Monday 14 May 2018

✪ Liar's Candle ✪ August Thomas ✪



RELEASE DATE:   17TH MAY 2018


In this brilliant debut thriller, reminiscent of the works of John le Carre and Olen Steinhauer and infused with the authenticity of the authors travels, a young American State Department intern based in Turkey becomes the woman who knows too much and is marked for death.

Penny Kessler, an intern at the US Embassy in Ankara, Turkey, wakes up in a hospital on the morning of July 5th to find herself at the center of an international crisis. The day before, the Embassy was the target of a devastating terrorist attack that killed hundreds of Pennys friends and colleagues. Not only has a photograph of Penny as she emerged from the rubble become the events defining image, but for reasons she doesnt understand, her bosses believe shes a crucial witness.

Suddenly, everyone is intensely interested in what Penny knows. But what does she know? And whom can she trust? As she struggles to piece together her memories, she discovers that Zach Robson, the young diplomat shed been falling for all summer, went missing during the attack. And one of the CIAs most powerful officials, Christina Ekdahl, wants people to believe Zach was a traitor.

What actually happened?

Penny barely has time to ask before she discovers that her own government wants her dead. Soon, with only a single allya rookie intelligence officer fresh out of the Navyshe is running a perilous gauntlet, ruthlessly pursued by Turkeys most powerful forces and by the CIA.

To survive, Penny must furiously improvise. Tradecraft takes a lifetime to master. She has less than thirty-six hours. And shes only twenty-one years old. This is her first real testone she cant fail.




ARC received from Simon & Schuster Australia for an honest review

Political/spy thrillers are my jam at the moment, and this debut from August Thomas started with a bang, and had the adrenaline pumping right till the end.

Liar's Candle is a seductive game of cat and mouse, the reader wondering who are the good guys, who are the bad.  Who can be trusted. 

I mean seriously, who is really the enemy?

I was whisked away on an adrenaline filled journey along with Penny and those who are dragged into her life.  I as kept on the edge of my seat wondering what would happen next.

I would never have guessed that this was a debut novel. Liar's Candle is a well written, well plotted story that will keep the reader intrigued from the first blast to the last.

I was happy to see that there will be more Penny Kessler stories in the future, and can't wait to get my hands on them.