I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes

I Am Pilgrim

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.

Reviewed by Lianne on

3 of 5 stars

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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.

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  • Started reading
  • 18 April, 2014: Finished reading
  • 18 April, 2014: Reviewed