a seductive meditation on fraternal love amid the larger disintegrations of war.

Campbell has written a book which is well plotted and suspenseful. Few who can bring themselves to start will be able to force themselves not to finish... Maya should clearly be played by Keira Knightley if Campbell gets the movie deal - which, on the basis of the story's twists and grip, should not be ruled out... (Piers) Morgan surely won't be the only person to like this book. The joke waiting to be made is that Campbell saves his best fiction for public enquiries - but much of Maya ruins that gag.

Includes brilliant descriptions of the city's slums and the beauties of the countryside

Moving... This story is about the power of the individual to stand up to history

Khadra's novel, set almost entirely in Algeria, has wonderful lyrical passages and is distinguished by its sympathetic intelligence...Khadra writes with a beautiful lucidity

Once a counter-terrorism officer in Algeria, now a French-based writer of sophisticated political thrillers under a pseudonym, "Yasmina Khadra" here returns home, and digs further into the roots of violence.... Rich in incident and character (and ably translated by Frank Wynne), the novel shows us from within the colonised Algeria that Camus - as he acknowledged - could only glimpse an outsider.

Morrison handles the elements of his novel with impeccable control

An insidiously gripping tale

This is a seriously good novel and it deserves to overtake a few more loudly trumpeted false favourites in the popularity and prize stakes

Gripping...a masterpiece of pacing and revelation

A compelling thriller

A terrific thriller, a page-turner of impressive literary skill

It is the assuredness of Morrison's portrayal of Ian's descent which makes The Last Weekend compelling - and lifts a familiar...story skilfully above the commonplace

His truly sensational latest novel, which places him at the forefront of British novelists writing today

Creepy and compelling, but also often extremely funny. Blake Morrison has inhabited the world of a deeply flawed character with unforgettable results

Tautly written and tightly structured, this is a novel that explores jealousy, rivalry, deceit and manipulation

Warner navigates the comic, the philosophical and the socially acute like no other writer we have

Played refreshingly uncliched games with the device of the unreliable narrator

Blake Morrison's examination of the dark heart of male rivalry makes foe a gripping read

Pacy and gripping...wonderfully atmospheric

Morrison's compelling study of male competitiveness offers a discomforting account of the amoral excuses and self-deception of the compulsive gambler: "I don't have a problem. I could stop tomorrow"; "gambling is the basis of our whole economy". You reckon you could put it down at any point - though you'd be kidding yourself

The Bank Holiday weekend from hell is the subject of Blake Morrison's entertaining new novel - a dark little tale about middle-class rivalry and midsummer meltdown. With an ear attuned to metropolitan pretension - modern parenting skills are sent up with gusto - Morrison succeeds in weaving a murderous melodrama that is grounded in the most recognizable of human impulses and desires

A tense chamber piece about a twisted friendship...the author's skilful choreography of unsympathetic characters and a menacing tone make for a sharply intelligent novel that is both unnerving and enjoyable

The Last Weekend isn't really a thriller though its well-paced, tight and gripping narrative has you reaching for the same adjectives that you would use to describe one

For those holidaying with old friends…the book tells the chilling story ofa rivalrousfriendship…leaving Alex Clark to conclude that Morrison “keeps the reader constantly intrigued