I don't think William Boyd is capable of writing a bad book. I absolutely loved this book. Every character is well crafted, the writing is superb. You gradually get sucked into Gabriel's story and want to know the truth. It's absolutely glorious when you can just wallow in the brilliance of a book. The humour, the genuineness of Gabriel, the journey through his thought processes, The story is a cracker. Long list surely

Any Human Heart was the first William Boyd I read, and since then I know that anything by this author is reliably readable. Gabriel’s Moon didn’t disappoint. Gabriel is a travel writer and sometime journalist who travels the world, returning periodically to his girlfriend and his mouse-infested flat. When he lands an interview with Lumumba, the leader of the Congo, he is told something that hardly registers with him at rhetorical time. On returning home however, his newspaper does not publish his interview and he learns from a mysterious contact that Lumumba has been murdered. Inadvertently, Gabriel slowly becomes sucked into a story that that he can’t control and only understands in fragments.

As in his other books, Boyd draws on a raft of events in the early sixties and builds a compelling story around them. The action moves from London, to Cadiz, Suffolk and a cross channel ferry and the story gains pace as he gets sucked in to something - but what? Who can he trust? What part is he playing in the story that is unfolding?

The main character is an ex-public school boy, so there’s also a back story of childhood trauma, a difficult and distant brother, and old fashioned sexual/classist attitudes, as well as all the elements of a traditional spy story. A good read and somewhat old fashioned. Perfect as a holiday read!

I am an unashamed William Boyd groupie and this latest offering confirms my allegiance. Richly imagined, beautifully written and gripping to the all-too-soon end. I don’t pretend to be an unbiased reviewer, but I do strongly recommend this title. If you’ve read Boyd before you’ll know what to expect. If you haven’t, this is as good a place to start as any. Thanks to the publisher, Penguin, for the opportunity to read an early copy.

I was looking forward to reading Boyd's new novel and I was not disappointed. As with all Boyd's novels, the writing style is sprinkled with humour, wonderful descriptions, great use of vocabulary and a good developing plot. William Boyd is a master story-teller!

The novel is set between 1960-1963. Gabriel Dax is a travel writer and an insomniac. Gabriel accidently meets Faith Green, an MI6 agent who recruits/persuades Gabriel to carry out small jobs for MI6 which Gabriel reluctantly accepts. The job is well paid and Gabriel is to use his profession as a travel writer as a cover for each job requested by Faith. Gabriel assumes the jobs for MI6 as easy money, but nothing is as it seems. Gabriel comes across as a little naive as the jobs progress but Gabriel is not a fool.

There is lots going on in this novel with plenty of good character development. I enjoyed this entertaining, funny and well-written book.

I give a 5 star rating and would recommend this book.

I WANT TO THANK NETGALLEY AND THE PUBLISHER FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO READ AN ADVANCED READING COPY IN RETURN FOR AN HONEST REVIEW

Once a spy….

Gabriel Dax is a successful travel writer in the early 1960s, his older brother does something vague in the Foreign Office. Occasionally in the course of his travels Gabriel can do his brother a favour by leaving a message or dropping off an envelope.
Gabriel has a problem with insomnia resulting from trauma caused when his family home burnt down and his mother died when he was an infant. To help him with this he visits a psychiatrist who attempts to help him regain lost memories of the event.
Events in Gabriel’s life begin to take unexpected routes when by chance in the recently independent Congo he is invited to interview the beleaguered president, Patrice Lumumba. This is shortly before Lumumba is overthrown and murdered. Gabriel’s tape of the interview contain information various agencies would like kept secret or destroyed. It is at this point that Faith Green of MI6 enters Gabriel’s life and he and others close to him become increasingly endangered.
As always with William Boyd, this is an entertaining story, well written and containing all sorts of incidental pleasures. Gabriel has to try to work out how and why the interview with Mumumba has caused so many perilous ripples – and who are the real enemies, The Soviets or those much closer to home. More like Restless than The Romantic, this is something of a thriller, though episodic and much more thoughtful and realistic than most novels of that genre. I liked it more and more as Gabriel, like the mouse in his flat, falls deeper into the traps set for him.

This was a total delight, a beautifully written book by a master of his craft that can be described as a spy thriller but that sells it short as is really so much more, It is dry, witty, urbane and covers so many different subjects from tradecraft, to sibling relationships, to travel writing, to duplicity, to psychotherapy.

The book is an easy read which is of course a testament to the skill of the author and once immersed in it it is quite impossible to let it go.

The main character grows in stature and loses some of his early naivety and he become enmeshed in a world that is totally new and unknown to me but one in which he finally flourishes and I would hope that this becomes the first in what could easily become an exciting and much anticipated series over the next few years.

One never knows what to expect from a William Boyd novel - apart from excellent writng, wonderful vocabulary and a good plot. This spy thriller with Gabriel as the main character is very much its genre, reminiscent of le Carré. Very enjoyable read with Gabriels's back story as a travel writer and his hourneys for his book research neatly woven into the plot that sees him going to places he hadn't planned - or particularly wanted to visit. Another five star read from one of my favourite authors. With thanks for the e-ARC to read and review.

One of William Boyd's great talents is that he has so many different types of stories to tell. "Gabriel's Moon" falls into the category of a spy novel during the time of the Cold War.  

Reminding me at times of "Waiting for sunrise", travel writer Gabriel Dax does the odd little courier job for his brother who works for the government. When Faith Green, a ruthless M16 handler, asks him for similar well paid favours, he gets slowly sucked into becoming one of her spies without really realizing  what is happening. Boyd is so brilliant in describing these subtle developments with so many odd characters entering Gabriel's life, confirming to me yet again why he is one of my favourite writers, absolutely loved this early proof, 5 stars!

Gabriel is a travel writer living in London in the early Sixties. While in the Congo he is asked to interview the president. This sets in motion a sequence of events which involves him making secret expeditions to Franco’s Spain and behind the “Iron Curtain “. His life changes dramatically and he gets involved in a very shadowy world of spies during the Cold War.
I’m a big fan of William Boyd’s books and this one doesn’t disappoint. Gabriel is an interesting character caught in a mystifying web of intrigue. He’s also a victim of his past: his mother died in a house fire in which he managed to escape from, when he was six years old and which has left him with sleep problems. There’s romance, espionage and psychology all mixed in. Plus some mystery and twists along the way in a gripping read. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher Viking for an ARC in return for an honest and fair review.

A really excellent read, an old school spy thriller with satisfying twists and turns. If you're waiting for your next Mick Herron fix, this may well fill the gap.

Sadly, I have just finished Gabriel's Moon by William Boyd. A spy thriller that was so good I didn't want it to end. It could have been called the Reluctant Courier because that was Gabriel's task for the security services. The novel starts with a young Gabriel being settled down for the night by his mother, a night that turns in to an inferno which will change his life forever and blight him with insomnia. Gabriel is a travel writer and his frequent trips abroad are sometimes made use of by his brother, to deliver innocuous packages. After a trip to the Congo where he interviewed the Prime Minister the pace stepped up for Gabriel. He sensed his flat in London had been searched and weirdly a woman who he had seen on his returning flight from Congo made him an offer he could not refuse. That was the first brush he had with the enigmatic Faith Green of the Institute of Developmental Studies ( a front company for MI6 ). Money changed hands and so Gabriel's fate was sealed as a courier, or should I say, art courier. Gabriel eventually cottons on that he is being 'played' but he never quite connects the dots back to his brother who used him previously as a bellwether, presumably to test his cover. The novel has an ending which might indicate more books to come. I do hope so.
Quite a cerebral spy thriller with some great characters and venues. Don't expect Ian Fleming, more John le Carré.

Gabriel Dax is a successful travel writer, just into his thirties. He knows the importance of the ‘full plum pudding’ and readers evidently love his theatrical prose. He’s a lucky man: he has an adoring girlfriend, a supportive publisher and the excuse to travel wherever he fancies for his work. Aside from a persistent mouse problem in his Chelsea flat, one could surmise that the world’s his oyster.
However, Gabriel’s an insomniac. He was orphaned at the age of six when his mother dies in a house fire which he believes was started by his moon-shaped nightlight. In his mind, the object of comfort is transformed into one of horror. Since then, although he’s been kindly brought up by his affectionate uncle Aldous and is on cordial terms with his brother, Sefton, he suffers from night terrors. There’s a mother-shaped hole in his life of which he is aware. He admits to his therapist that he would like nothing more than to love someone unconditionally.
William Boyd’s naïve, clever, brave, selfish and sometimes downright obtuse central character is perfect spy material. So thinks the charismatic, enigmatic MI6 Faith Green who reminds Gabriel regularly that he is ‘her spy’ once he has agreed to carry out a mundane task as part of his travel arrangements. There’s the catch. Once in, perhaps impossible to leave. And then, of course, Gabriel is implicated in ways far more complex that he could imagine, resulting in some out of the ordinary behaviour. After such an event, he recognises that, ‘What had just happened had changed him in a profound way, he saw, a crucial way, and everything about him was different now.’
Not only is ‘Gabriel’s Moon’ a real page turner; the author has also conjured a suitably ruthless, murky yet credible world of agents and double-dealings. Faith Green understands that Gabriel’s vulnerabilities make him her perfect spy. The reader can see that she is his undoing. Another excellent novel, brilliantly written, from the marvellous William Boyd.
My thanks to NetGalley and Penguin General UK, Fig Tree for a copy of this book in exchange for a fair review.

Another fine entry into the espionage genre.

The latest thriller from master William Boyd opens in 1936, and a young boy awakens to find the house he shares with is mother in flames. He ventures downstairs, only to find her dead on the floor. In terror, he manages to escape the house, and hides in the garden.

Forward to 1960 and the boy, Gabriel, is now a successful author and travel writer. But the events of that night still haunt him, and he suffers from extreme insomnia. His work seems to be his only distraction, so when visiting the Congo, to research his latest book, he is invited to interview a high-profile figure, the notorious president Patrice Lumumba, he jumps at the chance. The president insists the interview be tape recorded, which Gabriel is happy to do. It goes well, and he returns to the UK.

The reader, along with Gabriel, is then drawn into a net of intrigue, conspiracy and danger. From the woman on his plane home, who is reading his latest book, to the brother who asks him to carry out a clandestine job, to the over-the-top free-spirited Uncle, this story is full to the brim of colourful characters, each of whom may, or may not be what they seem. Slowly but surely, events conspire to draw Gabriel deeper and deeper into a plot, parts of which he can see, but others he cannot. And all this is painted against the backdrop of the 1960's, where everyone seems to drink far too much, smoke far too much, and live in fear of the "reds under the beds". The Cold War is just beginning to heat up, the Bay of Pigs is about to take place, and the players are all putting plans into action. As Gabriel's involvement with the intelligence services grows more complex, so do the dangers he faces.

Gabriel's Moon is another fine read by a master of espionage tales. It's not a difficult read, and moves along at a fair pace. If Gabriel seems a bit too dense at times, then suddenly as sharp as a tack, it seems to fit. He travels easily from place to place, carrying out little, seemingly unimportant tasks for MI6, and his preoccupation with his handler is very nicely teased out, leading to a satisfying conclusion. This book is another gorgeous montage of, admittedly, many spy-novel tropes. But they seem to work.

Fans of Boyd's previous books will love this latest one, as will fans of Alex Gerlis, Joseph Kanon and Alan Furst. Highly recommended.

Gabriel's Moon is a good old-fashioned spy thriller from master story-teller William Boyd.
Gabriel Dax is a successful travel writer in the early 1960's. As he travels around the globe he's often asked to "do small favours" for his brother Sefton, who makes no secret of the fact that he works for MI6. With the Cold War at its peak Gabriel's "favours" attract the attention of Faith Green, a glamorous but cold-blooded MI6 Handler. While worried about how deeply he's being sucked deeper and deeper into the deadly world of espionage Gabriel becomes obsessed with Faith and finds her hard to refuse. With plot and counter plot Gabriel finds himself involved in labyrinthine intrigue that comes to a shocking conclusion.

This is William Boyd on top form, thrills,twists and plenty of humour, Gabriel has as much trouble with an annoying mouse as he does with deadly assassins. The plot revolves around the assassination of Patrice Lumumba in 1961 for having the audacity to put his country before Western interests not long after Gabriel has interviewed him and soon discovers that knowledge might well be power but can be dangerous.
An excellent read.

William Boyd is the writer of a generation, and I was so excited to see Gabriel's Moon available for review! It's classic Boyd - moving, pacy and full of mystery. It reminded me of Graham Green, John Le Carre and Patricia Highsmith - a classic, spy thriller. As in Boyd's other novels, I thought the addition of Gabriel's family history was particularly moving and I enjoyed how the story unfurled.

Gabriel Dax is the first person narrator, a semi-successful travel writer who has persistent insomnia due to a tragedy in his past, who is drawn into the shady world of 1960s espionage. An accidental spy who is nevertheless surprisingly good at the job.

Of a certain class, but slightly outside it, he has a relationship with a young woman who works in a Wimpy Bar, drinks like a fish (as it seems most of the middle/upper classes did in the 60s if he is to be believed) and has Sunday lunch in the home counties with his brother Sefton, who works for one of the government intelligence agencies. He sometimes does small favours for Sefton when he is travelling abroad researching his books and this, along with an enigmatic woman, is what starts him off as a baby spy.

It is a gripping read and funny too. The extracts from Gabriel's travel books are hilariously over-written and his long-running feud with a mouse in his flat both mirrors and mocks some of his own antics.

I would definitely recommend this - Boyd's assurance and skill as a writer carries us along and I read the book in a day as it's such a page turner.

Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for a review copy.

What’s not to like? Great character's, plot, history, politics, humour and full of the “full plum pudding”.