Showing Osborne at the height of his powers, The Glass Kingdom upends the Western reader's most basic assumptions about the human world . . . stylish and disquieting

Bangkok is the star of this accomplished novel. Its denizens are aliens to themselves, glittering on the horizon of their own lives, moving - restless and rootless and afraid - though a cityscape that has more stories than they know

The author's exceptional descriptive skills fuel an overwhelming sense of menace . . . the next day you will still be thinking of Sarah's fate with horror

Osborne's novels are lavishly filmic . . . The setting is luxurious, the lifestyle hedonistic, the climate oppressively hot. Prodigious amounts of alcohol are consumed. As events accelerate towards a violent finale, the reader is kept guessing. How severe will the consequences be for the interloper? Which will prevail, revenge or forgiveness?

Lawrence Osborne goes from strength to strength. In The Glass Kingdom he once again displays a feel for the Westerner abroad in an alien culture, where misunderstandings can prove deadly. The author has lived for years in Bangkok, whose seediness runs deeper than the superficially icky red light district most foreign writers take on. Great characters, plenty of suspense, and a killer ending

An atmospheric, gripping novel . . . a horror-satire of globalised capital in which money might buy you idle time or the semblance of power, but it also makes you a target. The Kingdom's residents are blind to its fragility until it is almost too late: as apt a metaphor for 2020 as a novel could hope to provide

Bewitching

Osborne, who specialises in stories about hapless Westerners coming a cropper in foreign lands, has another hit on his hands with this sinister, sensuous and wonderfully evocative tale

Oozing menace, Osborne's compelling novel is wonderfully atmospheric and deeply macabre

Lawrence Osborne did not disappoint in his atmospheric thriller The Glass Kingdom

Osborne masterfully depicts . . . a Bangkok where an irrational yet intoxicating mix of Buddhism and animism holds sway alongside laissez-faire economics . . . eroding his characters' sense of autonomy through attrition

One of the best stand-alone mysteries I've read in a while; thrilling and complex, with richly imagined characters who will break your heart even as they confront the monsters, real and imagined, that hide in the dark

If you only read one thriller this year, let it be this one. Psychologically absorbing, original and atmospheric. I could not turn the pages fast enough

Heaberlin knows how to build to a truly shocking twist, how to break a reader's heart and then begin mending it

Praise for Julia Heaberlin

A beautifully written and extraordinary book

A thriller to remember why you love thrillers

Strong characterisation, haunting images, a wonderful sense of place

Rich, multilayered characters . . . I wanted to sit and savor her beautiful prose but the twisty plot and unexpected revelations propelled me through this spine-chilling novel . . . absolutely mesmerizing

The author of Black-Eyed Susans returns with an elegantly written tale, set in a world where women are vulnerable and men are dangerous, the finger of suspicion pointing at them all

An emotionally charged story . . . there are so many layers to Heaberlin's story which keeps the mystery going right up until the end

Perfect for fans of The Girl on the Train

Twisty, exciting yet so very real

Few people do psychological thrillers as claustrophobic and as creepy as Claire Douglas

Delivered with panache and wit

This book was like a refreshing can of something fizzy - the interactions between the program members are a joy, and the plot full of sharp turns and surprises. I quickly became quite fond of this disparate gang of plotting, scheming young monsters. Can't remember reading something I enjoyed so much in ages. Highly recommended.

Readers won't want to put down this fast and engaging debut novel, and they'll root for the characters who've been cast as villains

A powerful puzzle of a murder mystery, as impossible to solve as it is to put down. What starts as a delicious thriller becomes a fascinating investigation of amorality, vengeance, and redemption. A powder keg of a debut.

Stick a bunch of devious psychopaths together and what could possibly go wrong? (...) a completely original, clever whodunit from a talented new arrival to the world of psychological suspense.

Sharp, original and extremely entertaining. The portrayal of psychopathy is nuanced and sensitive - something you don't see enough of in thriller fiction.

Truly original. Vera's main characters are believable and likeable, despite their nature. A very intriguing read.

Shocking, moving, full of heart ... deeply layered and intricately plotted ... A Slow Fire Burning shows a writer at the height of her powers

This tense and irresistible read is best binged in one sitting

Intricately interwoven plots and subplots, propulsive twists and a neat finale, a deliciously easy psycho drama to hungrily tear through.

A brilliant read

A psychological thriller that begins with a death on a canal boat and involves a cadre of shifty, damaged characters.

A multi-layered mystery simmering with secrets, resentments and griefs.