Another masterpiece from William Boyd as he updates us on the latest escapades of Gabriel Dax, the reluctant spy. It is interesting to meet some of the characters from the earlier novel and see how Gabriel’s relationships develop.

I am a huge fan of John le Carré, and so the problem with reading a book like this is that comparisons are inevitable, and it is equally inevitable that John le Carré comes out on top. Le Carré's ability to sketch a situation in just a few words and to make the characters come alive is unparalleled. So it is not really William Boyd's fault that this book doesn't come up to that standard.
He does have a few things to offer of his own, though. For a start, he likes to use unusual words. I had to look up 'suborned', 'Ashlar', 'minatory' and 'garmine'. He also makes fun of the genre in an amusing way. Moles are termites, for example. I also like the way that he embedded the plot into the historical situation around Kennedy's visit to Berlin. Like a good detective, the reader gradually gets clues so that they can stay just one jump ahead or behind of the plot.
The book reads easily and the plot carries you along, but I wasn't that that riveted, to be honest. I suppose I just didn't care enough about the characters - and the disadvantage of the historical setting is that you know how it will end.
I would like to thank the publisher and NetGalley for providing an advance review copy in return for an honest review.

I really enjoyed Gabriel's Moon, although I had some qualms about the Gabriel Dax character, and some of the intimate scenes. The latter felt quite dated to me, but I wondered if that was to reflect the late 60's era. The pace of the story and the intrigue kept me reading that novel, but, for me, this sequel wasn't quite as good. I found the plot less interesting, and realise that I don't really like the Dax character, and again, the way that he treats the women in his life, particularly those who finds attractive, I found quite off-putting. Boyd's a brilliant writer, and many people will love this novel, it just wasn't for me.

A second outing for Gabriel Dax, travel writer and reluctant spy. This was a very enjoyable read. The writing flows and although the story isn't packed with action, it was a quick and interesting and engaging read. Gabriel appears to have some unfinished business, so I'm looking forward to more books in this series.

William Boyd has the very rare ability to grab readers almost from the first page of a book, and hold them in thrall until the last. This second outing for travel writer and reluctant spy Gabriel Dax is no exception to that astonishing skill, and can be read a standalone or as a sequel to Gabriel’s Moon. Boyd’s protagonist is still deeply in love with his MI6 handler Faith Green and still deeply uneasy about his role in espionage for the British Government. To complicate matters further he is now also in the employ of Russia (with the blessing of MI6 - he’s a double agent) and is finding it increasingly difficult to keep so many balls in the air and to stay safe. This could be a recipe for a confused and tortuous read but with Boyd’s skill in maintaining clarity, drawing totally realistic characters and describing relationships and settings so that they come alive, the book is an absolute joy to read.

The Predicament is a sequel to Gabriel’s Moon, a book that I read only a year ago so I should have been primed, right? But no, I realised I had forgotten large parts of it. I’m a bit hopeless with sequels. Usually I remember the plot of the first book in broad brushes, but the author sometimes seems to expect me to remember every character and what happened to them in forensic detail, and I don’t.

The Predicament doesn’t work as a standalone, it’s very much a sequel, but it DOES work if you only have a fuzzy grasp on the previous book. Our “hero” is Gabriel Dax, a travel writer in 1960s London who was reluctantly roped into being a freelancer for MI6. Now he’s starting to grow in the role, picking up some spy techniques and a sense of what’s important and what isn’t. It’s a twisting story that takes us from London to Guatemala to West Berlin.

I loved the sense of time and place and I also loved the way Boyd has woven real people and events into The Predicament, something that he has done so well in several books. The Predicament has a tighter plot than Gabriel’s Moon and I liked it even more. It’s highly readable with a wry, understated comic edge.

Whenever I read a novel by this author it cements in me the feeling that I spend too much time with storytellers who aren’t as gifted, who paint less vibrant pictures, and who demonstrate a more limited vocabulary. Boyd always seems able, often within just a few pages, to grab me and pull me into a tale. Once he’s got me, he never lets me go.

This is the second book featuring writer and reluctant MI6 puppet Gabriel Dax. His writing career is going surprisingly well, and his latest project – a book on rivers of the world – is nearing completion. New ideas are already germinating in his head. But Dax is tormented by his attraction to his intelligence service handler, and when she comes calling, he finds it impossible to say no.

This episode has some echoes of the first book, in that there’s an interview with a political figure, followed by a death. The setting for this action is Guatemala. The United Fruit Company of America is a shadowy presence in the background. History tells us that the company once owned a substantial portion of the country’s arable land and was known to exert economic and political influence in the early to mid-20th century. There’s also a sub-story concerning JFK here, though in truth it’s really the main story.

As always, Boyd entertains, informs, and shows his brilliance with the written word. He’s adept at using historical events and characters (often, as here, with licence to add elements of his own invention). I really enjoy this and it often stirs me to investigate and widen my knowledge of the times, people and events covered.This is another fine novel and, I hope, sets up the prospect of further adventures with Mr Dax.

An excellent second instalment in the Gabriel Dax series with the intriguing plot line of a travel writer inveigled into espionage duties. His relationship with Faith Green, his handler continues veering between cold hearted business and an intense sexual period. The action moves between London and Guatemala involving Dax interviewing a charismatic presidential candidate who is suddenly assassinated. Dax suspects an American who claims to be a coffee buyer for his Buffalo restaurant but his alleged supplier suddenly commits suicide and is blamed as the assassin. Dax goes back to his London life but is then asked to go to Berlin to assist the CIA in an investigation into another potential plot. It all builds to a super climax around the famous Kennedy visit and speech. Looking forward to the next one.

This is the second book to feature Gabriel Dax. Travel writer and unwillingly recruited into MI6. He has recently also been recruited ( with MI6 knowledge ) by the Russians. He is now a double agent.
The year is 1963 Gabriel has moved and bought a house in Claverleigh in East Sussex. He is still infatuated with Faith Green who recruited him into MI6. His Russian contact is Natalia Arkadina.
He is about to complete his latest book on Rivers. Gabriel goes to visit his editor Inigo Marcher. He then is told to meet up with his Russian handler Natalia. She introduces him to Varvara Sergeevasa Savorina. Natalia is returning to Moscow and his contact will now be Varvara. During their conversation Gabriel realises that the Russians know quite a lot about him, His house move etc! They remind him that he is the contact for Kit Caldwell, who defected to Russia, but he is also a double agent.
Faith visits him at home and asks him to go to Guatemala, under cover of being a journalist. The country is run by the military. An ex priest Santiago Angel Lopez is leading the rebels and hoping to gain power for the people. The C.I.A. are worried about losng control and influence. When Lopez is murdered, Gabriel has to quickly leave the country.
MI6 then ask for his help in Berlin. President John Kennedy is going to visit. Once there he encounters some of the Americans who he met on his ill fated Guatemala visit. Just what is going on?
Very much recommended. I hope we encounter Gabriel again. Can his life be hopefully less complicated? Will he find love with Faith?

I read this as a stand-alone having not seen 'Gabriel's Moon' by this author. It's a 1960s spy novel involving a rather reluctant spy who however is tasked with assignments that seem way above is comfort/ability zone. Slightly odd.
My thanks to \netGalley and Penquin General UK for this arc in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

The second outing for Gabriel Dax, William Boyd's endearing but somewhat reluctant double spy……” his other unsought-for, parallel existence, his life in the shadowy fringes of the espionage world”...... He is approached again by his MI6 handler Faith Green to travel to Guatemala and assess would be presidential candidate: Padre Tiago, could he be viewed as a friend of the Americans? At the same time the Russians want him to pass back information concerning Fatih Brown, who also somewhat confusingly is Gabriel Dax’s part time lover. Whilst in Guatemala Dax befriends 2 CIA agents, Frank Sartorius and Dean Furlan. Furlan states he is in the restaurant trade and looking to buy Guatemalan coffee. An unexpected incident occurs and Dax is called back to London for a new mission in Berlin. The plot at this stage goes in a very dangerous direction and becomes wrapped up in a worldwide historical visit. Running alongside the main story is Dax’s infatuation with Faith Green who is happy to sleep with him but shuns long term commitment……is she playing him? As all this excitement is happening Dax feels the need to visit a psychoanalyst Katerina Hass (their conversations add a dash of humour :), paid for by Russian blood money. In Berlin Gabriel unbelievably encounters Dean Furlan, is he really a coffee buyer?...or is there a dangerous sinister plot to destabilise the Western world?

This is brilliant, fast, taut writing of the highest order, mixing fact with fiction, bringing to life the complicated, unpredictable life of reluctant antihero and spy Gabriel Dax. I cannot wait for the third outing by one of our greatest authors. Highly recommended!

I am glad I read Gabriel’s Moon before reading The Predicament because the story follows on from events in the earlier book. I enjoyed this sequel all the more because the characters and their relationships were already familiar to me and I was able to jump straight into the action without having to worry about who was who and what was what. Gabriel Dax continues his career path as a successful travel writer and reluctant spy with style and and an increasing degree of success. I love the way that his secret missions provide inspiration for his new books and he the way he develops his tradecraft with dedication and commendable commitment. His love life is as complicated as ever and his obsession with Faith Green continues much as it left off. The style is very readable with an undercurrent of dry humour that makes me wonder whether I am being led up the garden path a bit by the author but the story rolls along with such pace and variety that it really doesn’t matter. What with the CIA directing operations, power struggles within MI6 and the hovering presence of the Russians, there is plenty going on but I find it difficult to take it seriously even with the dramatic climax that ties in with true events. It combines skilful writing with great story telling, larger than life characters and exotic locations and I loved it!

Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an opportunity to read an ARC.

This is a review of the predicament by William Boyd.
This is the 2nd instalment of a series set in the murky world of espionage with the not wholly likeable protagonist Gabriel Dax. This episode picks up right after the events of the 1st book which dealt with a brother who was not what he seemed, and a handler - Faith - who Gabriel harbours feelings for.
The straightforward seeming assignment he is given takes him to Guatemala and quickly devolves into assassination attempts and subterfuge. I found this much more compelling than Gabriel’s moon and enjoyed it much more.

I am a big William Boyd and I loved the previous book in this series - Gabriel's Moon - and have been looking forward to the follow up ever since.

I was a little concerned I wouldn't remember what happened in the first one, because I read it so long ago and I have the memory of a sieve, but I was instantly re-absorbed in the world.

Spy novels generally are not something I read much. Not out of a particular Umbridge against them, but they're just not something I'm drawn to. But Boyd is an author I'm drawn to, and he has definitely swayed me to this genre because he is a master storyteller.

It had the feel of an old fashioned espionage novel. It's not full-on thriller, it's not frightening, but it's tense in a slower way, it's softer, smarter.

I do like Dax as a character. He's old school, a bit naïve at times, but he's a strong character. He's conflicted, in love with the wrong people. I'm not sure he fully wants to help, but he does get a kick out of it. So he feels conflicted, stretched too many ways. He wants his normal life back but he's having to take on all of these - potentially life-threatening - jobs that are the complete antithesis of his other life, and I think he actually quite likes the difference.

We've got characters back from the first book and some new ones. Too many to mention, some I liked, some I didn't, but they all work well against Dax's main story.

In terms of the synopsis above, I did think the second part regarding JFK would have ben earlier. For it to have such a prominent mention in the blurb I thought it would be a slightly more key part, but the first half was all taken up by the other part of the story, which was fine, I enjoyed it as much as the second part, but I did keep wondering when the JFK angle would happen.

For a relatively short book, it sure packs a punch. There's a lot in there, so much depth.

I do wonder if this was just a duology of if he plans for more. I worry that eventually it may become a bit samey, but I would definitely be happy with more instalments.

I really liked it. Did I like it as much as the first book? Hard to say, but I think so. But this one had more pressure on it. The first one, I had no expectations as it wasn't a familiar genre. But with this one, I already had an ideas as to what it would be like, and so it was hard to live up to that, but he has definitely succeeded.

Gabriel is a very reluctant spy- but he does like the money that comes with the job- not to mention his boss, who he can't stop thinking about.
This is a slow paced thriller, which speeds up towards a slightly unsatisfying end.
I like William Boyd's writing- in this book he takes us back to the early 60s and his prose matches the time period.
Try it and form your own opinions.

In The Predicament, William Boyd follows on directly from last year’s Gabriel’s Moon, now out in paperback. Gabriel Dax is still MI6’s somewhat reluctant useful idiot, whose day job as a travel writer provides the perfect cover for visits to Guatemala and Berlin. Also returning are his enigmatic handler Faith Green and art dealer uncle.
We’re entertained by the dramatic irony of JFK’s visit to Berlin: of course we all know that he was shot from a high vantage point above Deeley Plaza but these guys are living in a pre-Dallas world. I recommend The Predicament if you fancy reading a Cold War-era thriller whose protagonist is an accidental spy increasingly drawn into the shadows and lies of espionage.

The is the second novel about reluctant spy Gabriel Dax. It works well as a stand alone novel.
Gabriel somehow muddles through various adventures in his guise as a travel writer. He is believably human, with recognisable fears and passions. The plot cleverly weaves fictional situations and characters in to real life events. An enjoyable romp.

I have loved William Boyd's novels in the past but this was my first foray into Gabriel Dax territory.
Boyd turns the spy novel on its head - a bit of a pastiche, written with verve and wit and a surprising lead character who seems to bumble through things and situations - including romance - and comes up smelling of roses.
It's the early 1960s and travel writer Dax is called upon by MI6 to carry out several top secret assignments, the last of which involves President John F Kennedy. It's comic but Boyd's gift for writing makes this a very readable novel and not at all clunky. I did feel a bit overwhelmed by plot and some of the villains and for that reason I'm giving it three stars.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an advance review copy of this novel.

William Boyd wrote his first espionage book- Gabriel’s Moon - last year. This was quite a change of style from his previous works. I thoroughly enjoyed it and was pleased to see that he had followed this up with a sequel- The Predicament.
Gabriel Drax, a travel writer turned reluctant spy, is back for another story of secrets and intrigue. This time the story opens in Guatemala where a left wing priest is likely to be elected President much to the dismay of an American banana cartel. However following an assassination, Drax is soon caught up and manipulated by both the CIA and the Mafia. The plot then takes him from Guatemala to London to West Berlin and the forthcoming visit of President Kennedy. All the time the unwilling spy never knows who to trust with suspicion even falling on MI6.
Like Gabriel’s Moon, Faith Green his MI6 boss, his Austrian psychiatrist and his Russian handler also play significant roles in this book.
Boyd’s writing vividly recalls the 1960s. His meticulous research along with his expertise at being able to take real events and people and weave fictional characters into them make for a most enjoyable read.
Boyd is a wonderful story teller and this is no exception. What with the emotional conflicts, dramatic tension and many twists and turns along the way, the novel keeps the reader eagerly turning the pages.
I think that Drax would be unable to resist another assignment if the enigmatic Faith Green knocks on his door once again. I thoroughly enjoyed this historical thriller and look forward to the return of the reluctant spy.
Thanks to the publishers for supplying an early reader copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

5* The Predicament - William Boyd. Utterly brilliant slow burn 1960s spy romp with a glorious return for reluctant MI6 'agent' Gabriel Dax.

Travel writer Gabriel Dax has moved from his Chelsea flat to a cottage in the countryside, hopeful of finding peace in his life as a travel writer to complete his latest book. Until the enigmatic Faith Green from MI6 tracks him down to go on another undercover mission. Guatemala is on the cusp of a new Government, but one which powerful American organisations are suspicious of - the CIA and United Fruit who own large tranches of land and make huge profits in the country. The task is a simple one - Gabriel is to travel as a journalist and interview the elusive potential president who is causing the kerfuffle. Holed up in his Guatemalan hotel, Gabrielle meets the CIA Head of Station, suspecting that there is something a 'little off' about him, along with some other patrons of the hotel. He has stumbled into a hornet's nest and has no idea what he is in the middle of.

Returning to the UK and promising himself he won't get caught up in anymore MI6 high jinx, he is soon bundled off to Berlin where an even bigger threat is posed.

What an absolute gem of a book. This is the second of the Gabriel Dax series and I sincerely hope that it's going to be long running. The language and pacing are sublime, as you might expect from William Boyd. While Gabriel isn't a heroic spy thriller, the intense plots and some of the scenes have you holding your breath. The spy craft isn't meticulously set out in the way of writers such as Le Carre, but the enjoyment in the book is likely all the better for it.

Dax as a character is a great asset to the book. As are the many returning cast members including Faith Green and the ongoing tangle that Gabriel has got himself in with the KGB and his carousel of handlers.

If you haven't read Gabriel's Moon, the previous book, The Predicament will work as a standalone. However, as with most series, if you start at the beginning the love of the characters and appreciation of ongoing threads is all the richer. It also means that you can enjoy Gabriel's Moon without going backwards and having had some of the plot inevitable spoilt.

Fingers crossed that William Boyd has plenty of future plans for Gabriel Dax.

Thanks to Penguin General UK, Fig Tree, Hamish Hamilton, Viking and Netgalley for an ARC.