Description
'Authentic, taut and compelling. Brookes is the real deal'
Charles Cumming
The stunning third novel from multi-award-nominated author Adam Brookes is paranoid, tense and spy fiction at its very finest.
Meet Pearl Tao: an American girl with a lethal secret.
Pearl longed for the life of a normal American teenager: summers at the pool, friends, backyard barbecues in the Washington DC suburbs. But she was different.
Pearl had a gift for mathematics, a college sponsorship from a secretive technology corporation, and a family riven with anger and dysfunction. And it's only now, at nineteen years old, that she has started to understand what role she is to play. What her parents intend for her.
For Pearl Tao, any hope of escape lies with two British spies: Trish Patterson, sidelined in disgrace, and Philip Mangan, blown and discredited - and following his own trail of corruption. Finding out the truth about Pearl will be the most urgent, the most dangerous mission they'll ever undertake.
'The final instalment of Brookes' Mangan trilogy secures its status as a classic'
Telegraph (50 Best Books of 2017)
'Riveting and accomplished'
Sunday Times
About the Author
Adam Brookes for many years a journalist and foreign correspondent for BBC News. He reported from China, Indonesia, the US and many other countries, Iraq and Afghanistan among them. His debut novel, Night Heron, was nominated for the 2014 CWA John Creasey Dagger and appeared on best of the year lists in the TLS, Kirkus and NPR; its follow-up, Spy Games was nominated for the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger. The Spy's Daughter is his third novel. He lives with his family in Takoma Park, Maryland.
Reviews
The final instalment of Brookes' Mangan trilogy secures its status as a classic. (50 Best Books of 2017) * Telegraph *
Cements Brookes' reputation as a superb spy novelist and draws comparisons with other espionage heavyweights including John le Carre. * Sun *
Brookes's riveting and accomplished novel brings to an end his globetrotting trilogy centred on Mangan; hopefully whatever he does next will also be espionage fiction, a genre where Brookes's background as a China correspondent gives him a significant advantage over his peers. * Sunday Times *
This would make a superb television spy drama. I really didn't want it to end. A terrific heart-thumping spy thriller. * Northern Crime Reviews *
Blends a deep understanding of realpolitik with a sophisticated literary sensibility. For once, comparisons to John le Carre are fully warranted. * Chicago Tribune *
Gripping . . . nail-bitingly tense * Irish Independent *
In the tradition of Graham Greene, the book is a work of deep moral reckoning and a gripping thriller. That Brookes makes the darkest challenges his spy faces utterly believable is a testament to his skill as a novelist. * Kirkus *
Another bit of top work from a man who's inching further ahead in the spy thriller stakes. * Sport *
The plot is thick with intrigue and espionage and is as good a spy novel as any you will read. * Chris High *
Brookes's expertly orchestrated novel couldn't be more topical . . . exhilaratingly shows how readily the old-school international spy thriller can be retooled for the era of globalisation, the internet and a superpower's emergence * Sunday Times *
Authentic, taut and compelling. Brookes is the real deal * Charles Cumming *
Brookes knows modern China, he seemingly knows the British secret service and, most importantly, he knows how to tell a good story. The splendid result is this rich, can't-put-it-down thriller. A terrific read. * Joseph Kanon - author of The Good German and Leaving Berlin *
A nuanced and terrifying experience that will occasionally leave the reader's head spinning as they attempt to connect all the dots. Comparisons to John le Carre are inevitable but may be justified . . . he's a natural storyteller, and a thrilling new voice * Sunday Herald *
Adam Brookes is the new Le Carre - without question this is the best modern spy novel I have ever read . . . Read this. It's perfect. * Manda Scott *
A perfectly executed spy yarn * Sunday Express *
Brookes' second novel is a multipronged spy thriller that fires on all cylinders. A smarter or more exciting mystery likely won't be released this year. * Kirkus - starred review *
Brookes has separated himself from the pack: I've read a lot of very good China books by excellent journalists, but I've never before stayed up far too late on a work night to finish one, unwilling to go to sleep until I knew how it ended * Los Angeles Review of Books *
Brookes shows that his impressive debut was no fluke * Publishers Weekly *
Brookes, a former BBC Beijing correspondent, is on the money with this superb thriller. Fans of Martin Cruz Smith's Arkady Renko novels will love this. * The Times South Africa *
Awards
Long-listed for CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger 2018 (UK).
Book Information
ISBN 9780751566413
Author Adam Brookes
Format Paperback
Page Count 416
Imprint Sphere
Publisher Little, Brown Book Group
Weight(grams) 280g
Dimensions(mm) 197mm * 129mm * 27mm