The Exile

Author: Worrall, Patrick

Espionage & spy thriller

Published on 16 January 2025 by Transworld Publishers Ltd (Penguin (Transworld)) in the United Kingdom.

Paperback | 384 pages
197 x 127 x 23 | 264g

An espionage story of high literary calibre Strong Words MagazineA dramatic and thoroughly immersive account of loyalty, ideology and betrayal GuardianA terrific new voice in spy fiction…A complex, action packed portrait of a continent in ferment’ Mail on SundayIn remarkably granular detail, Worrall conjures up a Fifties Paris where historical and fictional characters coexist Sunday TimesIts 1951 and the servants of Stalin are closing in on the occupied nations of eastern Europe. As the Red Army tightens the net, Greta - best and bravest of freedom fighters - is told to escape to the West and undertake a dangerous mission.

Gretas task is to find a missing girl: the precious daughter of a partisan general who was sent into exile in the final days of the war.

But the so-called Free World is no place for vulnerable young refugees. Europe is in ruins, the old Empires are dying, and a spectacular cast of spivs, gangsters and rival intelligence agencies are fighting over the scraps.

Crossing the Iron Curtain will require nerves of steel as Greta faces down the French mob, ex-Nazis, Soviet spies, all the glamour and temptation of Paris and ultimately, her own demons.

The Exile is a white-knuckle ride into the black heart of postwar Europe - a terrifying world in which allies and enemies are impossible to tell apart.

Praise for The PartisanFast-paced, intriguing and deeply atmospheric Tom BradbyRemarkedly assured debut ... the advent of a real talent...One to watch Sunday TimesImpressive ... The scene-setting is finely detailed and evocative, the characters skilfully drawn Financial TimesImmersive, intriguing, and intelligent - incredibly impressive, up there with the best in the genre Lee Child