese warlords, where he hears things not intended for his ears--and is forced to interpret matters never intended for his reawoken African conscience. By turns thriller, love story, and comic allegory of our times, <EM>The Mission Song</EM> recounts Salvo's heroically naive journey out of the dark of Western hypocrisy and into the heart of lightness.<BR><BR>"Entertaining... Salvo may be the author's most naive creation to date, but he is also one of the most fascinating and engaging... The atmosphere of intrigue builds nicely and convincingly."-<st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Baltimore</st1:place></st1:City> Sun<BR><BR>"An incendiary tale... Le Carre's understanding of how the world ticks is, as always, machete sharp." -<st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">USA</st1:place></st1:country-region> TODAY<BR><BR>"To categorize Le Carre, as many do, as a 'spy' novelist is to do him a disservice; he uses the world of cloak-and-dagger much as Conrad used the sea--to explore the dark places in human nature.' -<st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Washington</st1:place></st1:State> Post Book World<BR><BR>"Le Carre's insight into the dense, dangerous nexus of corporate and government interests is chillingly assured." -New York Times Book Review<BR><BR>"Engaging, masterfully told... <EM>The Mission Song</EM> offers an emotional resonance that stays with a reader long after the book is done." -Cleveland Plain Dealer