Sleeper Beach cover art

Sleeper Beach

Preview

Get 30 days of Premium Plus free

£8.99/month after 30-day free trial. Cancel monthly.
Try for £0.00
More purchase options
Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

About this listen

From the Sunday Times bestselling author of Karla's Choice, comes a thrilling new detective novel.

On the shore of a rundown holiday town, a young woman washes up dead. Martha Erskine, the matriarch of a local dynasty, suspects a member of her own family might be involved in the murder, and calls in Cal to investigate.

Cal Sounder is a detective first and a Titan second, but it's not easy to make that work. It's hard to be an ordinary guy when you're fundamentally not ordinary anymore. Cal has recently taken a dose of T7, a rare drug that is usually the preserve of the rich, making its users - called the Titans - younger and bigger each time they take it, so that as they age the bodies of the ultra-wealthy become as immense as their bank accounts.

As Cal digs into the crime, he finds this forgotten town is simmering with wage disputes, strikes, and political conflict, and no one is quite who they say they are - not even the victim. As Cal second-guesses everyone he meets, he is forced to confront his own identity and ask himself who he wants to be from the far side of the mirror of power, age and greed.

Sleeper Beach is a hugely original, powerful and action-packed novel from the acclaimed novelist Nick Harkaway.©2025 Nick Harkaway
Dystopian Mystery Private Investigators Science Fiction Crime Exciting Greek Mythology Murder

Critic reviews

A gripping, genre-blending story from the author of Karla's Choice
After resurrecting characters created by his father, John le Carré, in last year's spy thriller Karla's Choice, Harkaway returns to his characteristic territory of "crime with a sci-fi twist"
We loved the first Titanium Noir novel from Nick Harkaway here at New Scientist, set in a world where the megarich can take a drug that stops them from ageing, but grows them to huge - titanic - proportions. In this latest from Harkaway, who's fresh from continuing his father John Le Carré's legacy in Karla's Choice, he tells the story of detective and Titan Cal, who is investigating the murder of a young woman in a rundown holiday town
Like the best fictional PIs, Cal doesn't just care about catching criminals . . . another satisfying dose of science fictional noir
[A] nifty fusion of crime and sci-fi . . . In a novel teeming with memorable characters, Harkaway handles the blend of genres with skill and pizzazz
Hugely entertaining . . . the narrator writes like Raymond Chandler
I like where this series is heading and how it has become this fascinating and unexpected dissertation on class and capital
This is a tightly woven, very well written novel in the best Harkaway tradition
[An] extraordinary series.
All stars
Most relevant
ok I guess so many large characters it's private eye with a twist a big whodunnit Cal is likable.

Big Maltese Falcon

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

The problem I have with this book and Titanium Noir is that take T1 out of the plot and it could be set in the 1930s. The sci-fi element is so slight it’s almost inconsequential.

As a a detective story it’s good, as a sci-fi book it’s ok.

Narrration was good.

Could be set in the 30s

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

A riveting follow up to Titanium Noir, continuing the journey of both the main character and all the side characters from that book, fleshing out them and the world they live in. The narrator really gives it the gumshoe noir voice it needs and made it whizz by in a fascinating twisty blur.

Great story, engagingly told

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Good follow up book. I thought the first book was original and really different. Its the same detective solving another crime. Narrator was excellent as well.. more please ;-)

Good follow up book.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Loved this book. Didn’t realize it was book 2 in a series so will read book 1 soon. Great story and the narration suited it perfectly.

Narration was perfect

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

See more reviews