Fast-paced from start to finish, 'The Honourable Schoolboy' is fired by le Carre's conviction regarding evil done and its consequences.

I'm not a very fast-paced person.

For John le Carre, it was always who's betraying who: the hall-of-mirrors kind of thing. When you go back to the '30s, it's a case of good vs. evil, and no kidding. When I have a hero who believes France and Britain are on the right side, a reader is not going to question that.

I look for the dark story, where something secret was done. I read and read and pick up the trail of a true story. I use nothing but true stories. They are so much better than phony ones.

Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction.

They like a fast pace. It was a fast-paced game at some points. Just going up against their post players is going to be a challenge, but it's something we look forward to.