A white-knuckle tale of betrayal and espionage from the bestselling author of The Good Liar and the heir to John le Carre.
The railway station is heaving with rush-hour commuters when the bomb goes off.
In the subsequent enquiry, Jake Winter, the British Intelligence Officer responsible for preventing the attack, comes under fire. Especially when it transpires that the bomber was his agent. With his conscience - and his career - in tatters, Jake's hopes rest on his new recruit, a young British-Asian man named Rashid. Recently returned disillusioned from the Middle East, and now enlisted into a new terrorist plot, Rashid seems to be the answer Jake, and MI5, have been waiting for.
But how can Jake know for certain when Rashid is his only source? Is history about to repeat itself or has Jake lost his nerve, haunted by his last mistake? After all, who can you trust, when you no longer trust yourself?
About the Author
Nicholas Searle is the author of three novels. His first novel, The Good Liar, was a Sunday Times bestseller and was shortlisted for the CWA John Creasey New Blood Dagger for the best debut crime novel.
Before becoming a writer, Nicholas worked in British intelligence for more than twenty-five years. He lives in Yorkshire.
Industry Reviews
'Searle has fun with the office politics of the intelligence world, and is thoughtful about the ethics of espionage... it seems something akin to poetry can be the best medium for expressing the practicalities of the hard-nosed business of espionage.
* - The Telegraph, The 31 best thrillers and crime novels of 2019 so far *
Meticulously plotted, with wonderfully drawn characters and an elegant prose style that makes this every bit as compelling as Searle's stirring debut, The Good Liar
* Daily Mail *
A thought-provoking read that bursts with tension
* Financial Times *
A spy thriller with extra authority
* Jonathan Freedland, Guardian *
Former intelligence officer turned crime writer Searle is stepping into the gap left by John le Carre with his elegantly slippery novels that combine a pulse-raising plot with a broader interest in what it means to deceive . . . raises interesting questions about choice, motivation and the impossibility of ever truly knowing another
* Metro *
An assured thriller debut in the footsteps of le Carre, Highsmith and Rendell
* Guardian on 'The Good Liar' *