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Table of Contents
About The Book
'The Destroyers is a smart, sophisticated literary thriller; for all its originality, it invokes the shades of Lawrence Durrell and Graham Greene' Jay McInerney, author of Bright, Precious Days
When Charlie and I were young, we played a game called Destroyers . . . We were sharpening our instincts, jettisoning attachments. We were honing strategies for survival ...
Ian Bledsoe is on the run, broke and humiliated, fleeing the emotional and financial fallout of his father's death. His childhood friend Charlie – rich, exuberant and basking in life on the Greek island of Patmos – is his last hope.
At first, Patmos is like a dream – sun-soaked days on Charlie’s yacht and the reappearance of a girlfriend from Ian’s past – and Charlie readily offers the lifeline he desperately needs. But, like Charlie himself, this beautiful island conceals a darkness beneath. When he vanishes leaving behind his murky business affairs, Ian finds himself caught in a terrifying labyrinth of deceits. As boys, the pair played a game called Destroyers – a game, he now realizes, they may never have stopped playing.
Expansive, vivid and suspenseful, in the vein of Donna Tartt's The Goldfinch, The Destroyers is a mesmerizing drama of power and fate, fathers and sons, self-invention and self-deception.
'Equal parts Graham Greene, Patricia Highsmith and F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Destroyers is at once lyrical and suspenseful, thoughtful and riveting' Garth Greenwell, author of What Belongs to You
‘The Destroyers manages to be both fast-paced and contemplative, an excellent entertainment and also something more lasting, a haunting meditation on friendship and desperation’ Guardian, Best Holiday Reads of 2017
When Charlie and I were young, we played a game called Destroyers . . . We were sharpening our instincts, jettisoning attachments. We were honing strategies for survival ...
Ian Bledsoe is on the run, broke and humiliated, fleeing the emotional and financial fallout of his father's death. His childhood friend Charlie – rich, exuberant and basking in life on the Greek island of Patmos – is his last hope.
At first, Patmos is like a dream – sun-soaked days on Charlie’s yacht and the reappearance of a girlfriend from Ian’s past – and Charlie readily offers the lifeline he desperately needs. But, like Charlie himself, this beautiful island conceals a darkness beneath. When he vanishes leaving behind his murky business affairs, Ian finds himself caught in a terrifying labyrinth of deceits. As boys, the pair played a game called Destroyers – a game, he now realizes, they may never have stopped playing.
Expansive, vivid and suspenseful, in the vein of Donna Tartt's The Goldfinch, The Destroyers is a mesmerizing drama of power and fate, fathers and sons, self-invention and self-deception.
'Equal parts Graham Greene, Patricia Highsmith and F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Destroyers is at once lyrical and suspenseful, thoughtful and riveting' Garth Greenwell, author of What Belongs to You
‘The Destroyers manages to be both fast-paced and contemplative, an excellent entertainment and also something more lasting, a haunting meditation on friendship and desperation’ Guardian, Best Holiday Reads of 2017
About The Author
© Alexei Hay
Christopher Bollen is a writer who lives in New York City. He regularly writes about art, literature, and culture. He is the author of Lightning People and Orient and is currently the Editor at Large at Interview Magazine.
Product Details
- Publisher: Scribner UK (August 1, 2018)
- Length: 496 pages
- ISBN13: 9781471136207
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Raves and Reviews
'The Destroyers is a smart, sophisticated literary thriller; for all its originality, it invokes the shades of Lawrence Durrell and Graham Greene'
– Jay McInerney, author of Bright, Precious Days
'Equal parts Graham Greene, Patricia Highsmith and F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Destroyers is at once lyrical and suspenseful, thoughtful and riveting'
– Garth Greenwell, author of What Belongs to You
'Superb, a tightly woven and fast-moving narrative set in beautifully crafted prose. A read-all-night book'
– Alan Furst, author of The Foreign Correspondent
'Possessed of cold-blooded electricity and a beguiling elegance ... A propulsive, hypnotic portrait of rot at paradise’s heart and of the sprawling, inescapable tendrils of class and avarice'
– Sophie McManus, author of The Unfortunates
‘One for those who like their holiday books dark’
– Stylist
‘Beautiful people visiting glamorous places, being wicked enough to bring Patricia Highsmith to mind. It just isn’t summer without this kind of globe-trotting glamour to read about, especially when most of it is set in the Aegean’
– New York Times
‘The ideal summer page-turner’
– Vogue
‘Bollen’s deliciously dark literary thriller, set in the jewel-bright sun-soaked Greek island of Patmos, is the perfect summer read’
– Big Issue
Resources and Downloads
High Resolution Images
- Book Cover Image (jpg): The Destroyers Paperback 9781471136207
- Author Photo (jpg): Christopher Bollen © Alexei Hay(0.1 MB)
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