Author:Terry Hayes,Christopher Ragland
Can you commit the perfect crime?
Pilgrim is the codename for a man who doesn’t exist. The adopted son of a wealthy American family, he once headed up a secret espionage unit for US intelligence. Before he disappeared into anonymous retirement, he wrote the definitive book on forensic criminal investigation.
But that book will come back to haunt him. It will help NYPD detective Ben Bradley track him down. And it will take him to a rundown New York hotel room where the body of a woman is found facedown in a bath of acid, her features erased, her teeth missing, her fingerprints gone. It is a textbook murder – and Pilgrim wrote the book.
What begins as an unusual and challenging investigation will become a terrifying race-against-time to save America from oblivion. Pilgrim will have to make a journey from a public beheading in Mecca to a deserted ruins on the Turkish coast via a Nazi death camp in Alsace and the barren wilderness of the Hindu Kush in search of the faceless man who would commit an appalling act of mass murder in the name of his God.
The best thriller I've read in ten years... An astonishing piece of work
—— Linwood BarclayTHRILLER OF THE WEEK. Delivers thrills and spills...A full tilt mix of Homeland, The Wire and The Bourne Ultimatum
—— Mail on SundayI Am Pilgrim is a 21st century thriller: a high concept plot, but with finely drawn protagonists. The plot twists and turns like a python in a sack. The style is visceral, gritty and cinematic...A satisfying and ambitious book, written with skill and verve
—— Adam LeBor , The TimesRendition yourself into a pulsating thriller that never lets up as it carries the hero and the reader on an ever more desperate race between time and an all too plausible disaster for the world we live in. Great nail-biting stuff!
—— Robert GoddardThe narrative is thrilling: the tension tightens with action...It's a murder mystery, an illuminating account of contemporary international politics and a study of an unusual man......An excellent thriller which as a first novel is really remarkable
—— Literary ReviewI Am Pilgrim takes the modern spy novel and pushes it screaming and kicking into the twentieth-first century. With a stunning sense of plot, beautifully detailed writing, huge ambition and even huger talent, Hayes has produced one of the most memorable novels of recent times. This is a frightening, pulse-pounding journey into the future of terrorism and the brave new world we’ve been ushered into. Amazingly assured and complex, this is one of the best debut novels I’ve ever read
—— Stav SherezClever and compulsive - the best thriller in years
—— Deidre O'Brien , Sunday MirrorTerry Hayes' I AM PILGRIM delivers smart, compelling and wildly inventive storytelling, told on an ambitious scale with total command. A masterful novel and a terrific read
—— Chris EwanMassive in many senses, but none more so than its ability to exert a vice-like grip on the reader....Destined to be spy thriller of the year
—— Irish IndependentAs relevant as today's headlines. A scary trip through the shadowy world of international espionage. Just hope that Pilgrim is on our side. Terrific. No, on second thoughts, better than terrific
—— Mark TimlinTHRILLER OF THE MONTH - If the gizmos and bad guys of James Bond and Jason Bourne are a guilty pleasure, you'll love I Am Pilgrim
—— Good HousekeepingFast-paced, slick and full of suspense...It will be the only thriller you need to read this year
—— Yorkshire PostA rollicking, yet thoughtful spy thriller which looks set to become a summer blockbuster... [I Am Pilgrim] has plenty of action, but at its heart the drama is cerebral and rich in character, a battle of wills and intellect which is more George Smiley than Jason Bourne
—— Tom Tivnan , The Bookseller[Terry Hayes’] debut novel has been hyped as "the only thriller you need to read this year", and for once that isn't nonsense. I Am Pilgrim makes moussaka of its rivals
—— John O’Connell , GuardianI Am Pilgrim is going to be big
—— Simon MayoI Am Pilgrim is a satisfying and ambitious book, written with skill and verve
—— The TimesWorthy of the hype ****
—— Sunday MirrorI Am Pilgrim is a fresh new take on the genre...and it’s one you won’t regret picking up
—— David Baldacci[I Am Pilgrim] has been a fantastic read: a big, solid, chunky, fast-paced, rip-roaring thriller, the love child of a manic union between Jack Reacher and James Bond.
—— HeatMr. Hayes’s globe-trotting book has more kicks, twists and winks than anything of its dusty genre has provided in a long time. You will be happily surprised to find a new thriller franchise with brains to match its brawn
—— Janet Maslin , New York TimesWritten in a heart-stopping pace, this literary thriller lands somewhere between Homeland and Breaking Bad and then transports you to a different level. It is part spy novel, part psychological thriller. Twists and turns. Emotionally complex characters. Relevant geopolitical issues.
—— Monica Lewinsky , Wall Street JournalAn assured novel: well researched and vivid, with a strong plotline, delivered with verve and some appealing wry humour.
—— Laura Wilson , GuardianA vivid sense of history and locale
—— Best Books of 2016, Financial TimesMeticulously researched and delivered in clear, lucid and intelligent prose, Mukherjee is a fantastic addition to the stable of international crime writers, whose books effortlessly cross boundaries and bind readers in a community of excellence and enjoyment.
—— Eastern EyeVividly described, full of humour and humanity, it's a wonderful picture of that time and world, as well as being a perfect murder mystery novel.
—— Liz Anderson , iNewsBursting with lively historical details about post-World War I India, this is a stirring and entertaining mystery
—— Library JournalThis brilliant mingling of real history and fictional invention kicks off a series that does for the Raj what Philip Kerr did for the Reich
—— Karen Robinson , The Times / Sunday Times Crime Club, *Best Books of the Past Five Years*