[John Gardner] has sometimes been compared to Ian Fleming, but in fact the hero of this new spy thriller [The Garden of Weapons]—a German-born, British intelligence officer named Herbie Kruger—bears little resemblance to James Bond. Herbie … is fat, sexually impotent, passionately devoted to the music of Gustav Mahler … and tends to regard himself, in both his life and work, as a failure—a view which the events of The Garden of Weapons do much to support.

All of which, it might seem, not only distinguishes Gardner's hero from that of Fleming's but provides little in the way of character or plot which could serve as a basis for a spy thriller. In fact, however, Herbie and his troubles serve beautifully. The Garden of Weapons is a skillfully crafted novel which sustains a high level of suspense from start to finish.

Herbie's troubles begin when he learns...