The Mission Song

The Mission Song
John Le Carre
Little, Brown and Company
ISBN: 0-316-01674-8
Fiction, Espionage, Thriller
Reviewed by Kevin Aguanno

The Master has done it again. John Le Carre the venerable master storyteller has published a new novel that bridges two worlds: the political quagmire of the Congo, and the Western world where double-talking politicos interfere in public for the good of the Congolese and in private to line their own pockets.
The story centers around Bruno Salvador, a linguist who supplements his income as a hired translator for corporate clients with occasional stints with British Intelligence translating electronic signals intercepts. With his thorough grasp of all the languages and dialects of the Congo region. Salvador is pulled in to a special assignment, to translate at a secret peace negotiation where a group of powerful Western industrialists conspire with tribal and military leaders to hold a coup wherein they will place their own moderate leader who will run the country until they can hold free elections.
Salvador, having grown up in the Congo as the son of a British missionary and a Congolese woman, sees the nation as his homeland and wants to help out. His soon shattered when he realizes that the coup’s Western backers are not truly interested in peace in the region; rather, they seek economic concessions- such as exclusive mining rights for certain rare minerals- in exchange for their support. Salvador recoils when he learns of the extent of the concessions and how that will leave the Congolese people stripped of their most valuable resources and without the economic opportunity to improve their quality of life. Facing a struggle of conscience- his oaths to the British government versus his concern for the good of the Congo and its people- Salvador has to choose between his two worlds.
A well-paced espionage thriller, the story engages readers as they see Salvador decide between two worlds as he struggles against his conscience, his British employers, and the Western industrialists behind the coup who are seeking to silence him, forever.