The best thriller for years

His best yet: a fast paced thriller, pulsing with suspense, that surpasses even the expertly handled tensions and twists of Fatherland

Robert Harris confirms his position as Britain's pre-eminent literary thriller writer with Archangel

A really gripping narrative, full of suspense and unexpected turns, which will keep you hooked until the climax on its final page... I have never read a thriller based in Russia which has such an authentic feel

Archangel is Harris's strongest book yet, confirming him as the leading current exponent of the intelligent literary thriller

As the suspense builds, the reader needs to turn the pages ever faster... with Harris's controlling foot on the narrative pedal, the reader has no choice but to ride, enthralled, towards the plunging abyss

I remained immersed in this marvellous book until its culmination arrived with depressing swiftness...Readers of Archangel are in for an exciting ride. They will also learn a lot

Nerve tingling... nobody is more adept... a talent for heart-poundingly tense story-telling and an ability to conjure up atmospheres almost palpable with menace

A fast-paced and unsettling story ... A compelling and fluid read

The writing is lean and mean, and the climax will blow you away

Compelling

a taut, mystical thriller and a thoughtful meditation on humanity

Burnside's story uses suggestion and ambiguity rather than explicit statement, but has the power that comes from leaving plenty of space in which the reader's imagination can go to work

remarkable, genre-defying...Glister is a remarkable book...a fusion of styles and genres, and it succeeds magnificently on those terms...powerfully imagines and beautifully written...A haunting tale, not as depressing as you might expect, and highly recommended

Writing 'this dreamy melange of gritty urbanism with poetic crime puzzler, will appeal to the right reader very highly

A dark fable

Burnside's writing conveys an almost palpable thrill of discovery, a delight in the play of his imagination over this bleak terrain, an irrepressible joy in cultivating metaphor after metaphor and seeing them all, improbably, bloom...The emotion this brilliant and disturbing novel leaves you with is like the spooked feeling Leonard experiences...It takes your breath away, but you don't know if that comes from awe or terror. The Glister" is that kind of story. It's terrifying, and it feels like a gift.

I'm a year late (quite punctual, for me) in recommending John Burnside's austerely poetic novel