Summary

Brought to you by Penguin.

**SHORTLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE 2024**

Seductive and cunning American spy-for-hire Sadie Smith has been sent by her mysterious but powerful employers to a remote corner of France.

Her mission: to infiltrate a commune of radical eco-activists influenced by the beliefs of an enigmatic elder, Bruno Lacombe, who has rejected civilisation, lives in a Neanderthal cave, and believes the path to enlightenment is a return to primitivism.

Sadie casts her cynical eye over this region of ancient farms and sleepy villages, and finds Bruno’s idealism laughable, but just as she is certain she’s the seductress and puppet master of those she surveils, Bruno Lacombe is seducing her with his ingenious counter-histories, his artful laments, his own tragic story.

Beneath this a taut, dazzling story of espionage and intrigue lies one of a woman caught in the crossfire between the past and the future, and a profound treatise on human history.

'The most exciting writer of her generation' BRET EASTON ELLIS

'Reinvents the spy novel in one cool, erudite gesture' HERNAN DIAZ

'Compulsively readable... Kill Bill written by John le Carré' OBSERVER
©2024 Rachel Kushner (P)2024 Penguin Audio
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Disappointed overall and surprised by the long listing..the fact that the author sounded like an AI not reading the story did not help what was already a difficult book to enjoy, give the narrator was a total sociopath.

Disappointing

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perhaps RK is an acquired taste. the storyline is clever and contemporary but the delivery of the narrative by the author is just dull and overly descriptive. I struggled to finish it.

contemporary but extremely dull

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Sultry super spy Sadie Smith has a new mission. She must infiltrate a bunch of French eco terrorists and locate their leader, the elusive and compelling Betrand. Last seen over forty years ago, he is rumoured to be living in a cave in the depths of Southern France. Sadie must find him, and bring him and his brainwashed acolytes to justice armed only with her wit, charm and cunning. But Sadie finds herself falling for Bertrand...

If only this tedious existential twaddle were that interesting. Read in tones of boredom by the author, sprinkled with mispronunciations, it was a chore to finish.

Sacre bleu! what a dud

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It’s brilliantly written and I found the character of Sadie interesting and well drawn. But overall it felt more like a demonstration of research than a novel so I learned stuff but didn’t feel or care much.
This fit the character but, on top of the very detailed, slow story, made for near boredom on occasion.
I also had very mixed feelings about the narration.

Admirable and impressive but hard to care about

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The book itself is extraordinary. The narration nearly killed it. It is so monotonous and slow. I found myself wondering if it was AI and if not, had the narrator even read the book. I couldn't believe it when I spotted that the narration was by the author.

At 1.3x speed, the narration was tolerable, and I did make it to the end. It's a beautiful and amazing book, that deserves a better recording.

speed up narration

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