Author:Dashiell Hammett
'When I opened my eyes and sat up in bed Nora was shaking me and a man with a gun in his hand was standing in the bedroom doorway.'
Ex-detective Nick Charles attracts trouble like a magnet. He thinks his sleuthing days are over, but when Julia Wolf, a former acquaintance, is found dead, her body riddled with bullets, Nick - along with his glamorous wife, Nora - can't resist making a few enquiries. Clyde Miller Wynant, Julia's lover and boss, has disappeared. Everyone is after him, but Nick is not convinced Wynant is the murderer - and when he finds a junked-up hoodlum with a careless attitude to guns in his bedroom, it's only the beginning of his troubles.
Harsh lights and romantic black shadows: this is the heyday of American crime writing
—— GuardianThe ace performer
—— Raymond ChandlerVish Puri - "Most Private Investigator", according to his card - is large, constantly hungry, a perpetual victim of Delhi's traffic congestion, and a wonderfully engaging PI . . . the characters - including Puri's complicated family - are splendid, and it's a joy to read
—— The TimesA funny, entertaining novel [with a] wonderfully engaging Private Investigator . . the characters - including Vish Puri's complicated family - are splendid, and it's a joy to read.
—— Marcel Berlins , The TimesSweet-natured and hilarious
—— Financial Tiimes Summer ReadsPopular fiction at its best
—— The Washington PostOnly one's dreams after a champagne-fuelled night at the Follies Bergere have quite the same nightmarish-but-entertaining quality as Vargas's delightful crime novels
—— Jake Kerridge , Daily TelegraphGripping
—— Guardian[Vargas is] one of the most exciting, addictive and inventive purveyor of classy crime fiction currently pounding the publishing beat... It it a highly entertaining policier but more importantly, as with Conan Doyle, the wacky world Vargas shapes is oddly reassuring: a great remedy to a grey day
—— Christian House , Indepedent on SundayA thrilling read
—— Sunday TimesA beguiling story
—— Independent on SundayA sinister, beguiling tale that brilliantly evokes a childhood world
—— Woman and HomeBrilliant and nightmarish, this modern fairytale is beautifully written
—— Eve MagazinePhantom will maintain Jo Nesbo’s unstoppable momentum.
—— The IndependentThe king of Nordic crime – and his haunted protagonist Harry Hole – returns with this tightly plotted thriller which pitches Hole deep into the murky underworld of Oslo’s heroin market.
—— MetroJo Nesbo is at the top of his game... The must-read thriller of 2012.
—— BellaPhantom leaves us reeling, with a storyline and ending that hurts us almost as much as it hurts the protagonists... The twists and turns show Nesbo at his complicated, yet utterly accessible best, and Hole at his undeniably brilliant but self-destructive worst.
—— The ListJo Nesbo is a master of his craft. His latest novel, Phantom, is world-class crime writing. Phantom is a crime novel that pleases on every level.
—— Dagbladet (Norway)Harry Hole is back only to find that the case he wants to investigate is already closed
—— ObserverJo Nesbo has done it again with Phantom, his seventh gripping novel featuring Inspector Harry Hole... Tense and compulsive Phantom will have you jumping out of your seat
—— Hannah Britt , Daily ExpressKing of Scandinavian crime... A writer at the top of his game
—— Deirdre O’Brien , Sunday MirrorRiveting reading from page one
—— My Weekly