Published By: Viking
Pages: 320
Released On: 04/09/2025
Gabriel Dax, travel writer and accidental spy, is back in the shadows. Unable to resist the allure of his MI6 handler, Faith Green, he has returned to a life of secrets and subterfuge. Dax is sent to Guatemala under the guise of covering a tinderbox presidential election, where the ruthless decisions of the Mafia provoke pitch-black warfare in collusion with the CIA.
As political turmoil erupts, Gabriel’s reluctant involvement deepens. His escape plan leads him to West Berlin, where he uncovers a chilling realization: there is a plot to assassinate magnetic young President John F. Kennedy. In a race against time, Gabriel must navigate deceit and danger, knowing that the stakes have never been higher.
*****
Thanks to NetGalley and Viking for the advanced copy of this title in return for an honest review.
I am a big William Boyd and I loved the previous book in this series – Gabriel’s Moon – and have been looking forward to the follow up ever since.
I was a little concerned I wouldn’t remember what happened in the first one, because I read it so long ago and I have the memory of a sieve, but I was instantly re-absorbed in the world.
Spy novels generally are not something I read much. Not out of a particular Umbridge against them, but they’re just not something I’m drawn to. But Boyd is an author I’m drawn to, and he has definitely swayed me to this genre because he is a master storyteller.
It had the feel of an old fashioned espionage novel. It’s not full-on thriller, it’s not frightening, but it’s tense in a slower way, it’s softer, smarter.
I do like Dax as a character. He’s old school, a bit naïve at times, but he’s a strong character. He’s conflicted, in love with the wrong people. I’m not sure he fully wants to help, but he does get a kick out of it. So he feels conflicted, stretched too many ways. He wants his normal life back but he’s having to take on all of these – potentially life-threatening – jobs that are the complete antithesis of his other life, and I think he actually quite likes the difference.
We’ve got characters back from the first book and some new ones. Too many to mention, some I liked, some I didn’t, but they all work well against Dax’s main story.
In terms of the synopsis above, I did think the second part regarding JFK would have ben earlier. For it to have such a prominent mention in the blurb I thought it would be a slightly more key part, but the first half was all taken up by the other part of the story, which was fine, I enjoyed it as much as the second part, but I did keep wondering when the JFK angle would happen.
For a relatively short book, it sure packs a punch. There’s a lot in there, so much depth.
I do wonder if this was just a duology of if he plans for more. I worry that eventually it may become a bit samey, but I would definitely be happy with more instalments.
I really liked it. Did I like it as much as the first book? Hard to say, but I think so. But this one had more pressure on it. The first one, I had no expectations as it wasn’t a familiar genre. But with this one, I already had an ideas as to what it would be like, and so it was hard to live up to that, but he has definitely succeeded.
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