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The Russia House
The Russia House
Oct 9, 2024 6:19 AM

Author:John le Carré

The Russia House

John le Carré's first post-glasnost spy novel, The Russia House captures the effect of a slow and uncertain thaw on ordinary people and on the shadowy puppet-masters who command them.

Barley Blair is not a Service man: he is a small-time publisher, a self-destructive soul whose only loves are whisky and jazz. But it was Barley who, one drunken night at a dacha in Peredelkino during the Moscow Book Fair, was befriended by a high-ranking Soviet scientist who could be the greatest asset to the West since perestroika began, and made a promise. Nearly a year later, his drunken promise returns to haunt him. A reluctant Barley is quickly trained by British Intelligence and sent to Moscow to liaise with a go-between, the beautiful Katya. Both are lonely and disillusioned. Each is increasingly certain that if the human race is to have any future, all must betray their countries ...

'Classic le Carré'

Sunday Times

Reviews

Classic le Carré

—— The Sunday Times

Extremely clever, readable and elegant... perfect for fans of Big Little Lies. Domestic noir at its best

—— #1 eBook bestseller Suzy K Quinn

Intelligent, compelling and deeply unsettling. My kind of book!!

—— Ali Land, bestselling author of Good Me Bad Me

Little Friends taps into your darkest fears. Beautifully told, with a rich cast of characters, I couldn't put it down

—— Rachel Blok, author of Under the Ice

Little Friends is beautifully written. I was in the kitchen; in the garden; on holiday with all the characters. And I was there at the fallout. Jane Shemilt has a talent for taking you into her world - but be careful. It might not be what you think...

—— Sunday Times bestseller Jane Corry

The plot was breathlessly gripping, with an emotional punch that turned the last couple of chapters into a teary blur

—— Sarah Naughton, author of The Hanged Man Rises

Such a clever, beautifully written read that was tense and thrilling throughout with an ending that gave me goosebumps. Highly recommended!

—— Claire Douglas, author of Then She Vanishes

A fierce reminder that control is only an illusion

—— The Book Review Hub

A compelling, disturbing and beautifully told story. I loved Jane's debut Daughter and adored The Drowning Lesson but Jane has topped them both with Little Friends

—— Diane Jeffrey, author of He Will Find You

Countless psychological thrillers get compared to Big Little Lies; Shemilt's is the real deal

—— People

Surefire suspense [. . .] riveting creepiness

—— New York Times

A fantastically clever novel with some wonderful twists

—— Jo's Book Blog

Praise for Jane Shemilt

—— -

A compelling sense of place, good twists, and a tense, intense ending

—— Sarah Vaughan, bestselling author of Anatomy of a Scandal

We absolutely loved this

—— Richard & Judy Book Club

Thrilling

—— Sunday Express

Builds layer upon layer of tension in a novel you won't be able to put down

—— Tess Gerritsen, bestselling author of I Know a Secret

Utterly gripping. A tautly-coiled spring of suspicion and suspense which builds to a devastating ending

—— Mail on Sunday

A dark and twisty tale

—— Heat

Well-written, taut and tense

—— Wendy Holden , Daily Mail

Taut and thought-provoking

—— Woman & Home

Gripping to the last page

—— My Weekly

Suspenseful, brooding

—— Sunday Mirror

Clever

—— Sun

The Hot List

—— Inside Soap

Very rarely does a book like The Recovery of Rose Gold come along . . . this is a book that wastes no time in enticing in a reader and keeping them guessing until the very last page

—— Culturefly

Sinister and chilling . . . The writing flows beautifully and I felt like each character was confiding in me, trusting me with their secrets. I loved every bit of this thrilling story and the ending was brilliant and perfect. It's an amazing debut looking at the tangled web of a controlling mother/daughter relationship and a must read in my opinion

—— NB Magazine

Taut, twisted and with two terrifically toxic narrators, this thriller offers a wonderfully wicked perspective on complicated mother-daughter relationships. Gripping

—— Psychologies

Striking. Unsettling yet compelling reading

—— Oxford Times

It will make you laugh on one page, exhibiting the darkest of humour, and then make you shudder at the very next

—— Chat Special

A gritty story of truth and fantasy

—— Sainsbury's Magazine

Must read

—— Hello

I haven't come across two more unbalanced characters in books than this mother and daughter

—— Prima

Horribly riveting. At times I wanted to, but I could not put it down

—— Saga Magazine

Wrobel's claustrophobic debut explores the sinister subject of parents who deliberately make their children ill . . . Find out who's manipulating who in this clever chiller

—— Sunday Express

Deliciously icy. Wrobel's cleverly constructed plot twists and turns, undermining any sense of integrity the minute you catch a glimpse of it

—— Irish News

Absorbing, beautifully written

—— The Times, Crime Books of the Year (Skin Deep)

A masterful interrogation of a family's undoing ... and a ruthless examination of the pieces left behind

—— Sunday Business Post

Dramatic and compelling ... a whodunit and a Greek tragedy all in one ... absolutely riveting

—— Irish Independent

Nugent excels at creating a shocking story of a horrible family with huge issues and complexities that keep you hooked to the end

—— RTÉ Guide
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