I Am Pilgrim: A Thriller

by Terry Hayes

Can you commit the perfect crime? Pilgrim is the codename for a man who doesn't exist. The adopted son of a wealthy American family, he once headed up a secret espionage unit for US intelligence. Before he disappeared into anonymous retirement, he wrote the definitive book on forensic criminal investigation. But that book will come back to haunt him. It will help NYPD detective Ben Bradley track him down. And it will take him to a rundown New York hotel room where the body of a woman is found facedown in a bath of acid, her features erased, her teeth missing, her fingerprints gone. It is a textbook murder - and Pilgrim wrote the book. What begins as an unusual and challenging investigation will become a terrifying race-against-time to save America from oblivion. Pilgrim will have to make a journey from a public beheading in Mecca to a deserted ruins on the Turkish coast via a Nazi death camp in Alsace and the barren wilderness of the Hindu Kush in search of the faceless man who would commit an appalling act of mass murder in the name of his God.

• ISBN10: 1501119451
• ISBN13: 9781501119453
• Publish Date: 21 July 2015 (first published 18 July 2013)
• Publish Status: Out of Stock
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Imprint: Pocket Books
• Format: Paperback (US Mass Market)
• Pages: 800
• Language: English

Reviews

[Lianne]

I received an ARC copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review. This review in its entirety was originally posted at caffeinatedlife.net: http://www.caffeinatedlife.net/blog/2014/05/20/review-i-am-pilgrim/

I Am Pilgrim is a complex suspense involving numerous characters, different locations, action and ideology. The person known as Pilgrim is slowly drawn back into the world of espionage and intrigue when it comes to the attention of the West that there is a nefarious attack being planned. It’s a puzzle as at first all of the elements involved in the plot seemed scattered, and the reader is not sure how everything will connect. The gradual burn of the suspense and the confrontation between Pilgrim and the Saracen was interesting and very reminiscent of Ludlum’s Bourne novels. I appreciate how the premise of the novel is based on current events and modern-day concerns (the situation in the Middle East, the recent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the issue of chemical warfare, etc.).

It did however take me a while to get into the book. The first few chapters of part one (re: the murder in New York City) was interesting and eerie but then the narrative goes back and forth, explaining how the Pilgrim ended up in the profession he was in and the rest of his backstory. It had me confused for a while until it connected back to the present day storyline. Additionally the narrative felt a little clunky at times; there was a lot more “tell” rather than “show”, which bogged down the prose with too much detail.

Overall I Am Pilgrim is an interesting suspense with plenty of locations, turns, real-time issues and a ticking clock to boot. While the writing left me trudging a bit through the book, I think this story would make a very impressive and heart-stopping film. Fans of espionage novels and thrillers may want to check out this novel.

[pamela]

Once in a while a book comes along that takes you on a journey. It sweeps you out to sea, chews you up, spits you out and all of a sudden you emerge five days later, still in your pyjamas and wondering when the food in fridge went off. I have read books that I’ve enjoyed lately, but nothing so truly immersive and enjoyable as I Am Pilgrim.

Pilgrim is a man of many names and identities. He belongs to the secret world, where politics reign supreme and national security is paramount. When a grizzly murder is discovered in a dingy New York hotel Pilgrim sees it as a textbook case. He should know, he wrote the book. From here the plot unfolds, leading Pilgrim from the streets of Paris, through the Hindu Kush, all the way to Turkey, with many twists and turns, and some unexpected revelations.

The pace of the narrative is absolutely perfect. It flows smoothly, and even at such a length (over 700 pages long!) none of the information seems superfluous or unnecessary. That is not to say the book is perfect; it does suffer from some annoying habits in writing like a large number of “if only I’d payed more attention to”s or “this information would prove valuable later on”‘s, but apart from that the writing style was refined, concise and really kept me engaged.

Will I Am Pilgrim win any literature prizes? Probably not. But it was the most fun I’ve had reading a book in a very long time, and I really can’t recommend it enough.