Deighton is a master of the flawed, well-meaning or even heroic character leading into tragedy, because the universe doesn't work the way you'd want it to, and your "good" qualities are as likely as your flaws to cause your downfall.Got to the end with everyone's schemes revealed and Archer realising how much he was caught between everything, but the saddest reveal isHarry Woods, the man who wouldn't back down and stop and had been a secret minor resistance man, turned into a collaborator to protect Archer's son without Archer knowing - which as I type I realise is likely a parallel of Archer brownnosing to get Harry's brother off a deportation order.
Its my favorite AH novel for a reason.
It's really brilliant. One of my earliest, along with the very different Times Without Number