Author:John le Carré
The eighth of John le Carré's espionage novels to feature his most enduring and well-loved character, George Smiley, The Secret Pilgrim is a gripping feat of narrative brilliance.
The Cold War is over and Ned has been demoted to the training academy. He asks his old mentor, George Smiley, to address his passing-out class. There are no laundered reminiscences; Smiley speaks the truth - perhaps the last the students will ever hear. As they listen, Ned recalls his own painful triumphs and inglorious failures, in a career that took him from the Western Isles of Scotland to Hamburg and from Israel to Cambodia. He asks himself: Did it do any good? What did it do to me? And what will happen to us now? In this late Smiley novel, the great spy gives his own humane and unexpected answers.
'Consummate and enthralling'
Observer
Le Carré writing at his exceptional best
—— Mail on SundayConsummate and enthralling
—— ObserverThe Snakes asks serious questions about human nature, avarice and justice, wrapped in the fast-paced rhythms of a thriller. It is written with Jones’s trademark economy and a fierce attention to the nuances of familial cruelty… I finished The Snakes with a juddering heart, strangely close to tears
—— Elizabeth Lowry , GuardianThe Snakes is gripping from the outset, then finally unputdownable. The writing is magnificent. One of the most powerful and uncompromising novels I've read in years.
—— Jonathan CoeEver since her debut, The Outcast, Jones has peopled her propulsive plots with nuanced, dimensional creations imbued with human failings and graces. The Snakes is no exception… Jones crafts a pitiless shock ending; a denouement that refuses closure and resonates long after the book is set aside… [the ending is] bound to become a talking point
—— Suzi Feay , Financial TimesI am blowing the trumpet for The Snakes to anyone who'll listen. I devoured the book, awed by its beauty and brilliance. We'll be lucky if 2019 brings us much else of this rank. This is wickedly good writing and something really special. Sadie Jones has talent to burn.
—— Billy O'CallaghanA suspenseful, beautifully written thriller about the corruption of money and abuse within a dysfunctional family
—— GuardianMasterful, terrifying, dangerous, with an ending that is as uncompromising as the build-up is truthful. The Snakes is as beautifully written as it is dark and honest.
—— Rachel JoyceA menacing, beautifully written novel
—— Guardian, *Summer Reads of 2019*I was absolutely gripped by this original and beautifully-told story of a couple enmeshed in a nest of vipers -- a rich family of criminals. Its evocation of a sinister French house, the corruption of love and the powerlessness of good is both haunting and chilling. Nobody contemporary writes about unhappy families as well as Sadie Jones.
—— Amanda CraigThis gripping read drips with a menace that builds of the shocking final pages
—— Joanne Finney , Good Housekeeping, *Book of the Month*[A] menacing new contemporary thriller… a tantalising set-up, after which the plot zigzags unpredictably to a brutally stark finale that steals the breath
—— Anthony Cummins , MetroThe Snakes has all of Jones’s trademark depth and layered storytelling
—— Sarra Manning , RedSadie Jones… knows how to construct a narrative of great emotional power. Her prose is crisp and precise, studded with spiky observations
—— Andrew Taylor , SpectatorAn all-encompassing read from the first page to the devastating final paragraph
—— Alice O’Keeffe , The BooksellerThe ending is devastating
—— Jeffrey Burke , Mail on SundayUnsettling, thought-provoking and beautifully written, you won’t be able to get this out of your head
—— Caroline Robb , HeatJones’s style is immediate and lively and she is particularly good at dialogue, which she uses a great deal, often to advance the fast-paced plot
—— Elisa Seagrave , Literary ReviewThe Snakes unfolds in clean, functional prose and Jones has a lot to say about the way we live now
—— Johanna Thomas-Corr , Evening StandardDetermined to escape the nine-to-five monotony, Bea and Dan head to France to visit Bea’s wayward brother Alex, who runs a hotel where the only guests are snakes in the attic. The peace is shattered when Bea’s parents arrive, bringingconflict and misery. From a sedate start, Jones deftly builds the tension to a horrific and powerful conclusion.
—— The TelegraphJones’s fifth novel is a fantastic read as a thriller, but where Jones excels, is in her microscopic yet compassionate scrutiny of relationships: the unconditional doting of a flawed sibling; the sickening toxicity of a vicious but powerful parent; the watchful care and explosions of irritation between spouses
—— Maria Crawford , Financial Times, *Summer Reads of 2019*Deliciously wicked... the perfect antidote to a relaxing summer's day... hypnotic -- like staring into the serpent's eyes just before it strikes
—— Ron Charles , Washington PostBoth a cautionary tale and a pitch-black race-to-the-end thriller
—— Justine Jordon , Guardian, *Books of the Year*Sadie Jones is a talented writer. She is able to burrow down into the heart of feelings and yet does so in a matter of fact way. The ending shocked me… [The Snakes is] the sort of read I could spend ages thinking about what lies beneath the story of greed, wealth, jealousy and flawed family relationships
—— Nicola Smith , NBThe Hot List
—— Inside SoapVery 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
—— CultureflySinister 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 MagazineTaut, twisted and with two terrifically toxic narrators, this thriller offers a wonderfully wicked perspective on complicated mother-daughter relationships. Gripping
—— PsychologiesStriking. Unsettling yet compelling reading
—— Oxford TimesIt will make you laugh on one page, exhibiting the darkest of humour, and then make you shudder at the very next
—— Chat SpecialA gritty story of truth and fantasy
—— Sainsbury's MagazineMust read
—— HelloI haven't come across two more unbalanced characters in books than this mother and daughter
—— PrimaHorribly riveting. At times I wanted to, but I could not put it down
—— Saga MagazineWrobel'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 ExpressDeliciously icy. Wrobel's cleverly constructed plot twists and turns, undermining any sense of integrity the minute you catch a glimpse of it
—— Irish NewsAbsorbing, 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 PostDramatic and compelling ... a whodunit and a Greek tragedy all in one ... absolutely riveting
—— Irish IndependentNugent excels at creating a shocking story of a horrible family with huge issues and complexities that keep you hooked to the end
—— RTÉ Guide