1963, Guatemala. The country is in turmoil, with a presidential election looming and a charismatic, left-wing ex-priest and trade union leader predicted to win. United Fruits, a giant American corporation responsible for a large percentage of the country’s GNP, meanwhile, is not pleased by this prospect. Neither is the CIA. Amid the uncertainty, Gabriel Dax arrives on orders from his MI6 handler Faith Green, who has tasked him with assessing the fallout from the election.

Upon arrival, Gabriel meets Frank Sartorius, the local CIA agent. Despite Sartorius’s genial manner, Gabriel suspects something untrustworthy brewing under the surface. Soon, a political assassination with suspicions of Mafia involvement leads to riots, and Dax escapes to Europe, thinking he will finally return to his normal life as a travel writer. But when Green compels him to investigate some shady characters in West Berlin, it becomes clear that an even greater danger is afoot as the magnetic young President Kennedy prepares to arrive for a state visit. A gripping novel of politics and spy craft with dramatic twists and turns, The Predicament shows Boyd to be one of our most masterful contemporary storytellers.

Praise for The Predicament:

An Amazon Best Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Book of November

“Readers will be charmed by Dax’s tendency to fail upward, and Boyd smoothly incorporates real history into his wildly entertaining plot. This is a treat.”—Publisher’s Weekly, starred review

“You know you’re in excellent hands with The Predicament, the second book in Boyd’s delicious historical espionage series featuring Gabriel Dax, an English travel writer pulled into reluctant spydom in the early 1960s.”—Sarah Lyall, New York Times Book Review

“Delicious . . . You know you’re in excellent hands with The Predicament.”—New York Times, “Six Books We Loved This Week”

“Mr. Boyd’s depiction of the spy world is impressive in its details . . . Like the time Gabriel spends in Faith’s company, The Predicament is ‘full of sparks and kicks and swerves and percussions.’  At one point Faith declares, ‘nobody quits in this business, Gabriel.’ With luck it won’t be long before he is back for a third assignment.”—Malcolm Forbes, Wall Street Journal

“Mr. Boyd’s depiction of the spy world is impressive in its details . . . Like the time Gabriel spends in Faith’s company, The Predicament is ‘full of sparks and kicks and swerves and percussions.’  At one point Faith declares, ‘nobody quits in this business, Gabriel.’ With luck it won’t be long before he is back for a third assignment.”—Malcolm Forbes, Wall Street Journal

“This John Le Carré-esque Cold War thriller is something rare—a sequel that surpasses the original. Full of wry humor, this is a compelling novel full of intrigue, romance, and, once again, plenty of alcohol.”—Booklist

“Few literary novelists are as comfortable with espionage tropes as Boyd, who uses the genre as a platform for another of his comically flawed, self-delusional protagonists . . . A thriller that’s always in motion but, unlike its hero, always knows where it’s going.”—Kirkus Reviews, starred review

“Boyd raises the stakes with his second Cold War novel featuring reluctant spy Gabriel Dax. Set against the shadowy backdrop of JFK’s looming assassination, it is a deft mix of espionage, desire, and moral compromise.”—iNews

“Business as usual for Boyd, whose ruthlessly efficient storytelling pins us to the page . . . thanks to his cast-iron commitment to keeping us entertained.”—Mail (UK)

“Beautifully crafted, with echoes of le Carré, Greene and Forsyth, this is a superb evocation of a vanished world, seen through the eyes of a relatably hapless accidental hero.”—Guardian (UK)

“Elegant, intelligent and carefully written . . . The Predicament reminds one of works of Hammond Innes or even Ian Fleming . . . What is so pleasing about this novel is that Boyd, unusually, is an author who gives the impression of knowing precisely what he is doing; of how to please the reader . . . I look forward to further steps in the third instalment of this tremendous series.”—Scotsman (UK)

Praise for Gabriel’s Moon:

“Boyd builds layer upon layer of intrigue . . . A hugely enjoyable and satisfyingly intricate historical thriller . . . Gripping.”—Washington Post

“Like John le Carré, with whom he has been compared, Mr. Boyd at his best creates characters that are complex, emotionally and psychologically—much like the dramas that ensnare them.”—Wall Street Journal

“Stands shoulder to shoulder with the great spy novels of the last generation. But also, through artfully crafted reveals and unsettling moments of humanity, William Boyd adds to the genre, elevating it in such a way that Gabriel’s life, outside of his missions for MI6 and the dangers associated there, feels real in a way that endears him to the reader.”—San Francisco Chronicle

“A spy story to rival Restless . . . A masterly tale . . . Sure-footed, comfortably managing at once to deliver all the pleasures of the genre while also subtly undercutting and questioning them . . . Boyd takes such obvious, infectious pleasure in telling his story, bounding along just in front of the reader, scattering clues and red herrings. I’m not sure that there’s a more reliably entertaining novelist working today.”—Alex Preston, The Guardian

“A retro-thriller . . . A portrait of a vanished world . . . A new William Boyd novel is always a pleasure, and this is a read that will keep you completely hooked to the very last page.”—Erica Wagner, Financial Times

“Hugely enjoyable . . . Skillfully performs double duty: working as a satisfying standalone story and setting Gabriel up for further escapades . . . A vivid re-creation of the early 1960s, and one of the pleasures it offers is a feeling of agreeable time travel to fascinating corners of a vanished world. These are conveyed with a filmic vibrancy.”—Marcel Theroux, The Guardian, “Book of the Day”