In the space of less than five years, Child has established himself as one of Britain's most successful commercial novelists...Complete with crackling fast dialogue, an edgy ambivalent plot, and the capacity to make his readers turn the page, this feels like Child's breakthrough book into the mega-sellers. He is that good

Reacher is a hero in the old Wild West stle: a fearless and capable loner, who lives by his own set of morals and is proud never to have killed a man who didn't deserve it...The author is in complete control of his complicated plot and has produced another real pageturner

The British émigré Lee Child has become more American than the natives...A well-woven tale of dirt and duplicity with engaging characters...Child's character is a classic hero

If you like thrillers of the bang-wallop variety, with a nice bit of plotting thrown in, this is the one for you

Big, bruising actioner...Child's great strength lies in spelling out exactly how explosive things are made to happen...Cathartic stuff, expertly delivered

Gritty stuff with a high body count and intricate plotting that keeps the pages turning

A taut thriller by a British writer who handles the American suspense novel well'

Plenty of twists and plenty of excitement...another real page-turner

Captivating...this excellent adventure delivers high drama.

Mesmerizing...A colourful cast of characters, both good and evil, enhance a tale that will keep readers on edge until the final page.

This is history as it ought to have been.

Against the well-researched background of intrigue and rebellion we are plunged into the uncertain 12th century, in this accomplished and engrossing historical mystery.

The deserved winner of this year's Ellis Peters Historical Dagger is a cunningly plotted tale set in medieval Cambridge. A serial killer is at large, and the Jews are blamed. Henry I offers protection because he needs the money. He sends a medical examiner - a master of the art of death - to find the killer. Great stuff

Gruesome and compelling

Norwegian star Jo Nesbo has obliterated most of his Scandinavian rivals in the bestseller stakes, with The Leopard published in paperback this week... The uncrowned king of Norwegian crime fiction is Jo Nesbo. Books such as The Redbreast (2000) and his imposing novel The Snowman have propelled Nesbo to the heights. Apart from its narrative finesse, his work also provides a coolly objective guide to fluctuations in Norwegian society. There is also a universal feeling that his work is more strikingly individual than that of most of his Scandinavian colleagues... Harry is a lone wolf, a chronic alcoholic separated from his wife and child but in touch with the zeitgeist of his country. And Nesbo gives us a sharp picture of Norwegian society in flux, crammed with relevant detail - as you might expect from an ex-freelance journalist, particularly where the role of the media is described

Nesbo has a skill for dispatching his victims with increasing inventiveness, and he barely lets you draw breath before delivering a virtuoso torture and death scene in the opening chapter

The plot is intriguing, and Nesbo's writing is as taught as ever

It's fascinating to discover, from the incident details, what it is like to live for much of the time in a world under snow... Nesbo writes beautifully

There are passages [which are] so anatomically gruesome...that they can only be properly read through the gaps between protecting fingers

Norwegian star Jo Nesbo has obliterated most of his Scandinavian rivals in the bestseller stakes, with The Leopard published in paperback this week...The uncrowned king of Norwegian crime fiction is Jo Nesbo. Books such as The Redbreast (2000) and his imposing novel The Snowman have propelled Nesbo to the heights. Apart from its narrative finesse, his work also provides a coolly objective guide to fluctuations in Norwegian society. There is also a universal feeling that his work is more strikingly individual than that of most of his Scandinavian colleagues...Harry is a lone wolf, a chronic alcoholic separated from his wife and child but in touch with the zeitgeist of his country. And Nesbo gives us a sharp picture of Norwegian society in flux, crammed with relevant detail - as you might expect from an ex - freelance journalist, particularly where the role of the media is described