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Rating: 
Summary: Must read as a series; a dry, Brit, espionage mystery
Review: Found this mystery lacking in the "page turner" department, though the British characters come to life and the pieces finally fall into place at the end. A post-Cold War setting between Berlin, Warsaw and London creates a confusing but lively backdrop for espionage and romance. The book is part of a series, therefore, reading "Hope" as a "stand alone" may confuse the reader. Best parts are the descriptions of former, wealthy, Polish estates and the relationship between Samson, Volkmann and Hening. Theresa T. Vail
Rating:
Summary: Not quite as good as the last novel.
Review: Bernard does nothing but mope about Fiona the whole time, but in the end it looks like Bernared won't be her victum anymore.
Rating: 
Summary: Average
Review: Let me start by saying that this whole series is best suited to be read in order. I picked one up here and there and in doing so mixed the order up. What that meant is that I had to do a little extra thinking at times and on some books the light bulbs went off for some of my earlier questions. I also think these books are best suited to someone that is looking for a real characters driven spy story and not a action packed James Bond shoot em up. Deighton is a writer, therefore he spends time getting to know the characters, their personalities - what they are thinking, not just when they are reloading their gun. This being said I did think this book could have used a bit more action to punch it up, get the pace up a notch or two. Overall it is a good, solid book that gives you a decent amount of entertainment.
Rating:
Summary: Average
Review: Let me start by saying that this whole series is best suited to be read in order. I picked one up here and there and in doing so mixed the order up. What that meant is that I had to do a little extra thinking at times and on some books the light bulbs went off for some of my earlier questions. I also think these books are best suited to someone that is looking for a real characters driven spy story and not a action packed James Bond shoot em up. Deighton is a writer, therefore he spends time getting to know the characters, their personalities - what they are thinking, not just when they are reloading their gun. This being said I did think this book could have used a bit more action to punch it up, get the pace up a notch or two. Overall it is a good, solid book that gives you a decent amount of entertainment.
Rating: 
Summary: Fear would be a better title
Review: The Samson series may not be for everybody. It lacks the larger than life setting of a James Bond whopper and it doesn't have all the background of LeCarre's Smiley tales.
But these are good, realistic reads. Hope is no different and one of the best in the Samson series in my opinion.
Deighton deals with some interesting, complex problems that were facing the spy services at the time and still are. Such as what's the truth, what will happen in this changing world and how far is too far to go in situations.
What I think he does very well is describing Bernard Samson's fear. Several passages in the book show what fear does to a man in extreme situations. You can almost feel Samson's frayed nerves.
He's human and with all the drawbacks that brings a man. To some, humanity foilables may not be interesting fodder for novels. If you want to know the super agent is always going to bed the girl and blow up the volcano HQ then maybe Samson and other books like it isn't your bag ... baby.
If you want a little touch of realism with your tea then grab all the Samson books plus Deighton's novel Winter, which is a prequel.
I agree with others who said these things should be read in order (Winter, Berlin Game, Mexico Set, London Match, Spy Hook, Spy Line, Spy Sinker, Faith, Hope and lastly Charity), but if you were to grab Hope out of sequence it wouldn't be that big a deal. Deighton gives the right level of background.
This is a good book. Pick it up.
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