Publisher, Hachette Audio (September 2006)

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Abandoned by both his Irish father and Congolese mother, Bruno Salvador has long looked for someone to guide his life. He has found it in Mr. Anderson of British Intelligence.

Bruno's African upbringing, and fluency in numerous African languages, has made him a top interpreter in London, useful to businesses, hospitals, diplomats-and spies. Working for Anderson in a clandestine facility known as the "Chat Room," Salvo (as he's known) translates intercepted phone calls, bugged recordings, snatched voice mail messages. When Anderson sends him to a mysterious island to interpret during a secret conference between Central African warlords, Bruno thinks he is helping Britain bring peace to a bloody corner of the world. But then he hears something he should not have....

Building upon the box office success of le Carré's The Constant Gardener (like THE MISSION SONG, built around turmoil and conspiracy in Africa) and le Carré's laser eye for the complexity of the modern world (seen in Absolute Friends' prediction that the Iraq war would be based on phony and manipulated intelligence), this new novel is a crowning achievement, full of politics, heart, and the sort of suspense that nobody in the world does better.

About the Author: John le Carre is the author of numerous classic, bestselling novels, including The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, The Little Drummer Girl, and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. Several of his novels have been made into major motion pictures, including The Tailor of Panama and The Russia House. In the 1950s he worked for British Intelligence. He lives in Cornwall, England.

About the Performer: David Oyelowo is well known for his television roles in Spooks and As Time Goes By and has appeared in the films As You Like It and A Sound of Thunder. He won an Ian Charleson award for his lead performance in Henry VI with the Royal Shakespeare Company.