The Thirty-Nine Steps

Oct 10, 2024 5:26 PM

Author:John Buchan

Perhaps more than any other book The Thirty-Nine Steps has set the pattern for the story of the chase for a wanted man. And, of the many writers who have attempted this kind of thing since Buchan, only a very few, like Graham Greene, have managed to sustain the tension in the same way. The main character is Buchan's familiar hero, Richard Hannay who gets caught up quite suddenly on a dull London afternoon in a situation of extreme danger. Before he knows what is happening he is the obvious suspect for a murder committed in his own flat, and has to go on the run to his native Scotland.

Reviews

A brilliant reshuffling of a pack of clues . . . Rendell at her richest

—— Sunday Times

Well-plotted . . . baffling . . . Still the tops

—— Sunday Telegraph

A climax as chilling and unexpected as any she's perpetrated before

—— The Times

How we will miss the late Javier Marías and his unique genre of slow-motion page-turners, blending thrillery plots with long, equivocating sentences . . . [Tomás Nevinson] is full of the complexities, comedy and most of all contradictions that define his work

—— Guardian, 'Best Translated Novels of 2023'

A writer who loves the propulsiveness of the thriller, the page-turning compulsion that drives a reader through Eric Ambler or John le Carré

—— Financial Times

Mariás demonstrates why so many of his peers believe him to be among the greatest of contemporary novelists

—— The Herald

The most subtle and gifted writer in contemporary Spanish literature

—— Boston Globe

A Marías sentence is a place of infinite richness and surprises

—— Independent

A Spanish literary great . . . His writing is fine and subtle

—— Le Monde

Javier Marías's writing doesn't resemble anyone else's. It's easy to parody, but impossible to imitate . . . Javier Marias was the best writer in Spain

—— Eduardo Mendoza

Marías occupied a reputational perch in Spanish culture that would be almost inconceivable for an American author . . . Most considered him the greatest living Spanish writer

—— New York Times

Javier Marias’s farewell novel sees the late Spanish spellbinder leave us in a droll, delicious, thrillerish labyrinth

—— The Spectator 'Best Books of 2023'

Everyone Here Is Lying by Shari Lapena is WILD. A very satisfying thriller.

—— Roxane Gay

Magnificent, a perfect demonstration of [Shari Lapena's] exceptional skill as a storyteller... Utterly compelling

—— Daily Mail

Everyone Here Is Lying opens with a corker of a premise that had me racing through the book... a clever twist... a thrilling ride

—— The Observer

A fast-paced read with jaw-dropping twists

—— The i

Shari Lapena is an expert in both pace and the placing of clues and misdirections

—— Literary Review

Shari Lapena has been described as the queen of the 'just one more chapter' thriller, and having devoured this compelling novel in double-quick time it's easy to see why . . . Plot twists are planted like hand grenades throughout the narrative, set to go off when you least expect them, and the denouement is as surprising as it is shocking.

—— Choice

Lapena has great fun pulling secrets from her conjuror's hat . . . when it comes to construction she's a master, her stream of twists and surprises perfectly timed

—— Daily Express

I read this in three days and loved every addictive page

—— Simon Mayo

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