The Scarlet Papers: ‘The best spy novel of the year’ SUNDAY TIMES
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The Scarlet Papers: ‘The best spy novel of the year’ SUNDAY TIMES
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Superbly constructed and written with flair, it manages to debunk John le Carré's world and to reaffirm its mystique. It's highly unlikely that there will be a better espionage novel this year At times, this was as compulsively readable as any spy novel, with the kind of twists and turns you'd expect. 'The best spy novel of the year' trumpets the quote from The Sunday Times which forms part of the blurb. To which my response is… maybe? Because, frankly, great spy novels are few and far between. And when you've read Le Carré, almost everything else pales into comparison, especially when it comes to dialogue, characterisation, tension building. So it's not as if there's much competition, is what I'm saying. The book is full of characters with messy relationships and exposes the moral dilemmas which spies confront, the isolation inherent in their role and the burden of keeping secrets, even from those you love. As one character observes, 'We were good spies and terrible human beings.' Many of the characters are almost certainly not who they purport to be or are adept at adopting different personas. 'Spying was a performance and the costume, the voice, the initial entrance were as vital as the lines themselves.' Rowland White, publishing director, acquired world rights in all languages from Euan Thorneycroft at A M Heath, for publication in 2023. All film and television rights are being handled by Conrad Williams at Blake Friedmann on behalf of A M Heath.
There were times, during my reading of this novel, that I was as confused as I ever wanted to be! A brilliant spy novel, full of authentic details, names that are still familiar to the majority of people even now, and so many twists and red herrings, no one tells the whole truth. It is obvious that Matthew has performed in depth research into the subject of spies, by his use of the details about publicly known spies, from the era of the Cambridge Five to the current day.World War Two events were never going to be clear cut or clean. Wartime was nasty, trust was not automatically given, there were double agents, triple agents and the intelligence services were ruthless in their endeavours. Superbly constructed and written with flair. This might be the best spy novel of the year' SUNDAY TIMES The Scarlet Papers has received from endorsements from Peter James, who praised it as a “breathtaking thriller” and a “classic in the making”.
There are a few twists and turns along the way. Some very clever, others predictable. And also some quite worthy obfuscation. As with My Name Is Nobody (the other book by this author that I have read) the story and all its interconnected parts flowed very well. Culminating in a satisfying ending.
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My thanks to Penguin Random House Michael Joseph for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘The Scarlet Papers’ by Matthew Richardson. Addictive, original and outrageously entertaining . . . Matthew Richardson proves himself a writer of huge talent and skill CHARLOTTE PHILBY
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