A thoroughly absorbing, page-turning narrative in which the author, with his customary storytelling skills, pulls us ever deeper into the imaginative world he has created. It [also] poses challenging questions about the meaning of the past, the idea of progress and the stability of civilisation. It is a fine addition to Harris’s diverse body of work.

A return to the type of high-concept novel that made his name . . . [T]he writing is elegant and pacy. The characters are fleshed out and the plot zips along.

A truly surprising future-history thriller. Fabulous, really.

Harris is rightly praised as the master of the intelligent thriller. Genuinely thrilling, wonderfully conceived and entirely without preaching, it probes the nature of history, of collective memory and forgetting, and exposes the fragility of modern civilisation.

Harris's bleak imagined world issues a clarion call to the present, urging us to recognise the value of progress, the importance of woolly concepts like liberalism and the rule of law, and all the other ideals we’ve spent generations fighting for yet seem prepared to sacrifice on the altar of populism. For make no mistake, this novel [is] very much about the here and now . . . Harris is a master of plotting and, in elegant, understated third-person prose, he ratchets the tension ever upwards . . . this is nothing if not a page-turner.

Reading Robert Harris’s historical thrillers feels like attending a Simon Schama lecture on a roller-coaster – you come away with a new perspective on history while feeling dizzy with excitement . . . In The Second Sleep he takes us on a thrilling ride while serving up serious food for thought . . . I doubt there is a living writer who is better at simultaneously making readers’ adrenaline pump while their brains whirr.

When Harris is at his best — and here he is — he writes with a skill and ingenuity that few other novelists can match. In this case, the usual page turning pleasures are joined by something else: a sense that, through his historical-futuristic setting, Harris has found a unique vantage point to comment on the present . . . This is a novel that not only makes you smile at its author’s brilliance, but induces a shiver of dread at how real it all seems.

With a story of forbidden love joining larger themes, this vividly imagined, brilliantly clever novel is – as you’d expect from the author of Fatherland and Archangel – an absolutely class act.

Harris . . . is a fearless writer. The Second Sleep races along at breakneck speed. The prose is pure, elegant, never tricky and his imagination knows no bounds.

It is a strange premise for a thriller, but Robert Harris is such a wily old hand that it is a pleasure to accompany him on his time travels.

Harris takes you on a thrilling ride while serving up serious food for thought.

Harris has contrived to do something rather brilliant and new. He has put us at the heart of the mystery.

It’s a provocative, tub-thumping sci-fi of which H. G. Wells might have been proud.

As he flexes the ample muscle of his imagination, you will be left pondering as often as you are page-turning.

Harris weaves a smart, intriguing story that cements his reputation as, in the words of the cover, 'master of the intelligent thriller'. He's that perfect combination of equally fine writer and storyteller; the narrative is satisfying and the prose is evocative. The world of The Second Sleep is plausible and richly imagined.

It’s an involving entertainment containing some salutary ideas about how any theocracy leans on ignorance and fear, about the fragility of our own technological utopia and about the way history is just as likely to move in circle or gyres as in a straight line.

A wholly convincing alternative world in which a few brave heretics are determined to uncover the truth. The result is a brilliantly imaginative thriller.

Harris is a master of historical fiction, a compelling author who brings to life the recent and ancient past . . . The glimpses into the fate of our world are unravelled in a fast-paced, classic Harris thriller, with well-drawn, engaging characters . . . It stands as a stark warning about the fragility of our world; a warning from the past and the future.

It's hard not to credit Harris's writing, no matter when and where it is set, with some sort of sidelong prescience.

Blisteringly intelligent, gripping thriller

[T]here is a twist so shocking and surprising in Harris' most recent work The Second Sleep that I don't want to say anything more than: prepare to be amazed [...] Writing is deeply tricky. Harris, over decades of practice, manages to craft all the elements to ensure reader satisfaction. The description is articulated in a clear way with the dialogue managed suitably. Characters sound like real people instead of clunky dialogue which is all too common. Most importantly, events actually take place. Exposition of place, setting and context is essential [...] Harris without doubt continually does this and creates a refreshing sense of relief, which will ensure I continue to read his works for many decades to come.

A teasing, atmospheric mystery set against the background of a hot summer in New York.

The tension and foreboding builds gradually in this outstanding gothic debut, allowing readers to savour Ann's voice. The disturbing account plays with class differences and women friendship, set against a medieval, academic atmosphere sheltered from the city.

Taut, tense and deliciously dark, C.J. Tudor's post-apocalyptic thrill ride is unmissable

It's rare that a thriller actually lives up to that word. But here - in the jeopardy its characters are plunged into, in the story's twists and turns, and in the true star of the novel, the mountain itself - Breathless truly manages to thrill

A truly breathtaking thriller. It had me gasping and guessing with every turn of a page. The audacity of the adventure is only matched by the brilliance of McCulloch's deft and evocative writing

A visceral, thrill-seeker's story of one woman's struggle to conquer her fears, with murder and mayhem at 8,000m. I really loved it.

A frighteningly original novel written with a deep passion for the mountains and an inquisitive mind. A brilliantly chilling read

Chilling . . . there really is something about the combination of a remote snowbound location and a killer hiding in plain sight that is a recipe for success

A blockbuster-worthy thriller