Deliciously spine-tingling... all-consuming and mind-altering. Nothing else matters while there are pages to turn and, once the book is over, the world seems an emptier place.

This month’s smartest (and creepiest) new novel is a hell of a read . . . An intensely writerly project that doesn’t jettison the reader . . . It explores how stories seep from texts into the world; not only in that it follows a journalist investigating a cult horror-film director whose life is entangled in his fictions, but also because the pages are peppered with fake news article and websites. A narrative signifying narratives, this novel echoes . . . The action bullet-trains through an artfully plotted world of secret screenings and suspicious deaths.

Night Film, the gorgeously written, spellbinding new novel by the dazzlingly inventive Marisha Pessl, will hold you in suspense until you turn the final page.

When Cordova’s beautiful daughter is found dead in a warehouse, McGrath can’t help but pick up the trail. His pacy narrative voice is interrupted by magazine interviews, text messages, Facebook pages; a Cordova fan forum even pops up on the printed page . . . The result is multiple narratives that read like real life (or a more exciting version of it) . . . Night Film doesn’t cease to be with its last full stop. [Pessl] has developed a phone app and a website with extra material – a savvy move.

The real and the imaginary, life and art, are dizzyingly distorted not only in a Cordova night film – which a fictional Time article calls “a spellbinding and emotionally harrowing experience” – but in Pessl’s own Night Film as well. McGrath’s prologue opens with a dictum “Everyone has a Cordova story, whether they like it or not.” This book is ours.

Night Film is like a head-long fall into a dangerous film set, with the kind of eeriness that makes you jump at your own shadow.

Using mixed media, Pessl tell the tale of an eccentric, Kubrick-like film director and the mysterious deaths that litter his past.

Night Film is rich with arcane detail that ranges from obscure Hollywood history to the uses of occult herbs. It is also cleverly illustrated with plausible-looking articles about Cordova and his associates from Vanity Fair, Rolling Stone and Wikipedia… this sprawling, generous, high-octane book remains as entertaining as a late night showing of a horror classic.

Intensely gripping . . . an entertaining read in the same league as Gone Girl

Beautifully imagined, beautifully written, and hypnotically suspenseful.

A testament to Marisha Pessl’s tremendous gifts as a storyteller.

This summer’s GONE GIRL: a completely absorbing literary thriller.

A literary mystery that’s also a page-turner . . . Night Film might be the most talked-about novel this summer.

This magnificently layered and suspenseful literary thriller by the author of Special Topics in Calamity Physics reads as though written by the fairy offspring of Siri Hustvedt and Paul Auster. You'll want to devote an entire weekend to losing yourself in the search for Cordova.

This story stays with you long after you’ve finished it

Nesbo is on top form with this crime novel, a book that you quite rightfully can't put down

This is a novel of total authority, with a highly original concept

Long Way Home is a truly exceptional debut crime novel, a perceptive, smart and harrowing look at modern England. Written with great skill, confidence and originality, it feels like a game-changer for twenty-first century British crime fiction

Long Way Home gave me that tingle of excitement that only happens rarely, the feeling I got when I first read George Pelecanos and Dennis Lehane - the combination of brilliant writing, a thrilling plot and social heart. I genuinely think it's one of the best debuts I've ever read

Eva Dolan is the real deal. Plenty of contemporary British crime writers claim to write about the real world but in Dolan's brave, brilliant debut she nails it completely. The Daily Mail will hate it. I loved it.

A pacy, twisty, compelling and addictive crime thriller - but it's so much more besides. For me, the best experiences in literature are those that take you somewhere you don't know; to people and places you have never encountered. I was hoping for a rattling good page-turner. I wasn't expecting anything quite so profound

Eva Dolan’s stunning novel is a gritty and unflinching look into a seedy, violent world that most of us would rather pretend never existed. In DI Zigic and DS Fereira, Dolan has created two authentic and intriguing characters

Crisp and intelligent writing, strong characters, a great mystery and an engaging style. From the first page, I knew I was in safe hands

A novel set in Peterborough might not be the most tempting of premises, but this is worth your time detective duo Zigic and Ferreira, Dolan has created two engaging characters. The first of a series, this is a promising debut that pulls no punches

With such compelling characters, Dolan breathes new life into the police procedural novel and marks herself out as an exciting writer to watch

Dolan's a terrific new talent, and I can't wait to be kept awake by her next novel

A great read, a real page turner and a very satisfactory ending

An impressive series debut, and the next book will be eagerly awaited

Raw and real start to a new series

What could be standard police procedural stands out for its excellent character work and the timely way it deals with hot-button political topics dominating the headlines

The plot is tight, the anger righteous but not worthy, and the action thrilling. Happily she has a new novel out next year

Well paced and packed with some genuinely surprising twists and turns, not to mention a sneaky red herring or two…, the book will definitely keep your interest piqued to the end

Gripping…Excellent book.

An assured and compelling debut that brings multi-cultural Britain vividly to life. I feel I know Zigic and Ferreira, the protagonists of this terrific novel, and look forward to their next outing. I hope I don’t have to wait too long