The final novel from one of the greatest writers of the past half century

'No-one nowadays writes prose like Javier Marias . . . If you're already a fan, you'll know what to expect and rejoice. If you're not, what a treat you have in store' The Herald

Tomas Nevinson, a retired MI6 agent, is working for the British Embassy in Madrid when his former handler, the sinister Bertram Tupra, offers to bring him back inside for one last assignment. His mission: to catch and, if necessary, kill a terrorist gone to ground in Northern Spain after bombings in Barcelona and Zaragoza. The trouble is there are three suspects - all women - and it may not actually be any of them. To find out, Nevinson must move incognito to the small town where the three women separately live, and become an intimate friend to each, in the hope of uncovering a clue . . .

A philosophical thriller with a climate of suspense to rival le Carre and a psychological depth that is purely Marias's own, this is a novel that explores the deepest of human questions: in what circumstances can killing be called just?

Translated by Margaret Jull Costa

'The last word from a master . . . once you've been inside Marias' world, to spend too long outside is unbearable' The Sunday Times

'A twisting espionage tale shot through with slantwise humour . . . seductive and inescapably poignant' Observer

About the Author

Margaret Jull Costa (Afterword by, Translator)
Margaret Jull Costa has translated the works of many Spanish and Portuguese writers, among them novelists: Javier Marias, Jose Saramago and Eca de Queiroz, and poets: Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen, Mario de Sa-Carneiro, Fernando Pessoa and Ana Luisa Amaral. Her work has brought her numerous prizes, among them, the 2018 Premio Valle-Inclan for On the Edge by Rafael Chirbes. In 2013, she was appointed a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and, in 2014, she was awarded an OBE for services to literature.

Javier Marias (Author)
Javier Marias was born in Madrid in 1951 and died in 2022. He published fifteen novels, three collections of short stories and several volumes of essays. His work has been translated into forty-three languages and has won a dazzling array of international literary awards, including the prestigious Dublin IMPAC award for A Heart So White. He held academic posts in Spain, the United States and in Britain, as Lecturer in Spanish Literature at Oxford University.

Reviews
A meditation on thought and consciousness, identity and disguise, the gloriously rolling sentences offer the deep pleasures of a brilliant mind apprehending the world in real time * Guardian, '2023 Summer Reads' *
This is a spy thriller, but it reads like one transposed into music . . . Marias mesmerises us again and we are swept on by the long, powerful swells of his prose * Guardian *
The last word from a master . . . His writing is often thrilling in a way that's distinct from any other author I know . . . once you've been inside Marias' world, to spend too long outside is unbearable * The Sunday Times *
A writer who loves the propulsiveness of the thriller, the page-turning compulsion that drives a reader through Eric Ambler or John le Carre * Financial Times *
Marias demonstrates why so many of his peers believe him to be among the greatest of contemporary novelists * The Herald *
The most subtle and gifted writer in contemporary Spanish literature * Boston Globe *
A Marias sentence is a place of infinite richness and surprises * Independent *
No one else, anywhere, is writing quite like this * Daily Telegraph *
What makes Marias novels enthralling . . . is the irresistible, ruminative, allusive, Jamesian narrative voice * Daily Telegraph *
A Spanish literary great . . . His writing is fine and subtle * Le Monde *
Javier Marias's writing doesn't resemble anyone else's. It's easy to parody, but impossible to imitate . . . Javier Marias was the best writer in Spain -- Eduardo Mendoza
Marias occupied a reputational perch in Spanish culture that would be almost inconceivable for an American author . . . Most considered him the greatest living Spanish writer * New York Times *



Book Information
ISBN 9780241568637
Author Javier Marias
Format Paperback
Page Count 684
Imprint Penguin Books Ltd
Publisher Penguin Books Ltd
Weight(grams) 500g
Dimensions(mm) 198mm * 129mm * 35mm