‘Authentic, taut and compelling. Brookes is the real deal’
Charles Cumming
The stunning third novel from multi-award-nominated author Adam Brookes is paranoid, tense and spy fiction at its very finest.
Meet Pearl Tao: an American girl with a lethal secret.
Pearl longed for the life of a normal American teenager: summers at the pool, friends, backyard barbecues in the Washington DC suburbs. But she was different.
Pearl had a gift for mathematics, a college sponsorship from a secretive technology corporation, and a family riven with anger and dysfunction. And it’s only now, at nineteen years old, that she has started to understand what role she is to play. What her parents intend for her.
For Pearl Tao, any hope of escape lies with two British spies: Trish Patterson, sidelined in disgrace, and Philip Mangan, blown and discredited – and following his own trail of corruption. Finding out the truth about Pearl will be the most urgent, the most dangerous mission they’ll ever undertake.
‘The final instalment of Brookes’ Mangan trilogy secures its status as a classic‘
Telegraph (50 Best Books of 2017)
‘Riveting and accomplished’
Sunday Times
Charles Cumming
The stunning third novel from multi-award-nominated author Adam Brookes is paranoid, tense and spy fiction at its very finest.
Meet Pearl Tao: an American girl with a lethal secret.
Pearl longed for the life of a normal American teenager: summers at the pool, friends, backyard barbecues in the Washington DC suburbs. But she was different.
Pearl had a gift for mathematics, a college sponsorship from a secretive technology corporation, and a family riven with anger and dysfunction. And it’s only now, at nineteen years old, that she has started to understand what role she is to play. What her parents intend for her.
For Pearl Tao, any hope of escape lies with two British spies: Trish Patterson, sidelined in disgrace, and Philip Mangan, blown and discredited – and following his own trail of corruption. Finding out the truth about Pearl will be the most urgent, the most dangerous mission they’ll ever undertake.
‘The final instalment of Brookes’ Mangan trilogy secures its status as a classic‘
Telegraph (50 Best Books of 2017)
‘Riveting and accomplished’
Sunday Times
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Reviews
Brookes' second novel is a multipronged spy thriller that fires on all cylinders. A smarter or more exciting mystery likely won't be released this year.
Gripping . . . nail-bitingly tense
Brookes's riveting and accomplished novel brings to an end his globetrotting trilogy centred on Mangan; hopefully whatever he does next will also be espionage fiction, a genre where Brookes's background as a China correspondent gives him a significant advantage over his peers.
A nuanced and terrifying experience that will occasionally leave the reader's head spinning as they attempt to connect all the dots. Comparisons to John le Carre are inevitable but may be justified . . . he's a natural storyteller, and a thrilling new voice
The final instalment of Brookes' Mangan trilogy secures its status as a classic. (50 Best Books of 2017)
Authentic, taut and compelling. Brookes is the real deal
Brookes's expertly orchestrated novel couldn't be more topical . . . exhilaratingly shows how readily the old-school international spy thriller can be retooled for the era of globalisation, the internet and a superpower's emergence
In the tradition of Graham Greene, the book is a work of deep moral reckoning and a gripping thriller. That Brookes makes the darkest challenges his spy faces utterly believable is a testament to his skill as a novelist.
A perfectly executed spy yarn
Brookes shows that his impressive debut was no fluke
This would make a superb television spy drama. I really didn't want it to end. A terrific heart-thumping spy thriller.
Brookes has separated himself from the pack: I've read a lot of very good China books by excellent journalists, but I've never before stayed up far too late on a work night to finish one, unwilling to go to sleep until I knew how it ended
Brookes knows modern China, he seemingly knows the British secret service and, most importantly, he knows how to tell a good story. The splendid result is this rich, can't-put-it-down thriller. A terrific read.
Brookes, a former BBC Beijing correspondent, is on the money with this superb thriller. Fans of Martin Cruz Smith's Arkady Renko novels will love this.
Adam Brookes is the new Le Carré - without question this is the best modern spy novel I have ever read . . . Read this. It's perfect.
Blends a deep understanding of realpolitik with a sophisticated literary sensibility. For once, comparisons to John le Carre are fully warranted.
The plot is thick with intrigue and espionage and is as good a spy novel as any you will read.
Another bit of top work from a man who's inching further ahead in the spy thriller stakes.
Cements Brookes' reputation as a superb spy novelist and draws comparisons with other espionage heavyweights including John le Carre.