In his eleventh novel, Tim Powers takes his unique brand of speculative fiction into uncharted territory, instilling the old-fashioned espionage novel with a healthy dose of the supernatural.
As a young double agent infiltrating the Soviet spy network in Nazi-occupied Paris, Andrew Hale finds himself caught up in a secret, even more ruthless war. Two decades later, a coded message draws Professor Andrew Hale back into Her Majesty's Secret Service. Elements from his past are gathering in Beirut, including ex-British counterespionage chief and Soviet mole Kim Philby, and a beautiful former Spanish Civil War soldier-turned-intelligence operative, Elena Teresa Ceniza-Bendiga. Soon Hale will be forced to again confront the nightmare that has haunted his adult life: a lethal unfinished operation code-named "Declare." From the corridors of Whitehall to the Arabian Desert, from post-war Berlin to the streets of Cold War Moscow, Hale's desperate quest draws him into international politics and gritty espionage tradecraft--and inexorably drives Hale, Ceniza-Bendiga, and Philby to a deadly confrontation on the high glaciers of Mount Ararat, in the very shadow of the fabulous and perilous biblical Ark.
About the Author :
Tim Powers is the author of over a dozen novels, including The Anubis Gates, Declare, and Three Days to Never. He has received the Locus, World Fantasy, and Philip K. Dick awards. He lives in San Bernardino, California.
Simon Prebble, a British-born performer, is a stage and television actor and veteran narrator of some three hundred audiobooks. As one of AudioFile's Golden Voices, he has received thirty-seven Earphones Awards and won the prestigious Audie in 2010. He lives in New York.
Review :
"Declare is classic Tim Powers, his best novel since Last Call, and possibly his best to date."
-- "Locus"
"[Powers] orchestrates reality and fantasy so artfully that the reader is not allowed a moment's doubt throughout this tall tale."
-- "New Yorker"
"Highly ingenious...No one else writes like Powers, and Declare finds him at the top of his game."
-- "San Francisco Chronicle"
"Powers...an expert fantasy writer, has created a mind-bending mix of genres here, placing his gifts for extreme speculative fiction in service of a fantastical spy story. Daringly imaginative."
-- "Publishers Weekly"
"There's never been a novel quite like Declare...one of the protean Powers' most absorbing and rewarding creations."
-- "Kirkus Reviews (starred review)"
"Tim Powers is a brilliant writer. Declare's occult subtext for the deeper Cold War is wonderfully original and brilliantly imagined."
-- "William Gibson, New York Times bestselling author"
"Dazzling...a tour de force, a brilliant blend of John le Carré spy fiction with the otherworldly."
-- "Dean Koontz"
"This fine spy novel covering WWII and beyond has great action, great characters (including well known real-life personages such as British turncoat Kim Philby), and a captivating dash of science fiction/fantasy. What lies on Mount Ararat, where Noah's Ark went to ground as the flood receded? Whatever it is has been fatal to visitors. Simon Prebble provides various British accents and uses his vast skill to enliven fascinating characters from many locales, particularly the Middle East. In particular, he knows how to inject tension and urgency into the plot."
-- "AudioFile"
