Riptide

Written by 'a sublimely elegant historical novelist as addictive as crack' (Daily Telegraph)



The Inspector Troy series is perfect for fans of Le Carré, Philip Kerr and Alan Furst.





1941.





After ten years spying for the Americans, Wolfgang Stahl disappears during a Berlin air raid. The Germans think he's dead. The British know he's not. But where is he?





MI6 convince US Intelligence that Stahl will head for London, and so Captain Cal Cormack, a shy American 'aristocrat', is teamed with Chief Inspector Stilton of Stepney, fat, fifty and convivial. Between them they scour London, a city awash with spivs and refugees.





When things start to go terribly wrong, ditched by MI6 and disowned by his embassy, Cal is introduced to his one last hope - Sergeant Troy of Scotland Yard...



John Lawton worked for Channel 4 for many years, and, among many others, produced Harold Pinter's 'O Superman', the least-watched most-argued-over programme of the 90s. He has written seven novels in his Troy series, two Joe Wilderness novels, the standalone Sweet Sunday, a couple of short stories and the occasional essay. He writes very slowly and almost entirely on the hoof in the USA or Italy, but professes to be a resident of a tiny village in the Derbyshire Peak District. He admires the work of Barbara Gowdy, TC Boyle, Oliver Bleeck, Franz Schubert and Clara Schumann - and is passionate about the playing of Maria Joao Pires. He has no known hobbies, belongs to no organisations and hates being photographed.



One of the most entertaining thrillers I have read.



Lawton evokes wartime London with an infectiously jaunty panache.



The sense of London during the Blitz is strong and the story, with its mix of real history and believable invention, is fast-paced, twisting and tense.



Troy is a character of real depth and subtlety. His brooding presence at the heart of the novel, at once enigmatic and vulnerable, makes Riptide not only a satisfying read, but... [a thriller] with a strong moral heartbeat.