secre 's review for:

I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes

5.0

challenging dark informative tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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I Am Pilgrim was a marvel to read. Slow to start but by the end it absolutely felt like a race against time and I was hurtling through the pages. It starts with a single murder, albeit an odd murder, one where there is no trace of whoever committed it and no ability to identify the victim. But as events unfold, it becomes something far greater and more dangerous and one man - Pilgrim - is the only person standing in the way of a plot that will devastate the US and perhaps the world.

I genuinely didn't know what I was going when I started this novel and that's perhaps the best way for it to unfold around you. It's a multi-threaded narrative that moves back and forth between the present and the past cleverly, giving you a huge amount of character detail that only serves to set the scene as the race against time truly gets underway. It's also cleverly told, bringing in new forms of terrorism and a frightening scenario that seems only too plausible as events unfold.

This is a fantastic espionage thriller that delves deeply into the characterisations, the motivations and the science and psychology behind the scenes. It catapults itself in unexpected directions, twisting and turning in such a way that you could not have seen it coming. This is one of those books that leaves you contemplating and pondering it long after the last page has been turned. It's clever and thought provoking and slightly horrifying in the same breath. Absolutely one of my top reads for the year.