I am Pilgrim book review

 

I am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes book review

 

Having attended the Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival in Harrogate this July, I had been given a taster booklet of the first few chapters and on the strength of them, bought the book to read on my holiday in Tenerife.  It is brand new so was only available in hardback and I wasn’t expecting such a large and heavy book (my idea of taking it on holiday with me was soon quashed) so it had to wait until I was back home, but the over 700 were more than worth the wait.

 

The murder at the beginning pulls you in from the off and the on point characterisation of Scott Murdoch soon has the reader realising that the crime scene observer is not all that he seems.  Written in a style reminiscent of a movie or television serialisation (Terry Hayes is a successful screenwriter and former journalist), you can already visualise it on the screen and the short and punchy chapters with well selected hooks, keep you turning the pages no matter how late the hour.  Scott Murdoch (codename Pilgrim) is an agent in the James Bond/Bourne mould and the thriller takes in such places as Turkey, New York, Afghanistan and Russia in his chase of the murderer and the Saracen.

I love the compelling plot that pulls in 911, the perfect murder and a terrorist plot to unleash a deadly virus. 

 

For a first novel, this is one book that earns its title of ‘Thriller of the Year.’          10/10

 

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