Reading John le Carre invites one to write twisted, dark romps of spy thrillers. Plots worthy of any thriller hack but limned with virtuoso wordsmithing! I dashed through A Legacy of Spies, a final (I believe) le Carre trot through his world of Smiley. This may just end up as a sidelight to the author’s classics, but a complete pleasure nonetheless. By the way, George Smiley isn’t given a star role here but what we get is pitch-perfect. My recommendation? Grab, devour, and commence writing . . . you too have a Smiley within you.