ABSOLUTE FRIENDS

English Teddy Mundy and German Sasha are the absolute friends of the title. Their intersecting lives and involvement in espionage create an uncommon structure for John le Carré's timely and provocative new novel. The first two-thirds of the flashback-laden plot focuses mostly on Mundy, his seedy life as cashiered double agent/current tour guide in a Bavarian castle and his past adventures with Sasha. The last third of the book concerns a scheme that the revolutionary Sasha ("I have the Lutheran curse. Conviction without action has no meaning.") presents to Mundy to undermine the American/British incursion in Iraq with the backing of a mysterious philanthropist. John Lee handles the many characters and accents well; he is at his best in pacing the book so that the listener enjoys complete clarity about the timeframe of the shifting events. Lee also excels in the dramatic final scenes. G.H. (c) AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine [Published: FEB/ MAR 05]