With thanks to the publisher and to netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

The Predicament picks up the story of Gabriel Dax, travel writer and part time, unintentional member of the underworld of secret information.

As he travels, researching his books, he also encounters and works for M16, the CIA and is also involved with KGB. This seems unlikely but is offered in a completely plausible, calmly factual way. Boyd skillfully blends his characters with real events in both Guatemala and Berlin, bringing the time of the Berlin Wall and the visit of Kennedy to Berlin, completely to life.

Woven within this interesting story of espionage is a love story, as he encounters the mysterious Faith, who might be using Gabriel but might have the potential to be much more in his life.

Beautifully paced, plotted and written, this is Boyd at his best. A super book.

This is book two of three. The plot begins in March through to November 1963. Gabriel Dax is a travel writer and ‘accidental spy’ for MI6 and we follow his travels from Claverleigh East Sussex Guatemala City New York The Cotswolds London. Gabriel has a fixation for Faith Green, his MI6 handler and is a little in love with her. Gabriel is unsure whether he wants to work for MI6 anymore but definitely likes the money he is paid. Faith’s character development was good and I liked her as the book progressed. Gabriel uses his employment as a travel writer, as a cover for his MI6 jobs and finds himself in lots of dangerous situations. Gabriel is young, smart, witty but a little naive at times.

Boyd’s use of vocabulary is excellent and it is peppered with witty dialogue. The book has lots of descriptive and clever writing which is well researched. There were a lot of characters which I found distracting and stopped the flow of the plot.

I give 4 stars and would recommend this book.


THANK YOU TO PENGUIN AND NETGALLEY FOR THE OPPORTUNITY OF READING AN ADVANCED READING COPY OF THIS NOVEL IN RETURN FOR AN HONEST REVIEW. MY OPINIONS ARE MY OWN.

A masterclass in writing

An engaging read that simmers as it moves along. A reluctant spy gets thrown into events he cannot fully understand, at the same time as he is trying to please several ‘masters’ and lovers.

The scene setting is typical of William Boyd with authenticity and the feeling that you are looking through a lens at each location as it pops up. The cast of actors, albeit they are the people taking roles within the book provide a classic series of questions, who to trust, what to believe and where is danger lurking.

As the story unfolds, the tempo increases and as a reader I felt magnetised to events in the book. I found it difficult to take a break as I wanted to savour each page and chapter. In the end I succumbed and read the last 40 pages nonstop. Bring on the next in the series!

Gabriel Dax is fast turning into my favourite literary character. I really loved the plot of this one and how Willam Boyd effortlessly blends fact and fiction. Another brilliant addition to the series and I look forward to the next!

the Predicament is the second novel featuring reluctant spy Gabriel Dax. I really enjoyed ‘Gabriel’s Moon’ and was glad to realise that this book was a follow on. The characters are becoming more fleshed out as Dax gets deeper and deeper enmeshed in world of espionage.

This is a follow on to Gabriel’s Moon. Gabriel the reluctant spy from that book is still unable to extract himself from the clutches of MI6 but despite disliking all the deceiving and uncertainty of life as a spy he is becoming good at it and ends up as a useful member of the team rather than being a simple courier. He is torn between settling for his successful life as a travel writer or the dashing and dangerous life as a spy which seems suited to his wanderlust.
Set in the 60’s before mobile phones and the Internet, Gabriel meets some shady characters in Guatemala who then resurface in Berlin and Gabriel’s knowledge of them make him essential to the team in Berlin. I liked the way President Kennedy gets involved in the scheming in Berlin.
I suppose like real life spies , Gabriel is never at ease with his life and perhaps this is reflected in his general unhappiness with his love life.
Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin General for the ARC

I loved this book. The seamless blend of fiction with fact and a slightly new take on Kennedy. The author writes with such flourish, bringing to life the landscapes around the world,.. the seemingly everyday interspersed with intrigue, spies and romance whilst delving into the minutiae of cities in Europe and south American in the 1960s. Long may William Boyd continue to write such gorgeous novels. .

Something rang a bell very early on in this book: with the main characters? Had I read it before.? Then, delighted to realise, this is another Gabriel Dax adventure. Brilliant! I hope a trilogy is planned, because this is a likeable, slightly hapless character thrust reluctantly into dark worlds of espionage and skulduggery. .. William Boyd very much on form. Highly recommended Thanks to NetGalley and publishers for an advance copy - much appreciated and I hope more Dax adventures might follow.

Great joy, another William Boyd with  chief protagonist Gabriel Dax is about to land. Boyd is one of my favorite writers because of his superb writing and diversity in genre.   His second espionage novel with travel writer Gabriel Dax turned spy working for M16 is such fun to read, one gets easily sucked into the mood of the 1960ies with lots of drinking and smoking still  going on. Dax becomes embroiled in an assassination attempt during JFK's visit to Berlin and still cannot resists the charmes of his handler Faith Green. The Predicament has such a clever plot and is laced with British humor and understatement,  my absolute thumbs up for this read ( I read a proof).

Thanks to the wonderful team at Penguin for The Predicaments, which I devoured it in just two days — a fascinating, clever, and beautifully crafted follow-up to "Gabriel’s Moon".

From the outset, I was struck by the subtle callbacks to the first novel — no rodent problems in Lewes this time and the return of Gabriel’s grandfather’s old leather coat, his only treasured possession back in Redburn Street.

As a Spaniard, I was glad to see that Boyd’s handling of Spanish language and references remains impeccable, and I was pleased to see Boyd's familiar thematic threads return: chance, fate and the ripple effects of seemingly small decisions. One line in particular has stayed with me: “History is the history of unintended consequences. Life is random, unpredictable.” It captures the novel’s spirit perfectly.

This time around, there's a noticeable shift toward action and espionage, and it works brilliantly. With the characters and their world already established, the pacing is taut and cinematic, while still leaving space for Boyd’s signature attention to texture — the tactile details of clothing, gestures and particularly scent, which plays a striking role here. The more intimate scenes, too, are handled with a rare sensitivity, never falling into cliché or awkwardness. And I continue to be charmed by the playful, sharp titles of Gabriel’s books — they’re a delight in themselves.

In a twist that felt almost too on-brand, I happened to be reading The Predicaments on a train from Eastbourne to Brighton. I was so absorbed in the scene of Gabriel cycling to Lewes that I completely missed my own stop at Lewes— a perfectly fitting accident, given the novel’s preoccupations.

I look forward to seeing this novel released into the world and can’t wait to hold a physical copy. A thoroughly satisfying read — thoughtful, compelling, and full of subtle charm. Now I just want to read the third book!!!!

I really like William Boyd's write, but, for me, the first Gabriel Dax book although enjoyable, had some frustrating elements – such as the competing strands of storyline, thin characters and relationships. So I was a little unsure about reading this second outing for Gabriel. However I enjoyed this much more; the characters - perhaps because we know them better – feel more rounded and Gabriel, despite his flaws, is a more pleasant companion. The story moves along quickly and the background of real events adds a certain authenticity to aid the reader’s involvement. I am certainly looking forward to the next instalment
Thank you to netgalley and Penguin Books for an advance copy of this book

This is another episode in the life of reluctant spy Gabriel Dax. He has moved out to a cottage in the countryside of East Sussex hoping to finish his book on rivers. However, Faith Green has other ideas and he travels doing her will between Guatemala New York London and Berlin. Just to say what is about would spoil the plot but let’s just say it’s 1963 when Doctor Who first started. I found the last quarter of the novel, particularly thrilling;maybe because I was a teenager at that time and I remember it all in vague outline which William Boyd carefully filled in details for me. He is very good on Gabriel Dax and his motivations and thoughts and his complicated love life. I don’t think this is the last we will see of Gabriel; indeed I fervently hope not.
I read an ARC provided by NetGalley and the publishers to whom I am very grateful as William Boyd is a favourite author of mine. I recommend this novel to all who enjoy a good spy tale.

I enjoyed the first book, Gabriel’s Moon, in this series and this didn’t disappoint. I enjoy the relationships Gabriel has with other characters in the book particularly Faith. This is very frustrating for the reader! The story is good and pacy and the whole is great fun. The psychotherapist is an interesting character and I’m wondering whether she has a bigger part in the story than she has so far.

'The Predicament' is a sequel to Boyd's previous novel 'Gabriel's Moon', about a travel writer turned reluctant spy in the 1960s. I don't think reading them in order is essential, although you might prefer to if you have the option. Whilst I liked 'Gabriel's Moon', there were some aspects I found annoying, so I wasn't sure a sequel was the best idea. However I enjoyed 'The Predicament' a lot more. Gabriel as a character, and the story itself, seem to have found their feet. Whilst Gabriel still isn't a wholly enthusiastic spy, he is a surprisingly good one, and didn't make quite as many inexplicable choices as in the first novel. There is also just the one spy story, without the subplot about Gabriel's childhood that ran parallel in the first book. The greater focus makes it more successful as a pure spy story, and there is less of the ambiguity that I found annoying before.

After his introduction to the world of MI6 in the first book, Gabriel is once again being sent around the world on apparently innocuous missions that turn out to be anything but. He's also in the pay of the Russians, as the UK contact for redoubled agent Kit Caldwell. This outing takes him to Guatemala, where he gets caught up in a military coup, and then Berlin, where he has to thwart an assassination attempt. It's well plotted, and Boyd always writes about places very well and evocatively - his childhood as a diplomat's son giving him a love of travel that shines through.

There are still some interludes where Gabriel visits his psychiatrist, although I found these unnecessary in this story - it made sense in the first book when Gabriel was trying to access suppressed memories and deal with his long buried grief. But I'm not sure it added much to this book. He also continued his on-off relationship with his spy handler, Faith Green, although this was less of a dominating feature this time round, which made it more tolerable. I liked a couple of the new characters, like mysterious Russian agent Varvara, and CIA Berlin agent Parker. I also love the ideas that Gabriel has for his travel books, to the extent I found myself wishing they were real and I could read them.

With an invitation to Russia left hanging, I'm sure Boyd will be writing a third book in this series, and having read this one, I'm now excited about that. I'm looking forwards to finding out how Gabriel survives (or maybe doesn't) the heart of the USSR.

This is the second in the series about Gabriel Drax, the reluctant spy. Having bought a cottage in the country Drax rather hopes to resume his peaceful life as a writer but is drawn back into the world of espionage, double dealing and his infatuation with his MI6 handler Faith Green.

He travels to Guatemala and Berlin, returning to London in between and resuming his slightly chaotic love life as well as telling all to his therapist. We see him slowly becoming more proficient as a spy - thwarting an attempted stabbing with newly acquired self defense skills and perhaps even beginning to enjoy, or at least become more used to, this second role in life. I had to keep reminding myself that this is set in the 1960s - where it is easier to hide, lie and escape surveillance in a world without drones, trackers, hidden listening devices and cameras. This makes it all much more fun.

I pretty much read this in one sitting and recommend it. I think you get more out of it if you've read Gabriel's Moon but it does stand alone. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a review copy.

‘The Predicament’ is the second in William Boyd’s Gabriel Dax trilogy and we meet him two years on. Gabriel’s life is becoming increasingly frustrating and convoluted. A successful travel writer, on the way to having his ‘Rivers’ book published and with ‘On the Beaten Path’ taking shape in his mind, he reluctantly juggles the MI6 demands of his secret boss and sometime lover, Faith Green, whilst wanting more than she is prepared to give emotionally. And then, of course, there’s the Russians who think Gabriel is their secret agent.

As the narrative builds, the reader grows increasingly aware of the machinations of the CIA in the background. Gabriel is moved from Guatemala, where he tracks down a rebel leader, back to London, and on to West Berlin. Here the focus in on the upcoming visit of the popular US president, John F. Kennedy. With rumours of a possible assassination plot, Gabriel is determined to work out why and how he is being played.

Those who enjoyed ‘Gabriel’s Moon’ will welcome the chance to learn how Gabriel’s complex life is developing. Having read ‘The Predicament’, it’s not easy to envisage how things will pan out in the last of the series. But, clearly, that’s the point. Once hooked etc. … and you probably will be!

My thanks to NetGalley and Penguin General UK – Fig Tree for a copy of this book in exchange for a fair review.

The second in what is developing into an engaging and fascinating series. Gabriel Drax is learning well on the job and from his reluctant beginnings is gradually turning into a serviceable secret agent.

He is still pretty much the fall guy to whom things happen but he shows initiative and grit in getting out of tight scrapes.

The writing, as you would expect, is skilled and lush, laced with gentle humour and pertinent character descriptions.

An easy and satisfying read.

Surprisingly enjoyed this quite a lot. My normal genre would be modern day with female leads. This was based in the 1960s with a reluctant male English spy lead. Well written and engaging on human relationships and story level. Thank you to the author. Thank you to #netgalley and the publisher for an ARC.

A minor criticism: this book is not particularly well-served by its title. 'The Predicament' tells us almost nothing about this novel's contents and risks making it sound like a comedic farce, which it most certainly isn't.
However, don't be put off. This is a perfectly enjoyable sequel to 2023's Gabriel's Moon. That book, set in 1961, saw travel writer, Gabriel Dax getting unwittingly drawn into a world of international espionage. This second book, picks up Dax's adventures in 1963 as we see Dax facing more danger and excitement as he becomes aware of a new dastardly plot: a conspiracy to assassinate the popular US president, John F. Kennedy. Boyd is a never less than compelling writer and this follow-up book featuring Dax proves very nearly as engaging as the first.
But the title is a mistake.