BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023 ACCORDING TO GUARDIAN AND THE SPECTATOR The final novel from one of the
greatest writers of the past half century'No-one nowadays writes prose like Javier Marías . . .
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 HeraldTomás 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 Carré 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 Marías' 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
