Most of le Carre's novels are tied together by common characters, such as Harry and Ned. The Russia House is not really a sequel to any of the earlier novels, although Harry mentions a few events from them. This particular novel exists on its own, depending not so much on continuing characters or past intrigues as on unique figures such as Barley and Katya and on the effort of a Soviet scientist to tell the world the truth about the Soviet Union's nuclear weapons. As with le Carre's other novels, The Russia House presents a realistic, dark world in which the human mind becomes confused, losing the distinction between right and wrong, and between "our side" and "their side."