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Week of October 29, 2017

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ORIGIN
Dan Brown
Cover of ORIGIN

ORIGIN

by Dan Brown · Doubleday

5 wks at #1 · 2 on list

An extract from Origin, the spell-binding new thriller from the bestselling author of The Da Vinci Code and Inferno. Dan Brown's new novel, Origin, features renowned Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon and is set in Spain, where Langdon is drawn into a terrifying race against time that will bring him face-to-face with a world-shaking truth that has remained buried - until now. This preview includes the prologue and first chapter of Origin. Origin is out on 3rd October 2017. 'Dan Brown is the master of the intellectual cliffhanger' Wall Street Journal 'As engaging a hero as you could wish for' Mail on Sunday 'For anyone who wants more brain-food than thrillers normally provide' Sunday Times

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SLEEPING BEAUTIES
Stephen King and Owen King
Cover of SLEEPING BEAUTIES

SLEEPING BEAUTIES

by Stephen King and Owen King · Scribner

3 wks on list

In this spectacular father/son collaboration, Stephen King and Owen King tell the highest of high-stakes stories: what might happen if women disappeared from the world of men? All around the world, something is happening to women when they fall asleep; they become shrouded in a cocoon-like gauze. If awakened, if the gauze wrapping their bodies is disturbed, the women become feral and spectacularly violent... In the small town of Dooling, West Virginia, the virus is spreading through a women's prison, affecting all the inmates except one. Soon, word spreads about the mysterious Evie, who seems able to sleep - and wake. Is she a medical anomaly or a demon to be slain? The abandoned men, left to their increasingly primal devices, are fighting each other, while Dooling's Sheriff, Lila Norcross, is just fighting to stay awake. And the sleeping women are about to open their eyes to a new world altogether...

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FAIRYTALE
Danielle Steel
Cover of FAIRYTALE

FAIRYTALE

by Danielle Steel · Delacorte Press

1 wks on list

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A wonderful, beautifully told tale from America’s favorite novelist, Fairytale is a captivating example of the truths that will always withstand even the darkest storms, and a reminder that sometimes fairytales do come true, and good prevails over evil in the end. Camille Lammenais has grown up in the beauty of the Napa Valley, surrounded by acres of her family’s vineyards. Her parents, Christophe and Joy, still deeply in love after two decades of marriage, have built a renowned winery and château modeled after Christophe’s ancient family estate in his native Bordeaux. Camille has had a perfect childhood, safe in her parents’ love. After graduating from Stanford, she returns to help manage Château Joy, her lifetime goal. But their fairytale ends suddenly with her mother’s death from cancer. Six months after losing his wife, the devastated Christophe is easy prey for a mysterious, charming Frenchwoman visiting the valley. The Countess de Pantin is the essence of Parisian seductiveness and sophistication. Within weeks they are a clandestine couple, making love like teenagers, glowing with their secret. Camille, still grieving for her mother, is shocked by the news that her father intends to remarry. Then she begins to see past the alluring looks, designer clothes, and elegant manners of the countess, while her innocent father is trapped in her web. When tragedy strikes again, Camille is at her stepmother’s mercy, and that of the two evil stepbrothers who appear. Camille needs to fight—first for her legacy, and then for her very life. But as she grapples with the plots being carried out against her, the countess’s elderly, kind, clever mother becomes her only ally, and a childhood friend emerges as a prince worthy of any fairytale.

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A COLUMN OF FIRE
Ken Follett
Cover of A COLUMN OF FIRE

A COLUMN OF FIRE

by Ken Follett · Viking Press

5 wks on list

Millions of readers have been enthralled by the saga that began in The Pillars of the Earth and World Without End, which now continues with Ken Follett's magnificent, gripping A Column of Fire. A WORLD IN TURMOIL 1558, and Europe is in revolt as religious hatred sweeps the continent. Elizabeth Tudor has ascended to the throne but she is not safe in this dangerous new world. There are many who would see her removed, not least Mary Queens of Scots, who lies in wait in Paris. A NEW ORDER Elizabeth determines to set up a new secret service: a group of resourceful spies and courageous agents entrusted to keep her safe and in power. As she searches for those who will make the difference, one man stands out. A MAN WHO WOULD DIE FOR HIS QUEEN For Ned Willard the opportunity to serve his queen is God-sent. He cannot stay in Kingsbridge and watch the love of his life marry another, and as fires burn and extremism begins to spark throughout Europe, Ned makes his choice. He will spend his life protecting his monarch from the tyrants who aim to destroy her or die trying . . .

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THE RULES OF MAGIC
Alice Hoffman
Cover of THE RULES OF MAGIC

THE RULES OF MAGIC

by Alice Hoffman · Simon & Schuster

1 wks on list

Everyone needs a little magic in their lives... The Rules of Magic is the long-awaited prequel to Practical Magic, and a New York Times bestseller and Reese Witherspoon's Book Club pick! In this sparkling prequel we meet the Aunts from Practical Magic, sisters Frances and Jet and Vincent, their brother. From the beginning their mother Susanna knew they were unique: Franny with her skin as pale as milk and blood red hair, who could commune with birds; Jet as shy as she is beautiful, who knows what others are thinking, and Vincent so charismatic that he was built for trouble. Susanna needed to set some rules of magic: no walking in the moonlight, no red shoes, no wearing black, no cats, no crows, no candles and certainly, absolutely, no books about magic… But the Owens siblings are desperate to uncover who they really are. Each heads down a life-altering course, filled with secrets and truths, devastation and joy, and magic and love. Despite the warning handed down through the family for centuries – Know that for our family, love is a curse – they will all strive to break the rules and find true love. ***A perfect read for crisp autumn nights!*** Praise for The Rules of Magic: ‘The combination of magic with the universal themes of romantic love and the bond between siblings allows the reader to have one foot in a magical world and another in the realities of family life. Much like the bewitching heroines in this book.’ – The Lady ‘Utterly spellbinding’ - Heat ‘Shows the author at their best… She neatly intertwines their lives with a backdrop that brims with periodic detail. Gnomic maxims add to a wise, seductive, fabular tone… Thrilling and transportive’ – Sunday Times ‘Enchanting… Spellbinding and entertaining’ – Sunday Express ‘Hoffman explores Aunt Frances and Aunt Bridget’s (known here as Jet) awakening to the craft in the 1960s. Franny and Jet, along with their brother Vincent, stay with their Aunt Isabelle. Each of their gifts grow, but can they use them to break the family curse? The Rules of Magic is a gentle tale, perfect as the nights draw in' – Press Association ‘As efficient a slice of escapism as you would expect from Hoffman… Hoffman’s skill is to ground her light-as-a-feather tale in a very specific time and place: Manhattan in the Sixties. Wisely, she doesn’t rely on the momentous times to do too much work, but the heady atmospherics are expertly interwoven’ – Daily Mail ‘A bewitching, hard to put down tale of the consequences of magic, love and family’ - Bookbag

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THE CUBAN AFFAIR
Nelson DeMille
Cover of THE CUBAN AFFAIR

THE CUBAN AFFAIR

by Nelson DeMille · Simon & Schuster

4 wks on list

Nelson DeMille’s #1 New York Times bestseller, “an action-packed, relentlessly paced thriller” (Publishers Weekly, starred review), featuring DeMille’s newest character—U.S. Army combat veteran Daniel “Mac” MacCormick, a charter boat captain setting sail on his most dangerous cruise yet. Daniel Graham MacCormick—Mac for short—seems to have a pretty good life. At age thirty-five he’s living in Key West, owner of a forty-two-foot charter fishing boat, The Maine. Mac served five years in the Army as an infantry officer with two tours in Afghanistan. He returned with the Silver Star, two Purple Hearts, scars that don’t tan, and a boat with a big bank loan. Truth be told, Mac’s finances are more than a little shaky. One day, Mac is sitting in the famous Green Parrot Bar in Key West, contemplating his life, and waiting for Carlos, a hotshot Miami lawyer heavily involved with anti-Castro groups. Carlos wants to hire Mac for a ten-day fishing tournament to Cuba at the standard rate, but Mac suspects there is more to this and turns it down. The price then goes up to two million dollars, and Mac agrees to hear the deal, and meet Carlos’ clients—a beautiful Cuban-American woman named Sara Ortega, and a mysterious older Cuban exile, Eduardo Valazquez. Mac learns that there is sixty million American dollars hidden in Cuba by Sara’s grandfather when he fled Castro’s revolution. With the “Cuban Thaw” underway between Havana and Washington, Carlos, Eduardo, and Sara know it’s only a matter of time before someone finds the stash—by accident or on purpose. And Mac knows if he accepts this job, he’ll walk away rich…or not at all. The Cuban Affair “is a timely stay-up-all-night, nail-biting page-turner featuring Nelson DeMille’s iconic tongue-in-cheek, articulate, rhythmic narrative. His affably irreverent protagonist, fantastic believable supporting characters, and tense, realistic Cuba-set scenes including some jaw-dropping revelations make this a must read” (Library Journal, starred review). “Genuinely gripping” (Newsday), told with “incredible wit” (Tampa Bay Times), “The Cuban Affair feels authentic and real, and it provides knuckle-white tension mixed in with levity” (Associated Press).

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MANHATTAN BEACH
Jennifer Egan
Cover of MANHATTAN BEACH

MANHATTAN BEACH

by Jennifer Egan · Scribner

2 wks on list

* Winner of the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction * New York Times Bestseller * A New York Times Notable Book and a Washington Post Notable Fiction Book of 2017 * Longlisted for the National Book Award for Fiction * Named a Best Book of 2017 by NPR, The Guardian, Vogue, Esquire, Kirkus Reviews, Philadelphia Inquirer, BookPage, Bustle, Southern Living, and St. Louis Post-Dispatch "Immensely satisfying...an old-fashioned page-turner, tweaked by this witty and sophisticated writer...Egan is masterly at displaying mastery...she works a formidable kind of magic." -Dwight Garner, The New York Times The long-awaited novel from the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of A Visit from the Goon Squad, Manhattan Beach opens in Brooklyn during the Great Depression. Anna Kerrigan, nearly twelve years old, accompanies her father to the house of a man who, she gleans, is crucial to the survival of her father and her family. Anna observes the uniformed servants, the lavishing of toys on the children, and some secret pact between her father and Dexter Styles. Years later, her father has disappeared and the country is at war. Anna works at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, where women are allowed to hold jobs that had always belonged to men. She becomes the first female diver, the most dangerous and exclusive of occupations, repairing the ships that will help America win the war. She is the sole provider for her mother, a farm girl who had a brief and glamorous career as a Ziegfield folly, and her lovely, severely disabled sister. At a night club, she chances to meet Styles, the man she visited with her father before he vanished, and she begins to understand the complexity of her father's life, the reasons he might have been murdered. Mesmerizing, hauntingly beautiful, with the pace and atmosphere of a noir thriller and a wealth of detail about organized crime, the merchant marine and the clash of classes in New York, Egan's first historical novel is a masterpiece, a deft, startling, intimate exploration of a transformative moment in the lives of women and men, America and the world. Manhattan Beach is a magnificent novel by one of the greatest writers of our time. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ***Jennifer Egan's latest novel THE CANDY HOUSE is coming April 2022, the long-awaited sibling novel to A Visit from the Goon Squad***

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THE GIRL WHO TAKES AN EYE FOR AN EYE
David Lagercrantz
Cover of THE GIRL WHO TAKES AN EYE FOR AN EYE

THE GIRL WHO TAKES AN EYE FOR AN EYE

by David Lagercrantz · Knopf

5 wks on list

Meet Lisbeth Salander, the iconic character who has captivated 100 million readers worldwide. "Salander remains, in Lagercrantz's hands, the enigmatic and fascinating anti-heroine in fiction" Financial Times "Salander and Blomkvist have survived the authorship transition intact and are just as compelling as ever" New York Times LISBETH SALANDER IS AN UNSTOPPABLE FORCE Sentenced to two months in a women's prison for saving a young boy's life by any means necessary, she refuses to say anything in her own defence. She has more important things on her mind. Mikael Blomkvist makes the long trip to visit every week - and receives a lead to follow for his pains. And not just any lead, but one that could unlock the secrets of Salander's childhood. Even in prison system, Salander will never stop seeking the truth, driven by a childhood memory of a woman with a blazing birthmark on her neck. As if it had been burned by a dragon's fire... Translated from the Swedish by George Goulding *** Want more Lisbeth? THE GIRL WITH ICE IN HER VEINS, coming August 2025, is available to pre-order now! ***

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MERRY AND BRIGHT
Debbie Macomber
Cover of MERRY AND BRIGHT

MERRY AND BRIGHT

by Debbie Macomber · Ballantine

2 wks on list

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Christmas is the season of the heart, and #1 New York Times bestselling author Debbie Macomber is here to warm yours with a delightful holiday novel of first impressions and second chances. Merry Knight is pretty busy these days. She’s taking care of her family, baking cookies, decorating for the holidays, and hoping to stay out of the crosshairs of her stressed and by-the-book boss at the consulting firm where she temps. Her own social life is the last thing she has in mind, much less a man. Without her knowledge, Merry’s well-meaning mom and brother create an online dating profile for her—minus her photo—and the matches start rolling in. Initially, Merry is incredulous, but she reluctantly decides to give it a whirl. Soon Merry finds herself chatting with a charming stranger, a man with similar interests and an unmistakably kind soul. Their online exchanges become the brightest part of her day. But meeting face-to-face is altogether different, and her special friend is the last person Merry expects—or desires. Still, sometimes hearts can see what our eyes cannot. In this satisfying seasonal tale, unanticipated love is only a click away. Praise for Merry and Bright “Warm and sweet as Christmas cookies, this new Debbie Macomber romance is sure to be a hit this holiday season.”—Bookreporter “Heartfelt, cheerful . . . Readers looking for a light and sweet holiday treat will find it here.”—Publishers Weekly

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HAUNTED
James Patterson and James O. Born
Cover of HAUNTED

HAUNTED

by James Patterson and James O. Born · Little, Brown

4 wks on list

Haunted Detective Michael Bennett and his family will be the target of a hunt by a father's worst nightmare, the signs he should have seen and a son's desperate cry for help. Reeling from a crisis that would destroy lesser families, the Bennetts escape New York for a much-needed vacation. Detective Michael Bennett has decided for a vacation after a series of crises push him, and his family, to the edge. He settles in an idyllic, small town in the beautiful Maine woods, a recommendation from a former colleague. An idyllic country haunted town in the Maine woods affected by an epidemic emptying its streets and preying on its youth. It turns out the vacation pamphlets don't tell the full story of the seemingly perfect neighborhood has a deadly vice. But just when Bennett believes he can relax, he gets pulled into a case that has outraged the tight-knit community. Youngsters are disappearing left and right with no explanation-until several bodies turn up in the woods. The local police uncover a grisly atrocity scene buried deep in the woods, they consult Bennett, who is vacationing but he jumps at the chance to atone for his sins. You can take Michael Bennett out of New York City, but you can't make the police nature out of Michael Bennett. Now far from the city streets he understands so well, no one will speak to the big-city detective, and the corpses keep piling up. A traumatic history haunts a young, hardscrabble, and a forgotten girl. Homeless and penniless, she represents the nearest thing Bennett has to a partner in his desperate hunt for the ghostlike perpetrator of the violence. Will Bennett and his unlikely ally unmask the culprit before anyone else winds up haunted? As Bennett investigates, he realizes that the apparently perfect town is reeling from a deadly dependence, and the violence is about to approach a fever pitch. Far from the streets of the city, he knows so well, Bennett faces off against a horrific evil close by that threatens a town, the law, and the family that Bennett loves above all else. Michael Bennett (Book Series) Michael Bennett is a series of thriller books by best-selling author James Patterson. The series is the #1 new bestselling detective series of the past twenty-five years.[1] It follows Michael Bennett, an Irish American New York City detective, as he solves terrifying crimes and raises his ten adopted children.[2] Michael Bennett 'Step on a Crack, Run For Your Life, Worst Case, Tick Tock, I, Michael Bennett' AuthorJames Patterson CountryUnited States LanguageEnglish GenreThriller PublisherLittle, Brown PublishedFebruary 6, 2007[3] Media typePrint (hardcover, paperback) No. of books10 Step on a Crack (2007) - Michael Bennett must free the celebrities and billionaires held hostage at a first lady's funeral.[4] Run For Your Life (2009) - A serial killer called "the Teacher" is killing off Manhattanites who break his idea of courtesy.[5] Worst Case (2010) - Someone is kidnapping the children of wealthy families, but he doesn't ask for any ransom.[6] Tick Tock (2011) - Michael Bennett has to cut into vacation time with his family as a serial killer rips New York apart with a string of horrifying murders.[7] I, Michael Bennett (2012) - A South American drug lord terrorizes New York City as Michael Bennett does his best to force this criminal mastermind to stand trial for his crimes.[8] Gone (2013) - Following his angering of a powerful drug lord, Bennett and his family are in a witness protection program out in the boondocks of California. Burn (2014) - Bennett investigates a high society dining club suspected of practicing ritual murder and cannibalism. Alert (2015) - New York City is reeling from a wave of high profile assassinations which are only a prelude to a more shocking and widespread terrorist plot. Bullseye (2016) - The US President's life is threatened by a mysterious conspiracy of snipers during an intense international conference in New York.

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LITTLE FIRES EVERYWHERE
Celeste Ng
Cover of LITTLE FIRES EVERYWHERE

LITTLE FIRES EVERYWHERE

by Celeste Ng · Penguin Press

5 wks on list

The #1 New York Times bestseller • Named a Best Book of the Year by People, The Washington Post, Bustle, Esquire, Southern Living, The Daily Beast, GQ, Entertainment Weekly, NPR, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Audible, Goodreads, Library Reads, Book of the Month, Paste, Kirkus Reviews, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and more “To say I love this book is an understatement. It’s a deep psychological mystery about the power of motherhood, the intensity of teenage love, and the danger of perfection. It moved me to tears.” —Reese Witherspoon From the bestselling author of Everything I Never Told You and Our Missing Hearts comes a riveting novel that traces the intertwined fates of the picture-perfect Richardson family and the enigmatic mother and daughter who upend their lives. In Shaker Heights, a placid, progressive suburb of Cleveland, everything is planned—from the layout of the winding roads, to the colors of the houses, to the successful lives its residents will go on to lead. And no one embodies this spirit more than Elena Richardson, whose guiding principle is playing by the rules. Enter Mia Warren—an enigmatic artist and single mother—who arrives in this idyllic bubble with her teenaged daughter Pearl, and rents a house from the Richardsons. Soon Mia and Pearl become more than tenants: all four Richardson children are drawn to the mother-daughter pair. But Mia carries with her a mysterious past and a disregard for the status quo that threatens to upend this carefully ordered community. When old family friends of the Richardsons attempt to adopt a Chinese-American baby, a custody battle erupts that dramatically divides the town—and puts Mia and Elena on opposing sides. Suspicious of Mia and her motives, Elena is determined to uncover the secrets in Mia’s past. But her obsession will come at unexpected and devastating costs. Little Fires Everywhere explores the weight of secrets, the nature of art and identity, and the ferocious pull of motherhood—and the danger of believing that following the rules can avert disaster. Named a Best Book of the Year by: People, The Washington Post, Bustle, Esquire, Southern Living, The Daily Beast, GQ, Entertainment Weekly, NPR, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Audible, Goodreads, Library Reads, Book of the Month, Paste, Kirkus Reviews, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and more

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TO BE WHERE YOU ARE
Jan Karon
Cover of TO BE WHERE YOU ARE

TO BE WHERE YOU ARE

by Jan Karon · Putnam

4 wks on list

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER #1 New York Times-bestselling author Jan Karon returns with the fourteenth novel in the beloved Mitford series, featuring three generations of Kavanaghs. Wounds heal, bonds grow stronger, and celebrations continue...Welcome back to beloved Mitford. After twelve years of wrestling with the conflicts of retirement, Father Tim Kavanagh realizes he doesn't need a steady job to prove himself. Then he's given one. As for what it proves, heaven only knows. Millions of Karon fans will be thrilled that it's life as usual in the wildly popular Mitford series: A beloved town character lands a front-page obituary, but who was it, exactly, who died? And what about the former mayor, born the year Lindbergh landed in Paris, who's still running for office? All this, of course, is but a feather on the wind compared to Muse editor J.C. Hogan's desperate attempts to find a cure for his marital woes. Will it be high-def TV or his pork-chop marinade? In fiction, as in real life, there are no guarantees. Twenty minutes from Mitford at Meadowgate Farm, newlyweds Dooley and Lace Kavanagh face a crisis that devastates their bank account and impacts their family vet practice. But there is still a lot to celebrate, as their adopted son, Jack, looks forward to the most important day of his life--with great cooking, country music, and lots of people who love him. Happily, it will also be a day when the terrible wound in Dooley's biological family begins to heal because of a game--let's just call it a miracle--that breaks all the rules. In To Be Where You Are, Jan Karon weaves together the richly comic and compelling lives of two Kavanagh families, and a cast of characters that readers around the world now love like kin.

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BEFORE WE WERE YOURS
Lisa Wingate
Cover of BEFORE WE WERE YOURS

BEFORE WE WERE YOURS

by Lisa Wingate · Ballantine

12 wks on list

THE BLOCKBUSTER HIT—Over two million copies sold! A New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, and Publishers Weekly Bestseller “Poignant, engrossing.”—People • “Lisa Wingate takes an almost unthinkable chapter in our nation’s history and weaves a tale of enduring power.”—Paula McLain Memphis, 1939. Twelve-year-old Rill Foss and her four younger siblings live a magical life aboard their family’s Mississippi River shantyboat. But when their father must rush their mother to the hospital one stormy night, Rill is left in charge—until strangers arrive in force. Wrenched from all that is familiar and thrown into a Tennessee Children’s Home Society orphanage, the Foss children are assured that they will soon be returned to their parents—but they quickly realize the dark truth. At the mercy of the facility’s cruel director, Rill fights to keep her sisters and brother together in a world of danger and uncertainty. Aiken, South Carolina, present day. Born into wealth and privilege, Avery Stafford seems to have it all: a successful career as a federal prosecutor, a handsome fiancé, and a lavish wedding on the horizon. But when Avery returns home to help her father weather a health crisis, a chance encounter leaves her with uncomfortable questions and compels her to take a journey through her family’s long-hidden history, on a path that will ultimately lead either to devastation or to redemption. Based on one of America’s most notorious real-life scandals—in which Georgia Tann, director of a Memphis-based adoption organization, kidnapped and sold poor children to wealthy families all over the country—Lisa Wingate’s riveting, wrenching, and ultimately uplifting tale reminds us how, even though the paths we take can lead to many places, the heart never forgets where we belong. Publishers Weekly’s #3 Longest-Running Bestseller of 2017 • Winner of the Southern Book Prize • If All Arkansas Read the Same Book Selection This edition includes a new essay by the author about shantyboat life.

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A LEGACY OF SPIES
John le Carré
Cover of A LEGACY OF SPIES

A LEGACY OF SPIES

by John le Carré · Viking Press

'A brilliant novel of deception, love and trust to join his supreme cannon' Evening Standard 'Vintage le Carré. Immensely clever, breathtaking. Really, not since The Spy Who Came in from the Cold has le Carré exercised his gift as a storyteller so powerfully and to such thrilling effect' John Banville, Guardian Peter Guillam, former disciple of George Smiley in the British Secret Service, has long retired to Brittany when a letter arrives, summoning him to London. The reason? Cold War ghosts have come back to haunt him. Intelligence operations that were once the toast of the Service are to be dissected by a generation with no memory of the Berlin Wall. Somebody must pay for innocent blood spilt in the name of the greater good . . . 'Utterly engrossing and perfectly pitched. There is only one le Carré. Eloquent, subtle, sublimely paced' Daily Mail 'Splendid, fast-paced, riveting' Andrew Marr, Sunday Times 'Remarkable. It gives the reader, at long last, pieces of a jigsaw puzzle that have been missing for 54 years. Like wine, le Carré's writing has got richer with age' The Times 'Perhaps the most significant novelist of the second half of the 20th century in Britain. He's in the first rank' Ian McEwan 'One of those writers who will be read a century from now' Robert Harris Sunday Times bestseller, September 2017

Historical bestseller data sourced from the New York Times Book Review, archived by Hawes Publications.