by Terry Hayes
First published 2014
Pilgrim once worked as America's most secret intelligence operative. Now he lives in anonymity, his past buried. But a series of brutal murders pulls him back into the shadows. An unidentified woman dies in a decaying hotel, her face destroyed by acid. A man loses his head in a Saudi public square. A Syrian scientist turns up without eyes in a Damascus scrapyard. Charred bodies appear on an Afghan mountainside. These deaths seem random, but Pilgrim sees the pattern. Someone is preparing an attack that could kill millions of Americans. The terrorist stays invisible, moving through a network that spans continents. Pilgrim must trace connections others cannot see, following a trail of violence across the globe. Time runs short as the plot advances toward its target. Only Pilgrim has the skills to stop what's coming, but doing so means confronting enemies who know his deepest secrets.
Genres: adventure, mystery, thriller, action, espionage
Vibes: dark, fast-paced, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, unreliable-narrator
Setting: America, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Afghanistan
Period: 21st-century
612 pages · Hardcover · Atria/Emily Bestler Books
Content warnings: violence