Synopsis
'An eminently satisfying thriller' - The Washington Post
Anton has spent years constructing an honest life for himself. He and his cousin once enacted a dangerously risky criminal venture together - something he thought he'd left behind. But then a routine security check brings his past crashing back towards him.
His marriage and career in ruins, Anton finds himself in Italy with one last job from his cousin. But he has good reason to look over his shoulder. There is someone on his tail, and they are quickly getting closer . . .
The Singer's Gun is a taut and thrilling novel about identity and loyalty, and the things we are willing to sacrifice for love.
'Mandel's talent is clearly visible from the get-go' - LA Times
Part of the Picador Collection, a series showcasing the best of modern literature.
Details
20 August 2026
9781035097944Reviews
Mandel's talent is clearly visible from the get-go . . . The beauty of the novel is that its key truths are those the reader arrives at on his or her own, without the help of a straight-line narrative or a dominating perspective. Instead, Mandel feeds off of our need to make connections, even when the pattern they form doesn't really exist. We start with anxiety and end with it, thrumming in the background for us to listen in - or ignore, at both cost and reward
The Singer's Gun begins like a straightforward crime thriller . . . But Emily St. John Mandel's new novel is something far rarer than this classic noir opening suggests. She introduces us to haunted, often fugitive individuals stranded in places from New York to Italy, from the past to the present. And her book strikes a perfect balance between introspection and action . . . an eminently satisfying thriller
Mandel has a beautiful writing style
Brilliant
