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A Stranger in Corfu

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A Stranger in Corfu

By: Alex Preston
Narrated by: Helen Lloyd
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'Suspenseful, vivid and impossible to put down' TOM HOLLAND
'Laced with thrills' EVIE WYLD
'A sunlit version of the purgatory of Mick Herron's Slough House . . . compelling' Guardian
'Utterly gripping' ADAM RUTHERFORD
'Sublime . . . an exemplary drama of intrigue and heartbreak' Wall Street Journal
'A cracker from Preston. Deftly executed' The Times
'An electrifying, original read' Financial Times

On the Greek island of Vidos the past lingers like salt in the air. The inhabitants – former members of MI6 – are sent here to be forgotten. Exiled. Either too damaged or too compromised to be allowed to live freely.

For years, residents make the best of their fate – old enemies reconcile, long-lost friends swim together in the warm sea and estranged lovers share a bed once more. But secrets bind tightly. And when one of their own washes up dead, alliances fracture and a tide of suspicion begins to rise.

A vivid reimagining of a real, hidden slice of the British Intelligence Service’s history, A Stranger in Corfu is an exquisitely tense and masterfully spun novel about shadowy morality, unravelled secrets and the futility of trying to outrun the past.

 Historical International Mystery & Crime Mystery Thriller & Suspense Exciting
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Critic reviews

"Imagine the cast of Slow Horses had parents who were also spies. Imagine those parents were on a small island, just off Corfu. Imagine that their chequered pasts might be catching up with them. And then realise you don’t need to imagine it because Alex Preston has done it for you with this beautifully taut, clever, classy thriller" (NATALIE HAYNES)
"Le Carré meets The Durrells - A Stranger is Corfu is a brilliantly atmospheric thriller. Suspenseful, vivid and impossible to put down" (TOM HOLLAND)
"An espionage mystery of impressive inventiveness and rare compassion. Sublime . . . Clever . . . An exemplary drama of intrigue and heartbreak"
"A cracker from Alex Preston: a lovely, sun-drenched conceit, deftly executed"
"Taut, tense and utterly gripping: Preston evokes a wonderfully thrilling story from the dreamy Ioanian. Nothing short of brilliant" (ADAM RUTHERFORD)
"A sunlit version of the purgatory of Mick Herron’s Slough House . . . This story of betrayal, disillusionment and the terrible cost of adherence to ideology is both compelling and humane"
"A beautiful, taut novel laced with the thrills of lives half-lived and never escaped; of friendship, love and relentless betrayal beneath Corfu’s blazing sun and the restless, dark sea - where secrets threaten to drown them all. A story that haunts long after the last page" (EVIE WYLD)
"A gripping thriller that explores the lives shaped - and shattered - by Cold War politics in Europe’s southern fringe. Preston captures the fractured legacy of British intelligence and the ghosts it leaves behind with haunting precision. I was captivated from start to finish" (PETER FRANKOPAN)
"A stylish literary spy novel in which Agatha Christie meets the Cambridge Five, set on a sun-soaked island off Corfu. Sophisticated and stylishly self-aware, it weaves political intrigue with lyrical prose in an artful reimagining of the classic spy story" (SARAH CHURCHWELL)
"Tantalising . . . a striking – and strikingly ironic – location for a kind of Slough-House-on-Sea . . . A Stranger In Corfu defies easy categorisation"
All stars
Most relevant
Alex Preston is evidently a highly accomplished writer, but I found this both implausible as a premise and not especially gripping in the telling. I finished it last week and have already forgotten elements of the plot and the denouement.

Implausible and not especially grabbing

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Gorgeous language, Corfu & Vido perfectly evoked, some outstanding scenes of swimming, sensuality, & betrayal. Complex in its range of characters and locations but so very intriguing in its depiction of spying and betrayal and interwoven lives.

Intriguing & beautifully told

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Unlikeable characters, an unrealistic plot and just a bit uninteresting. If I was reading rather than listening I wouldn’t have finished it. The narration was ok.

Quite a boring meandering story

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3 different ways apparently listening to this

I bought this because I love Corfu and spy novels, what could go wrong ?

Three minutes in I realised , I’ve heard this voice before , the narrator had ruined Helen Fry’s MI9 for me and unfortunately this narration was as bad

If you are aware of the Cold War history of Philby betraying the Albanians in the 50’s you have a head start on everyone else as this otherwise is a difficult book to follow.

Nice premise to create a story of dodgy ex spy’s being pensioned off to an island where they can’t cause any trouble, a bit like dodgy Mi5 operatives being pensioned off to Slough House ,

It looks like Mick Heron is influencing everyone these days

Really wanted to like this book, but the story is just too far fetched and has a quickly contrived ending. However buy it and read it on your holidays whilst laid out on a sunbed in Kassiopi, and decide which pronunciation you prefer

How do you pronounce Kassiopi ?

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Florid prose, glacial plot, sedentary narration. I continued to the end as a form of self-punishment.

Flannel

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