The best British spy novel debut in years -- Jake Kerridge The Telegraph An intriguing, skilful and taut novel...elegantly plotted and with a piercing eye for detail Daily Mail Debut of the month is Adam Brookes's accomplished Night Heron The Sunday Times The BBC's former China correspondent joins the ranks of John le Carre and Frederick Forsyth with a laser-sharp Beijing spy thriller ... Brookes arrives a full formed talent, with a complete mastery of the genre Daily Express Night Heron reeks with verisimilitude in its settings and atmosphere, and is accompanied by a cleverly plotted action-filled story of Anglo-Chinese espionage The Times Superior espionage The Sun A page turner that takes the reader from China's far west to the streets of the fascinating Chinese capital, pulsing with power and danger New York Times An outstanding first novel Washington Post The pace is frenetic and Brookes does a wonderful job with both the high-tech world of cyber intelligence and survival on Beijing's gritty, smog-smothered streets. Highly recommended. The Bookseller Brookes, a correspondent for BBC News in Washington, D.C., who was formerly based in China, takes readers deep inside the culture and daily routines of that country in his outstanding fiction debut ... Good chase scenes and tense dialogue, coupled with a convincing picture of what actually happens in the corridors of power, make Brookes a thriller writer to watch. Publishers Weekly Brookes, a one-time China correspondent for the BBC, knows this turf exceedingly well and translates that knowledge into a novel that is as strikingly different as it is thrilling ... One of the best and most compulsively readable spy-fiction debuts in years. Kirkus Night Heron is a fascinating portrait of the dangerous complexities of spying in a restricted country, the competing agendas driving international intelligence, and China's startlingly varied social realities. A must-read for fans of espionage and smart global fiction in general. Booklist Engrossing and compelling LA Review of Books Fans of the international espionage genre will inhale this fast tale in a few suspenseful breaths. Brookes uses multiple narrators-the spy, the engineer, the journalist, the agent, the boss-whose conflicting alliances tell the real story. Library Journal This exciting thriller opens a rare window on the real China of today Irish Independent Spine-tingling APN Network The best spy novel so far this year ... signals the start of what should be a very promising career in fictional spying. Combining the intrigue and complexity of the classic spy novel with contemporary themes and skilfully realised Chinese locations this is certainly an espionage novel for the 21st Century. Sydney Morning Herald It's got all of the freshness of firsthand sense of place - Brookes helps us to feel and smell and taste ... And it's got a convincing narrative drive that comes from a veteran newsman's long career in creating stories that make sense and matter. NPR Fast-paced, intelligent, stimulating and action-packed Lincoln Star Journal
