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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 realisation: 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 . . .
In The Predicament, Britain's most beloved storyteller returns with a twisting adventure of obsessive love and elegant espionage from, from Sunday Times bestseller William Boyd.

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‘William Boyd once again brings to the spy novel his particular storytelling genius. The result is brilliant fun’ MICK HERRON
‘I enjoyed it hugely. Boyd is one of my favourite authors – he never disappoints’ KATE ATKINSON
‘A wonderfully intricate novel of espionage and elegant skulduggery’ JOHN BANVILLE

—

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 realisation: 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 . . .

In The Predicament, the second novel starring accidental spy Gabriel Dax, William Boyd weaves yet another masterful tale of suspense, loyalty, love and the dark temptations of spy craft.

‘William Boyd once again brings to the spy novel his particular storytelling genius. The result is brilliant fun’ MICK HERRON

——

An accidental spy. A web of betrayals. A mystery that will take you around the world . . .

Gabriel Dax is a young man haunted by the memories of a tragedy: every night, when sleep finally comes, he dreams about his childhood home in flames. His days are spent on the move as an acclaimed travel writer, capturing changing landscapes in the grip of the Cold War. When he’s offered the chance to interview a political figure, his ambition leads him unwittingly into the shadows of espionage.

As Gabriel’s reluctant initiation takes hold, he is drawn deeper into duplicity. Falling under the spell of Faith Green, an enigmatic and ruthless MI6 handler, he becomes ‘her spy’, unable to resist her demands. But amid the peril, paranoia and passion consuming Gabriel’s new covert life, it will be the revelations closer to home that change the rest of his story . . .

——

In his most exhilarating novel yet, William Boyd transports you from the vibrant streets of sixties London to the sun-soaked cobbles of Cadiz and the frosty squares of Warsaw in this thrilling adventure.

‘Engaging, intelligent and deeply satisfying. I rate him one of our greatest living novelists’ PETER JAMES

‘Wonderfully ambiguous with notions of twisted reality and uncertain memory’ ANN CLEEVES

‘A wonderfully intricate novel of espionage and elegant skulduggery’ JOHN BANVILLE

‘I enjoyed it hugely. Boyd is one of my favourite authors – he never disappoints’ KATE ATKINSON

‘Beautifully crafted and pleasingly unpredictable, the work of a man who knows what he is doing and makes it look effortless’ JAMES RUNCIE

‘Simply the best realistic storyteller of his generation’ SEBASTIAN FAULKS

‘There are few reading pleasures as great as giving in to a William Boyd novel’ SUNDAY TIMES

‘William Boyd once again brings to the spy novel his particular storytelling genius. The result is brilliant fun’ MICK HERRON

——

An accidental spy. A web of betrayals. A mystery that will take you around the world . . .

Gabriel Dax is a young man haunted by the memories of a tragedy: every night, when sleep finally comes, he dreams about his childhood home in flames. His days are spent on the move as an acclaimed travel writer, capturing changing landscapes in the grip of the Cold War. When he’s offered the chance to interview a political figure, his ambition leads him unwittingly into the shadows of espionage.

As Gabriel’s reluctant initiation takes hold, he is drawn deeper into duplicity. Falling under the spell of Faith Green, an enigmatic and ruthless MI6 handler, he becomes ‘her spy’, unable to resist her demands. But amid the peril, paranoia and passion consuming Gabriel’s new covert life, it will be the revelations closer to home that change the rest of his story . . .

——

In his most exhilarating novel yet, William Boyd transports you from the vibrant streets of sixties London to the sun-soaked cobbles of Cadiz and the frosty squares of Warsaw in this thrilling adventure.

‘Engaging, intelligent and deeply satisfying. I rate him one of our greatest living novelists’ PETER JAMES

‘Wonderfully ambiguous with notions of twisted reality and uncertain memory’ ANN CLEEVES

‘A wonderfully intricate novel of espionage and elegant skulduggery’ JOHN BANVILLE

‘I enjoyed it hugely. Boyd is one of my favourite authors – he never disappoints’ KATE ATKINSON

‘Beautifully crafted and pleasingly unpredictable, the work of a man who knows what he is doing and makes it look effortless’ JAMES RUNCIE

‘Simply the best realistic storyteller of his generation’ SEBASTIAN FAULKS

‘One of our best contemporary storytellers’ SPECTATOR

‘A gripping, must-read spy thriller. Boyd pulls out all the stops here for a gripping and galloping tale of murky espionage’ i

William Boyd, The Bookseller bestseller, April 2023

In this probing series of exclusive interviews, Alistair Owen talks to William Boyd about his works and the life which has inspired them.

The conversations which emerge are a deep-dive into film, art, theatre, literature and the life of a writer. This is one of Britain’s most beloved authors on what it is to write in a variety of forms.

‘William Boyd has probably written more classic books than any of his contemporaries’ Daily Telegraph

‘Arguably one of Britain’s finest living writers’ Sunday Express

Born in 1799, Cashel Greville Ross experiences myriad lives: joyous and devastating, years of luck and unexpected loss. Moving from County Cork to London, from Waterloo to Zanzibar, Cashel seeks his fortune across continents in war and in peace. He faces a terrible moral choice in a village in Sri Lanka as part of the East Indian Army. He enters the world of the Romantic Poets in Pisa. In Ravenna he meets a woman who will live in his heart for the rest of his days. As he travels the world as a soldier, a farmer, a felon, a writer, a father, a lover, he experiences all the vicissitudes of life and, through the accelerating turbulence of the nineteenth century, he discovers who he truly is. This is the romance of life itself, and the beating heart of The Romantic.

From one of Britain’s best-loved and bestselling writers comes an intimate yet panoramic novel set across the nineteenth century.

‘Picaresque, big-hearted and moving, this is Boyd at the top of his game’ Guardian

‘Simply the best realistic storyteller of his generation’ Sebastian Faulks

Born in 1799, Cashel Greville Ross experiences myriad lives: joyous and devastating, years of luck and unexpected loss. Moving from County Cork to London, from Waterloo to Zanzibar, Cashel seeks his fortune across continents in war and in peace. He faces a terrible moral choice in a village in Sri Lanka as part of the East Indian Army. He enters the world of the Romantic Poets in Pisa. In Ravenna he meets a woman who will live in his heart for the rest of his days. As he travels the world as a soldier, a farmer, a felon, a writer, a father, a lover, he experiences all the vicissitudes of life and, through the accelerating turbulence of the nineteenth century, he discovers who he truly is. This is the romance of life itself, and the beating heart of The Romantic.

From one of Britain’s best-loved and bestselling writers comes an intimate yet panoramic novel set across the nineteenth century.

‘Picaresque, big-hearted and moving, this is Boyd at the top of his game’ Observer

‘Simply the best realistic storyteller of his generation’ Sebastian Faulks

A producer. A novelist. An actress.

It is summer in 1968, the year of the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy. There are riots in Paris and the Vietnam War is out of control. While the world is reeling our three characters are involved in making a Swingin’ Sixties movie in sunny Brighton.

All are leading secret lives. Elfrida is drowning her writer’s block in vodka; Talbot, coping with the daily dysfunction of making a film, is hiding something in a secret apartment; and the glamorous Anny is wondering why the CIA is suddenly so interested in her.

But the show must go on and, as it does, the trio’s private worlds begin to take over their public ones. Pressures build inexorably – someone’s going to crack. Or maybe they all will.

From one of Britain’s best loved writers comes an exhilarating, tender novel that asks the vital questions: what makes life worth living? And what do you do if you find it isn’t?
_______________________________________________

PRAISE FOR WILLIAM BOYD

‘The ultimate in immersive fiction . . . magnificent’ Sunday Times

‘A finely judged performance: a deft and resonant alchemy of fact and fiction, of literary myth and imagination’ Guardian on Love is Blind

‘William Boyd has probably written more classic books than any of his contemporaries’ Daily Telegraph

‘Simply the best realistic storyteller of his generation’ Sebastian Faulks

It is summer in 1968, the year of the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy. While the world is reeling our trio is involved in making a rackety Swingin’ Sixties British movie in sunny Brighton. All are leading secret lives.

As the film is shot, with its usual drastic ups and downs, so does our trio’s private, secret world begin to take over their public one. Pressures build inexorably – someone’s going to crack. Or maybe they all will.

From one of Britain’s bestselling and best loved writers comes an exhilarating, tender novel that asks the vital questions: what makes life worth living? And what do you do if you find it isn’t?

_______________________________________________

PRAISE FOR WILLIAM BOYD

‘The ultimate in immersive fiction . . . magnificent’ Sunday Times

‘A finely judged performance: a deft and resonant alchemy of fact and fiction, of literary myth and imagination’ Guardian on Love is Blind

‘William Boyd has probably written more classic books than any of his contemporaries’ Daily Telegraph

‘Simply the best realistic storyteller of his generation’ Sebastian Faulks

© William Boyd 2020 (P) Penguin Audio 2020