A sordid tragedy that makes us for the thousandth time question the worth of human existence. The impression remains with the reader that it is the work of a woman who has the strength of one of the masters like Balzac or Dostoyevsky.

There has been no novel of any political scope about Vietnam since Graham Greene wrote The Quiet American

A master of storytelling

One of the finest writers of any language

A superb storyteller - he had a talent for depicting local colour, a keen sense of the dramatic, an eye for dialogue, and skill in pacing his prose

It might be nearly 60 years since The Quiet American was first published, but it still evokes the exotic promise of the Orient, and the troubled relationship Vietnam has with the West

Tells the slowly unfolding story of Baines' journey of self-discovery with great subtlety

Quinn has a cinematic eye for narrative scope... Like all good novels this book tells us something new

An absorbing tribute to the city and its unsung heroes

In a novel of cinematic denouements, Quinn has reclaimed an intriguing chapter of Liverpool's past

A real page-tuner

He [Anthony] hooks you in with his deep, complex characters; he meticulously sets the scene

A constantly engaging and witty novel from a tremendously clever writer.

Plausiby drawn....strong central characters, interesting subplots and well-sketched minor characters.

As idiosyncratic as it is ambitious...given shape and purpose by a true literary craftsman. The book both keeps you reading and makes you think.

I drank in Nigel Farndale's The Blasphemer in huge lungfuls, and mourned it when it was finished. For anyone who loved Saturday, Atonement or Birdsong, this is the generational novel at its best.