A tense, Ripley-esque, cat-and-mouse thriller set in glittering Istanbul for readers of John le Carré and Patricia Highsmith

At the Mexican border, Diana ditches her car and jumps on a bus. Adam walks out of his Athens hotel with just his passport and credit cards. Marco abandons his life in London, leaving no note. At an idyllic spot on the Turkish Riviera, their comrade Chana waits for them.

Also waiting there is Tyler, a private investigator hired by an American billionaire to find his wayward, troubled daughter.

Once the five meet, a train of events is set in motion that will play out along this glittering coast, in the backstreets and renovated palaces of Istanbul and all the way to Cairo. A clash of generations, civilisations and ideologies that will test the young friends’ theory that a handful of collaborators can tilt the axis of the world through a single, striking act.

Praise for Lawrence Osborne

‘A modern Graham Greene’ SUNDAY TIMES
‘Arresting and compelling’ JOHN GRAY
‘Osborne goes from strength to strength’ LIONEL SHRIVER
‘Osborne handles surface and depth with immense skill, as only great writers can’ DEBORAH LEVY
‘If the purpose of a novel is to take you away from the everyday and show you something different, then Osborne is succeeding, and handsomely’ LEE CHILD

Osborne goes from strength to strength -- LIONEL SHRIVER
Osborne handles surface and depth with immense skill, as only great writers can -- DEBORAH LEVY * Financial Times *
If the purpose of a novel is to take you away from the everyday and show you something different, then Osborne is succeeding, and handsomely -- LEE CHILD * New York Times *

Lawrence Osborne is a critically acclaimed novelist, journalist and screenwriter based in Bangkok. He is the author of eight novels, including Ballad of a Small Player, Beautiful Animals and The Forgiven. His non-fiction ranges from memoir through travelogue to essays, including Bangkok Days, The Naked Tourist and The Wet and the Dry. His novels have been chosen as Books of the Year by the Guardian, the Observer, the Daily Telegraph, the New Statesman, the Daily Mail, The Economist, the New Yorker and the New York Times. The Forgiven was made into a film in 2022 starring Jessica Chastain and Ralph Fiennes and Ballad of a Small Player starring Colin Farrell and Tilda Swinton was released on Netflix in 2025.