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  • Published: 13 April 2021
  • ISBN: 9780241354391
  • Imprint: Penguin General UK
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 256
  • RRP: $22.99

A Fatal Game




A white-knuckle tale of betrayal and espionage from the bestselling author of The Good Liar and the heir to John le Carré

The railway station is heaving with rush-hour commuters when the bomb goes off.

In the subsequent enquiry, Jake Winter, the British Intelligence Officer responsible for preventing the attack, comes under fire. Especially when it transpires that the bomber was his agent. With his conscience - and his career - in tatters, Jake's hopes rest on his new recruit, a young British-Asian man named Rashid. Recently returned disillusioned from the Middle East, and now enlisted into a new terrorist plot, Rashid seems to be the answer Jake, and MI5, have been waiting for.

But how can Jake know for certain when Rashid is his only source? Is history about to repeat itself or has Jake lost his nerve, haunted by his last mistake? After all, who can you trust, when you no longer trust yourself?

  • Published: 13 April 2021
  • ISBN: 9780241354391
  • Imprint: Penguin General UK
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 256
  • RRP: $22.99

Also by Nicholas Searle

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Praise for A Fatal Game

An assured thriller debut in the footsteps of le Carré, Highsmith and Rendell

Guardian on 'The Good Liar'

This is set to be one of the books of the year that will get everyone talking ... you will have your socks knocked, nay, blown off

Stylist on 'The Good Liar'

All the ingredients are in this book...You're in safe hands with Searle's elegant writing

The Times on 'The Good Liar'

Unbearably tense

Telegraph on 'A Traitor in the Family'

'It reminded me strongly of John le Carré ... this is high praise'

Daily Mail on 'A Traitor in the Family'

Meticulously plotted, with wonderfully drawn characters and an elegant prose style that makes this every bit as compelling as Searle's stirring debut

Daily Mail on 'The Good Liar'

A spy thriller with extra authority

Jonathan Freedland, Guardian

Former intelligence officer turned crime writer Searle is stepping into the gap left by John le Carré

Metro

A thought-provoking read that bursts with tension

Financial Times

Searle has fun with the office politics of the intelligence world, and is thoughtful about the ethics of espionage . . . it seems something akin to poetry can be the best medium for expressing the practicalities of the hard-nosed business of espionage.

– The Telegraph, The 31 best thrillers and crime novels of 2019 so far