American hardboiled at its very best, full of taciturn and stoical characters and plotting in explosive overdrive

Up there with the likes of James Lee Burke and Michael Connelly at the forefront of hard-boiled American crime fiction

'A thriller that starts at a gallop and then gets even faster...even if you're not a regular thriller reader, give The Analyst a try. Be warned however, it is seriously addictive stuff'

'An unconventional and beautifully constructed thriller that constantly engages and surprises'

If Ruth Rendell were not slotted into the category of writer of mystery novels, she would have won the Booker long ago

Probably the greatest living crime writer in the world

A writer of extraordinary imagination

The striking gothic setting of London under fire proves fruitful ground for a bizarre dark comedy of an investigation... bawdy, unpredictable and at times hilarious, with a cast of wonderful grotesques

Fowler belongs with the mythographers of London: Iain Sinclair, Peter Ackroyd

Its combination of Grand Guignol and place setting does command attention

Original, moving and entertaining for adults as well as for older children

A deservedly acclaimed read.