A psychologically intricate, flawlessly researched tale of Stalin's legacy through the eyes of a disillusioned old communist. It felt as English as Le Carre with its elegant Cold War scene-setting and quiet but intense emotional range.

This is a double headed story that is both sad and compelling

Szalay weaves a multilayered narrative ripe with period detail... A challenging thriller... Gripping

Impressive... Still in his mid-thirties, Szalay will surely soon be adding more prizes to his Betty Trask

Szalay moves skilfully across time and shows that history's end is not prophesied in books, but written in the wind

David Szalay... has created an extraordinary character, a KGB man you can imagine knowing or even being

This is an exciting and memorable read. Expertly researched, it feels authentic, but wears its learning reassuringly lightly. Anyone who appreciated Martin Amis's Koba the Dread and Orlando Figes's The Whisperers will love it

Very atmospheric

The descriptions of Venice and Venetian life are beautifully written and acutely observed … The author clearly has an excellent understanding of the Italian psyche and a profound knowledge of Venice and Venetian life. This is the 22nd book in Donna Leon’s Commissario Brunetti series and I can’t wait for the 23rd.

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