Book cover for All The Old Knives

All The Old Knives

Synopsis

Details

28 January 2016
304 pages
9781447295761
Imprint: Picador

Reviews

This sneaky little gem . . . Steinhauer sustains the difficult balancing act of melding a heart-racing espionage plot with credible dinner table conversation. He never violates the book's basic premise, not even when his characters begin to have the darkest suspicions about each other . . . Steinhauer specializes in tough showdowns. And the more innocently they begin, the more devastatingly they end
All the Old Knives has a disarmingly quiet start, but good spy novels are like good spies: they draw you in, earn your trust, and then grab hold with both hands. By the last 100 pages Steinhauer's hook is firmly embedded and it's hard not to race to the finish. And the ending? I can sum it up in one word - brilliant
This is one of the sparest, most elegant spy novels I have come across in a long time . . . Written in glistening prose - with not a word wasted - it proves Steinhauer truly is John le Carre's rightful heir.
A splendid tour de force. The mystery here works with the dexterity and precision of Agatha Christie's best.