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Eastern Promise
Felix Hart, Head of Wine at the country's largest supermarket chain, knows his burgers from his Bourgogne. He also has a nose for trouble. So when the world's most ruthless luxury goods corporation offers Felix a life-changing sum of money to investigate a billionaire wine fraudster, he suspects there might be a catch.
But a wine buyer's salary only goes so far, and Felix's moral compass directs him east, to China's golden, haze-shrouded megacities. There, Felix is faced with his greatest challenge yet; a conspiracy as mind-bending as it is terrifying and which threatens to consume the entire world.
But a wine buyer's salary only goes so far, and Felix's moral compass directs him east, to China's golden, haze-shrouded megacities. There, Felix is faced with his greatest challenge yet; a conspiracy as mind-bending as it is terrifying and which threatens to consume the entire world.
344 pages, Paperback
Published June 23, 2023
20 people want to read
About the author
Peter Stafford-Bow
4 books20 followersPeter Stafford-Bow is a novelist and wine consultant, based in London. He is best known for his series of award-winning satires set in the world of wine and big business, featuring Felix Hart, a cheerfully amoral drinks executive. Stafford-Bow is a noted public speaker, wine educator and a regular on the literary festival circuit.
A self-taught imbiber, Stafford-Bow dropped out of university to pursue a career in alcohol. After several years working for a chain of wine merchants, he became a supermarket buyer, a role which sent him to every major wine-producing country in the world. After periods working in Asia and Africa, Stafford-Bow returned to the UK to pursue a literary career.
Stafford-Bow's debut novel, Corkscrew: the highly improbable, but occasionally true, tale of a professional wine buyer, is a picaresque, satirical tale drawing on the author's early years working as an international wine buyer for some of the world’s largest retailers. Corkscrew is a People's Book Prize finalist.
The sequel, Brut Force, released in 2018, is a thriller that finds Felix Hart caught between a blackmailing luxury goods corporation and a gang of organic wine fanatics. The third novel, Firing Blancs, was released in 2020, while his latest, Eastern Promise, was published in 2023.
Stafford-Bow's favourite authors include John le Carré, Hilary Mantel and George MacDonald Fraser. He lives in London with a wealthy heiress, a large wine collection and his pet ferrets, Brett and Corky.
A self-taught imbiber, Stafford-Bow dropped out of university to pursue a career in alcohol. After several years working for a chain of wine merchants, he became a supermarket buyer, a role which sent him to every major wine-producing country in the world. After periods working in Asia and Africa, Stafford-Bow returned to the UK to pursue a literary career.
Stafford-Bow's debut novel, Corkscrew: the highly improbable, but occasionally true, tale of a professional wine buyer, is a picaresque, satirical tale drawing on the author's early years working as an international wine buyer for some of the world’s largest retailers. Corkscrew is a People's Book Prize finalist.
The sequel, Brut Force, released in 2018, is a thriller that finds Felix Hart caught between a blackmailing luxury goods corporation and a gang of organic wine fanatics. The third novel, Firing Blancs, was released in 2020, while his latest, Eastern Promise, was published in 2023.
Stafford-Bow's favourite authors include John le Carré, Hilary Mantel and George MacDonald Fraser. He lives in London with a wealthy heiress, a large wine collection and his pet ferrets, Brett and Corky.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
August 2, 2023
Eastern Promise is a satirical fiction that takes you on a journey of marvellous wine and a great engagement of wit, humor, and truth that stands out for being immensely unique and well-written.
We follow Felix Hart, Head of Wine at the country's largest supermarket chain. He is a wine connoisseur who is the most finest experienced expert. Soon, he gets an extraordinary life-changing opportunity to investigate a billionaire wine fraudster however things don't go as planned.
He is directed towards China, and the unexpected turn of events leads him to a threatening spiral of wine conspiracy that brings an end to the world.
This is the fourth book in The Felix Hart series and I absolutely loved it. If you haven't delved into the previous three then I highly recommend you do that prior to picking this up. The author has created a protagonist that will imprint on your mind. The plot of the book was exceedingly captivating and filled with surprises. The storyline has multiple layers and it never overpowers the narrative. The author deftly reveals to us the embodiment of explosive twists and turns as well as unforgettable characters.
I'd highly recommend this book series to all those who are looking for an engrossing reading experience. So, relax, get yourself a glass of wine and read this book. Trust me it won't disappoint you at all.
We follow Felix Hart, Head of Wine at the country's largest supermarket chain. He is a wine connoisseur who is the most finest experienced expert. Soon, he gets an extraordinary life-changing opportunity to investigate a billionaire wine fraudster however things don't go as planned.
He is directed towards China, and the unexpected turn of events leads him to a threatening spiral of wine conspiracy that brings an end to the world.
This is the fourth book in The Felix Hart series and I absolutely loved it. If you haven't delved into the previous three then I highly recommend you do that prior to picking this up. The author has created a protagonist that will imprint on your mind. The plot of the book was exceedingly captivating and filled with surprises. The storyline has multiple layers and it never overpowers the narrative. The author deftly reveals to us the embodiment of explosive twists and turns as well as unforgettable characters.
I'd highly recommend this book series to all those who are looking for an engrossing reading experience. So, relax, get yourself a glass of wine and read this book. Trust me it won't disappoint you at all.
August 28, 2023
I have worked in the wine trade for many decades. I made it a personal mission to fight against the rather superior attitudes of the know-it-all all brigade and fought against the stuffy way wine is talked about, leaving most normal drinkers baffled by nonsense wine descriptions. Afterall, it is just a drink to be enjoyed by all.
No one makes this point better than Peter Stafford-Bow in his brilliant satires on the wine business and the crass machismo of men like his anti-hero, supermarket wine buyer Felix Hart. I enthusiastically reviewed the third book in July 2020 and this, the fourth in the series, again achieves the notable feat of appealing to wine trade insiders and the general reader with equal force. The tale is perceptive, engaging, hilarious and a real page-turner. It is also scarily insightful in its overblown descriptions of some of the worst undercurrents of the wine trade.
While this episode stands on its own, if you have not read the previous three I urge you to give yourself a treat and start with the first. Whether you find Felix a loveable cad or a scurrilous shark it is rip-roaringly engaging stuff. I hope we will be treated to many more adventures before Felix gets sacked.
No one makes this point better than Peter Stafford-Bow in his brilliant satires on the wine business and the crass machismo of men like his anti-hero, supermarket wine buyer Felix Hart. I enthusiastically reviewed the third book in July 2020 and this, the fourth in the series, again achieves the notable feat of appealing to wine trade insiders and the general reader with equal force. The tale is perceptive, engaging, hilarious and a real page-turner. It is also scarily insightful in its overblown descriptions of some of the worst undercurrents of the wine trade.
While this episode stands on its own, if you have not read the previous three I urge you to give yourself a treat and start with the first. Whether you find Felix a loveable cad or a scurrilous shark it is rip-roaringly engaging stuff. I hope we will be treated to many more adventures before Felix gets sacked.
July 9, 2023
Easy 5 stars. Reaping the benefits of all the world building in the earlier books, and also having a really fun and funny storyline. I love these books, there need to be more!
August 29, 2023
Full review to follow - Enough to say, Vol 4 of the Adventures of Felix Hart lived up to expectations. Catch up on the first three books in the series if you've missed them.
December 28, 2024
Pure enjoyment, superbly well written with that combination of self-deprecation, sophistication and humor which represents the best of English writing.
Felix Hart is Head of Wines at the UK's largest supermarket chain, which allows him to travel the globe on his nose for great wine and experience, even becoming one of the super-sophisticated Wine Minstrels (a secret guild of wine connoisseurs). That is, until his half-witted CEO moves him to becoming head for toilet bowl fixtures and one of the world's largest wine corporations engages him to investigate fake rare wines coming out of China.
The principle thesis: can a high tech, AI loaded 3-D printing analog chemical production and blending "machine" produce wines that are indistinguishable from the real thing? In other words, can China finally produce wines as good as the top French vintners, all by a "computer"?
Into this breach, only partly briefed, must go Felix Hart as some kind of James Bond for the proud vintners of the world. And true to form with witty Brit books, in spite of himself, Felix manages to muddle through and, with several abrupt and witty turns, brilliantly defrocks a conspiracy of Chinese power and bogus VC backed technologies like Theranos. And all with hilarity and sophistication of someone who has gone to the various Chinese industrial parks and glitzy hotels which make up Shanghai and other large Chinese cities, and who understands the borderline reality between Chinese companies and western finance, here are a few extracted quotes (I could have provided oodles more):
"I spotted a sign helpfully pointing the way in both English and Chinese, to the 'Artificial Christmas Tree Zone", another to the 'Garden Accessories and Tiny Statues Zone', Every hundred yards, we passed a factory entrance guarded by a metal gate and a ten-foot perimeter wall displaying the name of the company in English and Chinese ; Zhenbei Best Hotel Furniture Co. Ltd., Pengda Toothbrush and Scrubbing Co. Ltd, Qiandeng Nozzle and Suction Co. Ltd." Perfect.
Describing his state of mind after trying to sleep after arriving from the long flight to China: "I finally dropped off after subjecting myself to a CNN documentary on female entrepreneurship in Saudi Arabia, and when my alarm sounded at seven a.m., I felt like a drugged bear hauled form the depths of a mid-winter hibernation." Yep, been there..
Nor are all the bad guys in China seeking to ensure the success of an IPO despite the failure of the machine in question (more accurately described than passive investors would like); no, the ugly whiff of selfish politics and willingness to frame innocents extend to the UK as well.
With a happy ending somehow appearing nevertheless, I felt this book was completely enjoyable and am happily looking for others in the series.
Felix Hart is Head of Wines at the UK's largest supermarket chain, which allows him to travel the globe on his nose for great wine and experience, even becoming one of the super-sophisticated Wine Minstrels (a secret guild of wine connoisseurs). That is, until his half-witted CEO moves him to becoming head for toilet bowl fixtures and one of the world's largest wine corporations engages him to investigate fake rare wines coming out of China.
The principle thesis: can a high tech, AI loaded 3-D printing analog chemical production and blending "machine" produce wines that are indistinguishable from the real thing? In other words, can China finally produce wines as good as the top French vintners, all by a "computer"?
Into this breach, only partly briefed, must go Felix Hart as some kind of James Bond for the proud vintners of the world. And true to form with witty Brit books, in spite of himself, Felix manages to muddle through and, with several abrupt and witty turns, brilliantly defrocks a conspiracy of Chinese power and bogus VC backed technologies like Theranos. And all with hilarity and sophistication of someone who has gone to the various Chinese industrial parks and glitzy hotels which make up Shanghai and other large Chinese cities, and who understands the borderline reality between Chinese companies and western finance, here are a few extracted quotes (I could have provided oodles more):
"I spotted a sign helpfully pointing the way in both English and Chinese, to the 'Artificial Christmas Tree Zone", another to the 'Garden Accessories and Tiny Statues Zone', Every hundred yards, we passed a factory entrance guarded by a metal gate and a ten-foot perimeter wall displaying the name of the company in English and Chinese ; Zhenbei Best Hotel Furniture Co. Ltd., Pengda Toothbrush and Scrubbing Co. Ltd, Qiandeng Nozzle and Suction Co. Ltd." Perfect.
Describing his state of mind after trying to sleep after arriving from the long flight to China: "I finally dropped off after subjecting myself to a CNN documentary on female entrepreneurship in Saudi Arabia, and when my alarm sounded at seven a.m., I felt like a drugged bear hauled form the depths of a mid-winter hibernation." Yep, been there..
Nor are all the bad guys in China seeking to ensure the success of an IPO despite the failure of the machine in question (more accurately described than passive investors would like); no, the ugly whiff of selfish politics and willingness to frame innocents extend to the UK as well.
With a happy ending somehow appearing nevertheless, I felt this book was completely enjoyable and am happily looking for others in the series.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews