Children of Wolves: A Novel

by Lawrence Osborne

From the author of The Ballad of a Small Player—now a Netflix film starring Colin Farrell and Tilda Swinton— a thrilling tale of manipulation and deceit about an American private investigator who travels to Turkey to track down the daughter of a wealthy family, unwittingly setting off a sinister plot.

Four children from wealthy families are sent to a strict prestigious boarding school for troubled teenagers. Haunted by the horrors they experience, they vow to disrupt the status quo by all means necessary.

Years later, Tyler is a private investigator with a failing career who has been hired by petrochemical billionaire James Arthur Knight Jr. to find his run-away daughter, Chana. At a seaside hotel in Turkey, he finds Chana lounging with her three wealthy friends and living with a fake name.

Enthralled by Chana’s shyness and elegance, Tyler decides to keep his discovery to himself, accepting Mr. Knight’s payments while feeding him elusive information and partying with Chana and her friends over wine and raki. One night, when Tyler lets slip his relationship with the American consul, Chana lights up with interest and asks if he can orchestrate a meeting.

With a backdrop of of glitzy ex-pat parties, diplomatic galas, and the gritty underworld of Istanbul, Chana conjures a plot involving the consul that sets into motion a dark chain of events.

Genres: Fiction, Mystery, Novels

224 pages, Hardcover

Published August 25, 2026

About the author

Lawrence Osborne is the author of seven critically acclaimed novels, including The Forgiven (now a major motion picture starring Ralph Fiennes and Jessica Chastain), and Only to Sleep: A Philip Marlowe Novel, a New York Times Notable Book and nominated for an Edgar Award, as well as six books of nonfiction, including Bangkok Days. He has led a nomadic life, living in Paris, New York, Mexico, and Istanbul, and he currently resides in Bangkok.

Reviews

[Richard Derus]

Rating: 3* of five

The Publisher Says: Never fall for your prey....

A thrilling tale of manipulation and deceit about an American private investigator who travels to Turkey to track down the daughter of a wealthy family, unwittingly setting off a sinister plot.

Four children from wealthy families are sent to a strict prestigious boarding school for troubled teenagers. Haunted by the horrors they experience, they vow to disrupt the status quo by all means necessary.

Years later, Tyler is a private investigator with a failing career who has been hired by petrochemical billionaire James Arthur Knight Jr. to find his run-away daughter, Chana. At a seaside hotel in Turkey, he finds Chana lounging with her three wealthy friends and living with a fake name.

Enthralled by Chana’s shyness and elegance, Tyler decides to keep his discovery to himself, accepting Mr. Knight’s payments while feeding him elusive information and partying with Chana and her friends over wine and raki. One night, when Tyler lets slip his relationship with the American consul, Chana lights up with interest and asks if he can orchestrate a meeting.

With a backdrop of of glitzy ex-pat parties, diplomatic galas, and the gritty underworld of Istanbul, Chana conjures a plot involving the consul that sets into motion a dark chain of events.

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA NETGALLEY. THANK YOU.

My Review: Glitzy surfaces that sound nice, have interesting shapes, and doesn't do much with them beyond note their surfaces' shine and elaborately describe to color and texture. Tyler's failings are self-inflicted; Chana's rebellion is pique at how her rich dad, a scumbag to be sure, failed to give her *enough* so now she and her buds want to take it away.

It was nicely paced, had a fascinating geopolitical setting that's mostly squandered in travel-magazine puffery, and ultimately ends in sequel bait. It was not a huge success for me.

Summit Books/S & S thinks $12.99 is fair for the book. Library's free....

[Faith]

I’ve enjoyed this author before because he is good at creating an intriguing atmosphere. However, in this case I didn’t really feel the locale and there was no menacing build up to keep me interested. The characters were awful - a group of 4 rich kids taking out their daddy issues on the rest of the world. The author has done better.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.

[Jillian B]

A private investigator is sent to track down a tycoon’s radical daughter in Turkey. This is one of those books that really transports you to its setting. I felt as if I were on a glamorous (and calamitous) Mediterranean vacation. It’s a fun, twisty spy story with a literary soul.

Thank you to the publisher for giving me access to an eARC of this book.

[Emmet]

The first half is dreamy like a Sofia Coppola film and hides much from the reader. The action picks up when we learn more about Chana and are introduced to Yavuz the security officer. It's a compulsive read at that point and very much a novel the terminally online will be flattered by with discussion of Zizians and a few mentions of Bugmen. I never bought the gang of four as motivated or ideological enough to go where they did but maybe they are purposely elusive and Osborne wants us to wonder what it would look like if spiritually dead and checked out rich young westerners actually did something. If you've enjoyed any of Osborne's novels you'll like this too.

[Janine]

A psychological thriller exploring the “depths of wealth, generational divides, and political rebellion.”

Four children from wealthy families are sent to a “strict, prestigious boarding school for troubled teenagers.” Their experiences there turns them into political disrupters - at any cost. A failing private investigator, Tyler Sedgwick, is hired to find, Chana, the daughter of a wealthy petrochemical billionaire, James Arthur Knight. Chana is one of those teenagers. She’s in Istanbul with her friends. Tyler is enchanted by Chana, instead of notifying her father, he strikes up a friendship with Chana who now goes by Aylin had led a life of “destructive anti-social behavior.” When Chana learns Tyler knows the American counsel, David Meltzer, a classmate from Groton, he obliged her with an introduction that leads to a surprising event.

Chana is a disagreeable, nasty character. I suppose that’s what you need to create if you want to show the dark underside of privilege and wealth. Frankly, in today’s America I think I’m living this story. Those four friends’s disillusionment comes from a lack of gratitude, I believe. I don’t think I’ve come across a book with so many characters I abhorred. But what a writer to do that!

I did like my read, but I wasn’t satisfied by the ending. I think the book ended too soon - but as the Kirkus reviewer noted “ it begs for a sequel.”

My thanks to NetGalley and S&S/Summit Books for allowing me access to this ARC.

[Aurora]

Weer zo’n boek dat gemengde gevoelens oproept. Ik heb inning genoten van de omschrijvingen, ik waande me echt in Turkije en Caïro. De sfeer was soms bijna dromerig. Tegelijkertijd is dit best een raar boek. Wat wil het zeggen? Hoe ver een stelletje stinkend rijke jong volwassen kunnen gaan? Wat is hun motivatie? Overigens wordt dit verhaal vaak getagd of in reviews omschreven als thriller en dat is het naar mijn mening absoluut niet. Het was wel een boeiend, doch langzaam, verhaal over een wereld die ik me alleen maar kan verbeelden. Toch vraag ik me nog af: waarom?

[Mackenzi]

This book was... boring to say the least. For most of the book, you really don't see a point, and the last half its like "oh, so this is what's happening?" And I really hated that, I needed more to happen throughout the story. To make matters worse, I didn't really like any of the characters either.
Maybe it just wasn't my type of thriller and thats okay!
Thank you to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster | S&S/Summit Books for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

[Jamie]

“She asked him if he still believed in violence as a way of healing the world. . . “ Four troubled, obscenely wealthy young people who meet and form a club of sorts. This story could be and is taken from the headlines of today. A train wreck that you can’t look away from. Read the review in the Wall Street Journal if you need more convincing.

[Maya Sinclair]

Really not sure what this book was about or what point it’s trying to make but it was wildly unclear and I’m so happy it’s over

[Dan]

My thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for an advance copy of this book that is bit of travel, a bit of noir, a bit of classic literature, featuring people lost in themselves, in wanting more, in trying to forget in and of course in anger, an anger that threatens to engulf many others, including our narrator.

There are certain authors who have a style that is unique to themselves. A writing that seems timeless, so timeless that when reminders of the present day occur, the reader is surprised. Stories about characters trying to make sense of what they have done with their lives, or what has been done to them. Stories that seem familiar, and yet told in a way that is new. And not easily forgettable. Lawrence Osborne is one of these authors. Tales of old noir detectives, suddenly lucky gamblers, people on the run, usually set in places that Americans can't find without a GPS. Stories that are not easily forgotten, with characters that stay long after the pages end. This book is no exception. Children of Wolves by Lawrence Osborne is a story of privilege told from an outside observer, sent on a particular mission, but one that changes in ways even the narrator can't really understand.

Tyler is a private detective with a 60/40 clearance rate. Tyler is also tired of being a detective, though he has quite a bit of success doing overseas work. Which makes him perfect to take on a job for Knight, a wealthy pharmaceutical industrialist. Knight's daughter Chana is missing, maybe, or just wandering. Chana's mother was Turkish, so Knight thinks she might have fled. Tyler is sent to Turkey to find out, and while there pokes around with no real sense of urgency. Tyler has nothing to go back for. Eventually Tyler comes across someone who might be Chana in a resort, along with three other young people who seem to be together. Tyler was a child of prep schools, Groton in fact, and begins to ingratiate himself into the group. Chana is most fascinated with the fact that Tyler was schoolmates with the current American consul, and asks if he can arrange a meeting. As time passes, Tyler begins to wonder what Chana is running from, why her friends are so angry. And what his feelings for everything really are.

A book that has a bit of Patrica Highsmith's Ripley, a bit of Patrick Modiano detachment, and lost narrator, and bit of Robert Ludlum traveling espionage show. This is a book that might not be for all people. There is a lot of talk, a lot of self-awareness, and a lot of wondering where things might be going. Until they do. Timelessness is a good way to describe this book. When spy cameras, and apps on phones appear, it seems so surprising. This could be a story set in the 50's when America was beginning to realise there was a world out past the Atlantic, or even an Eric Ambler spy story from the 30's. Tyler is an interesting character, from Purgatory, Maine he likes to say, but is much more than that. The others have secrets, pasts that are painful reminders that even wealth doesn't buy happiness, nor the ability to forget.

Fans of Osborne will like this, though the pot seems kind of familiar from other books. However there is a lot of character development, and a lot more going on in the plot. Also Osborne is one of those authors that really puts a reader in the setting, sipping sugared coffees on verandas in Turkey, enjoying scenic walks, which makes one want to travel the world. An author who I will always look forward to reading.

[Leanne]

Osborne's genius new novel sees Tyler Sedgewick, an American private investigator whose career has stalled out on "marital surveillance work in the tristate area," traveling to Turkey on a new job. A petrochemical millionaire (billionaire?), James Arthur Knight Jr., has hired him to find his runaway daughter Chana — twenty-seven, half-Turkish, long since "gone revolutionary," and traveling under a false name.

Tyler eventually finds her at a seaside hotel near Bodrum, lounging with three friends from the desert reform school in California the four of them were sent to as teenagers, and decides to keep the discovery to himself: he goes on taking Knight's money, feeding him vague reports, and drinking raki with the young woman he's being paid to watch. When he lets slip that he was at school with the new American consul in Istanbul, Chana asks for an introduction — and the novel turns.

Lawrence Osborne is one of my favorite writers. At the risk of being redundant and repeating what most critics and readers already say about him, he really could be called the Graham Greene of today. And I'd only add that this one felt more like Paul Bowles to me — the angst, the darkness, though the plot is very Patricia Highcastle. I consider him one of our greatest living writers. He takes the thriller and adds such literary skill that the effect is dazzling, and for me there's also something wonderfully old-fashioned about him. It isn't only the sentences, which are so set apart from the MFA fiction we keep reading in America; it's the whole setup, the white man abroad in an exotic place who gets into trouble — sometimes a crime, sometimes just trouble. It's funny that something so old-fashioned can read as totally avant-garde, but maybe that's what's wrong with American literary fiction right now.

On the theme of being a classic writer, his characters are also old-fashioned too, the way Somerset Maugham's are: mysterious, ambiguous, never quite accounted for. Are they running from something? Was there a crime? It stayed ambiguous to the very end and I could hardly put it down — very much in the line of The Talented Mr. Ripley, another book I loved.

On Java Road (my favorite of his novels) and The Ballad of a Small Player are the ones I keep going back to; I've read Java Road three times, and I'm already planning a reread of this one. I'm also a massive fan of his wine book, The Accidental Connoisseur — the attention to clothes and that Loewe bag!! and what the characters order to drink makes you feel set back in time. He's a classic, and I'd predict he'll still be on the shelves in a hundred years. 📚 LOVED THIS BOOK!!!!!

[Amie Derricott]

Set against a Turkish backdrop, from the sun-drenched coast to the bustling streets of Istanbul, we follow Tyler Sedgewick, a struggling American private investigator who is hired by billionaire James Knight to locate his estranged daughter, Chana, a privileged young woman who has disappeared after years of increasingly radical behaviour. He finds her at a five star resort, calling herself Aylin and living alongside three equally wealthy and disillusioned friends. The four of them are bound together by a troubled past at an elite reform school and now reject the lives their privilege has afforded them. They believe that a single dramatic act of political violence could alter the course of history. Rather than immediately reporting his success to her father, Tyler becomes fascinated by Aylin and allows himself to fall for her and get drawn into their intoxicating lifestyle. As the line between investigator and participant blurs, Tyler finds himself involved in a cat and mouse chase involving the four friends, American diplomats and Turkish intelligence officers.

So I THINK I enjoyed this book, but it was incredibly confusing and I don’t think I ever really worked out what the story was trying to be. I never really figured out where the plot was actually going as it kind of drifts between a missing persons investigation, political commentary, and psychological drama. I’m still not entirely convinced I know now I’ve finished.
Lawrence Osborne's writing is without a doubt impressive. His descriptions of Turkey are vivid and atmospheric, and he creates a real sense of being immersed in the setting. The characters are kind of intriguing, particularly Tyler, whose growing fascination with Aylin leads him into increasingly murky moral territory. I also enjoyed the exploration of privilege, ideology, and the way people can become consumed by a cause.
That being said, I do feel like the whole thing was incredibly verbose and so much of it comes across as unnecessarily drawn out. I often felt my attention wandering, particularly in places where the political musings went on for way longer than they needed to. There also seemed to be a fair amount of dialogue that never really added anything to what I was reading.
I think by the end I had a vague idea of what the author was trying to achieve, but I’m not entirely sure. I guess it was okay, I never felt like a DNF was imminent, but it definitely wasn't the book I was expecting it to be.

[B Zakh]

Very disappointed by the latest novel of Lawrence Osborne, an author I have been recommending left and right in the last five years. I can't believe that after Hunters in the Dark, The Forgiven, and Beautiful Animals (the works that I rate highest among his oeuvre) he penned this half-baked story.

The plot of the novel, the mechanism that makes all its other parts tick is very week, to the point of not making much sense. What would you think of a terrorist cell of four who select one of them to commit the murder of their target, but then all of them have to be present at the glamorous event where the murder is supposed to happen without any of them having a role in the murder - just to have to plan their escapes?! Why would they need to be at this event in the first place?! Just to hang out and then escape?!

Things like that, as well as other non-consequential happenings, make you think what is mandatory for a good novel - it can't offer just cool settings, ethnographic details like Turkish cuisine and drinks, descriptions of exotic Istanbul topoi, clothing, and expensive hotels...The characters are vague, their motives banal, they can be reduced just to their physical descriptions and some random behavior that does not engage the reader. The plot cannot withstand a very basic logical questioning.

What happened? It seemed like the author had a contract with the publisher and had to churn up something in a hurry....What a pity.

https://no-lipstick.com/2026/09/24/bo...

[Garrett Ross]

P good at parts. The author definitely likes imagery. Everything was “soaked” and “bathed” and described a bit more than it needed to be. I get it, it’s pros - I get it.

But, at the end of the day, it comes down to characters. The first hundred pages or so were intriguing. A kind of Henry Miller/Hemmingway/movable feast, kind of vibe. Ex-pats. Young and rich and good looking. Allusions to promiscuity. Overindulgence in drink and drug. Living deliciously and whatnot by svelte, world weary chirrin. General malaise of the real world blah blah fuckin blah.

Then you also had the wandering private dick. The 40 something who falls into bed with the mid 20s femme fatale. As a Forty-something, I know a self insert when I see it. 👌

Anyways, around 100 pages in it just starts to become a bit too much. I started just not giving a shit. See that’s the whole problem when you write nothing but unlikable characters - in the end, who gives a fuck? That’s what always kills me. Even in a 200 page little throwaway, pallet cleanser kind of book, if the characters are boring or generic or unlikable, at the end, who gives a fuck? I just couldn’t finish it.

They started talking about some angsty philosophy, and I just started getting checked out. It’s just not my particular brand of vodka, what can I say?

But, technically at some point, I will give the author props for his pros writing ability. But other than that, just not my thing.

If you’re gonna go dark, at least give me Rust Cohle, not a fuggin a broke bad version of the chick from clueless with a clown car in toe.

[Samantha]

I guess this was fine, but you’ve read many versions of it before, many of them more compelling than this one.

I liked the first half of this more than the second, partly because the writing for its own sake is far more compelling there, and also because the ending of this one feels like a real flop.

This is a pretty standard “oh, the privileged children” novel, which is a theme that is really shopworn and needs an original spin to be viable these days. This book is well written but doesn’t have that sort of originality, and the tone feels very dated, extremely reminiscent of 1990s faux LitFic.

Part of the problem here is that the characters actions don’t necessarily match up with who we’re shown that they are. The author does a lovely job of showing rather than telling who these people are, and then undoes it with a plot that suggests something opposite.

In all, a bit of a letdown and one that leaves you feeling bored, mostly because it’s a slow-moving version of something you’ve seen many times. The prose is lovely, but there’s only so far you can go with an author who is a far better writer than storyteller.

*I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.*

[Brett Warnke]

Laurence Osborne is a novelist whose work you should immediately discover. In this novel, he's able to build off of some of the second half of the 20th centuries darker, gripping, atmospheric, psychological fiction. This book concerns a clutch of spoiled and psychologically damaged children of wealth. Each of these brats feels some violent nihilistic urge to tip history through the "propaganda of the deed." Tyler, a fortyish private detective is hired to pursue one of them and, like Highsmith's Ripley, falls in with the group. If the dubious reasoning of these urban guerillas and the dead-end of Tyler's story present odd plot holes; and if the story is pulled along by fortunate ambiguities and anonymous tips, I forgive it for the delicious menace Osborne is able to conjur. You should always read him with a pen in hand. However, the mood is not always earned, admittedly, in this work. The macabre tone of some of Beautiful Animals, for example, perfectly fits with that story's conclusion. This book, however, seems to enjoy the dark mood for its own sake.

[carol]

Sadly, I don't have much to say about this book. It is a story about the adventures of 4 privileged rich kids and a private investigator trying to uncover one of their secrets. Ironically, it felt mundane to me - but perhaps I am missing some critical component. 

80% of the novel felt slow, then suddenly we are given insight as to what is actually going on between the four of them. It felt underwhelming, and I feel as though the author wants us to root for them. I didn't, but perhaps I couldn't relate to them at all. 

To note to fellow thriller lovers out there, this isn't a typical thriller but more so an analysis of who each character is. This didn't land for me, but perhaps another may enjoy this more!

Thank you to Netgalley, Simon & Schuster, and Lawrence Osborne for sending over this advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

[Andy Weston]

Chana Knight is the missing daughter of a wealthy US family. She has a past of destructive antisocial behaviour ever since the time she spent at a Californian reform school when she was 15. There, she met like-minded radicals who committed small acts of criminal extremism.

Her father hires, 30 year old Tyler Sedegwick, a private investigator to find her. He easily locates her in Istanbul, where her late mother was something of a socialite, and he becomes friends with her expat friends. He uses his relationship with the American Consul to gain further favour, and is soon himself involved in the criminal shenanigans.

The plot is secondary to location here, as the action moves between the back alleys of Istanbul and Bodrum. That is the novel’s let down also, that the plot is meandering and often confusing, trying to figure out who is trying to set up who.

[Eric Lustbader]

I've read all of Lawrence Osborne's novels. I've liked most of them, loved a couple. But now it seems to me that though his style is still great his plots are simply reworking the same theme over and over again. Lawrence is at heart a travel writer. A couple of those non-fiction books are terrific. But there are times, as in this book, when the travel aspect is given too much space. The characters, as in his last couple of novels, are basically opaque, there to witness or become victims of terrible events. His antipathy to tourists is well documented (read the terrific and eye-opening "The Naked Tourist"). This is not a bad novel - far from it. But for this reader, at least, it's covering old ground and is therefore just okay.

[Literary Side Quest]

Children of Wolves had a strong premise, but it never fully came together for me. The setting in Turkey was easily the standout, creating an atmospheric backdrop that kept me reading.

I was expecting more of a thriller, but it leaned much more into a slow character study. The pacing dragged, and I never really connected with the characters or felt invested in where the story was going.

It wasn't a terrible read, but it wasn't a memorable one either. If you enjoy slower, literary suspense with morally gray characters, you may have a better experience than I did.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Lulu]

"Children of Wolves" is a stylish, atmospheric thriller that mixes wealthy social circles, international intrigue, and a dangerous game of manipulation. Tyler’s decision to hide Chana from her powerful father pulls him deeper into a world where no one seems to be exactly who they claim, while the Turkish setting gives the story an exotic and unpredictable backdrop. The characters are morally complicated, and the tension builds as Chana’s plans become increasingly dangerous. Readers who enjoy thrillers filled with deception, privilege, and characters playing several sides at once will find this an intriguing read.

[Matthew Barmack]

A pretty typical offering from one of my favoite authors. The book follows a private eye who's hired to track down a wealthty family's troubled daughter, who turns out to be the leader of a small terrorist group consisting of a group of similarly troubled rich kids who met at the same reform school. The private eye is unknowingly sucked into one of their schemes. Great settings (and descriptions of food), mostly in Istanbul. The same disaffected expat vibe, which I like, of many of the author's other books.

[Reed]

Lawrence Osborne is one of my favorite authors, and he didn’t disappoint with Children of Wolves. It’s an atmospheric, slow-burn thriller typical of Osborne, in which misbehaving expats and tourists get in over their heads, this time in Turkey. Osborne has a knack for putting you directly into the setting, seeing and feeling what his characters do as if you were there. If I had to choose one author to have a drink with in some distant corner of the world, it would be Osborne. His writing and style connect with me like few others. I hope he cranks out a few more novels for me to devour.

In Children of Wolves, Tyler, a private investigator, is hired by a billionaire to find his wayward daughter, Chana, and determine what kind of trouble she’s gotten herself into this time. Tyler tracks her to Bodrum, a beautiful Turkish resort town on the Aegean, where she is partying with a circle of privileged young people accustomed to money, indulgence, and few consequences.

Tyler is gradually drawn into their orbit—and especially to Chana, the half-Turkish woman he’s supposed to be watching and reporting on. He knows better than to become involved, but this is an Osborne novel, and people who know better have a habit of doing things they shouldn’t. Tyler realizes too late that he was allowed into their circle for a reason. Chana has been manipulating him as part of a radical scheme reminiscent of the Symbionese Liberation Army—a small band of privileged young people intent on wreaking havoc.

That’s where Osborne is at his best. He isn’t interested in racing from one plot twist to the next. He lets the menace accumulate slowly beneath the languor—the drinking, the heat, the money, the sexual tension, the beautiful people in beautiful surroundings—and then it all goes wrong. His characters are rarely admirable, but they are almost always fascinating, and Tyler, Chana and her group are no exception.

Children of Wolves may not be for readers who want a conventional, fast-moving thriller. Osborne works through atmosphere, moral ambiguity, and a creeping sense of danger. For those of us who enjoy that cocktail, however, he mixes it exceptionally well. Pour me another.

[Debbie]

Children of Wolves by Lawrence Osborne has PI Tyler Sedgwick going to Turkey to find a daughter of a wealthy American which sets off a chain of events.

I’m thinking this book was not for me. I really didn’t like any of the characters and it was a bit dark. I was expecting Tyler to be more of a main character but wasn’t.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for this ARC.

[Jessica DiBartolo]

If you like crisp, propulsive storytelling and books that explore moral ambiguity and privilege, you might want to add this to your TBR list. I'll definitely be adding more of Lawrence Osborne's work to mine.

𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗪𝗼𝗹𝘃𝗲𝘀 begins with a private investigator sent to Turkey to track down a billionaire's daughter. Chana intentionally disappeared along with several of her former classmates. The group met at a boarding school for troubled teens and bonded over shared ideologies.

The middle-aged investigator infiltrates this youthful group at a seaside hotel and quickly finds himself enthralled by the elusive Chana, who introduces herself as Aylin. His professionalism is just as quickly called into question when he lies to his employer and continues to collect paychecks. Is this all a part of his plan to earn Chana's trust or will his infatuation lead him to abandon his assignment altogether?

[Gisell]

This novel was very slow and seemed kind of pointless. None of the characters were likable o even redeemable in any way. The plot did not offer any surprises and, while written with magnificent prose, it renders the book ultimately forgettable.

[C]

Kind of Talented Mr Ripley and Graham Green cross with everyman Tyler, washed up private investigator, drifting across Istanbul in pursuit of 4 beautiful, rich, alienated, young Americans and their quest for a violent act, then disappearing…

[FL]

Not much to say about this one. The first part meanders around setting up an ending you know is coming. Not much suspense. The characters are all unlikeable rich kids behaving badly, but the reason they are that way is vague. The one positive is a good creation of the setting. 2 1/2 stars.

[TC]

Recommended.

Review posted at Tzer Island book blog:

https://www.tzerisland.com/bookblog/2...

[Bernie]

3.5 stars. As a huge fan of Lawrence Osborne, was looking forward to his latest. It wasn't as compelling as some of his other books, set in Asia.