If anyone deserves to nudge Ian Rankin from his post as Britain's bestselling crime writer, it's Harvey.

Impassioned ... heartbreaking ... Confirms Harvey as one of our most accomplished writers in any genre

Authoritative ... visceral, engaged, and yes, unputdownable

Sharp plotting, great characterisation and a powerful narrative; it's as good as they get

Hoodie gang fights, murder, people trafficking, gun-running. Yes, we're back in Nottingham, an ordinary city with everyday British problems, brilliantly chronicled by John Harvey, who paints a better picture of the difficulties police face than the ten o'clock news

Expertly crafted

A brilliant climax, with sinister deaths, casual torture, wrecked lives and shameful compromises

John le Carré has lost none of his ability in skewering the murkier foibles of the British Establishment. A tale of deception, greed, betrayal and ultimately, revenge . . . it is not until the last few pages that the full three dimensions of the plot are thrillingly revealed

A writer of towering gifts . . . le Carré is one of the great analysts of the contemporary scene, who has a talent to provoke as well as unsettle

John le Carré takes us back to his favourite scenarios: Whitehall, the secret services, the gentleman's clubs, dodgy bankers, corrupt public schoolboys and gruesome American neo-cons . . . revelling once more in that imaginary world of secrets and lies that is le Carré's gift to us

Tense, twisty, and driven by a melancholy insight into human motivation . . . deeply compelling

John le Carré is as recognisable a writer as Dickens or Austen, with an often-imitated but never rivalled cast of seedy spies, false lovers, public schoolboys struggling with guilt, and charming but immoral leaders of the brutal establishment . . . This is vintage le Carré and highly enjoyable

Thrilling, suspenseful . . . Fans will not be disappointed

Utterly convincing characters, a tight plot . . . Wonderful

Thrilling

Choreographed with unsettling precision

When I was under house arrest I was helped by the books of John le Carré ... they were a journey into the wider world ... These were the journeys that made me feel that I was not really cut off from the rest of humankind

Plunges the reader into a modern-day thriller...Dad won't be able to put it down

[It] has all the essential ingredients of his masterpieces: the dilemmas of duty, patriotism and decency

John Le Carré at his masterful best . . . nobody does it better

Widely hailed as a return to the good old Smiley days . . . le Carré writes with laconic elegance

This is a class act which unveils its secrets as tantalisingly as a courtesan

Wonderfully evocative of Oxford, this is a love story and a mystery that will keep you guessing

Part love story, part murder mystery… Dymott’s novel is ample proof of the literary flair that lurks within some lawyers

One of the best books I’ve read this year