HAVOC

Christopher Bollen

$34.99

Paperback

In stock
Ready to ship

QTY:

English

The Borough Press
04 June 2025

Fiction & Literature; Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945)

The New York Times' #1 Thriller of 2024'Highsmithian… highly readable, twisty and shrewd' HANYA YANAGIHARA (on Instagram), author of A Little Life

'Atmospheric, diabolical fun' LUCY FOLEY, author of The Midnight Feast

'Disturbingly enjoyable' EMMA HEALEY, author of Elizabeth is Missing

'A taut, wicked masterpiece' MONA AWAD, author of Bunny

Five years ago, 81-year-old Maggie Burkhardt fled her native Wisconsin in suspicious circumstances. She has come to rest somewhere she can imagine staying forever: the Royal Karnak Hotel in Luxor, Egypt.

Maggie is no sweet little old lady. She has a nasty, nosy habit: she spies on her fellow guests and manipulates situations to 'liberate' them from what she sees as unhappy relationships.

Wrongly assuming eight-year-old Otto and his well-meaning mother will be easy targets, she is soon locked in a death-spiral with her young prey. Has she finally met her match in a child one-tenth her age?

Crackling with the perceptive, acid wit of The White Lotus and haloed by Shirley Jackson’s cruel, dark magic, HAVOC is a decadent and ghastly delight.

Readers are saying…'Absolutely brilliant and insane. I went in knowing very little about the book and I’m glad because it made it even more of a wild ride' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

'I loved this book from the first page… The conflict between the old and the young in this cat and mouse tussle is brilliant. It’s a hard to put down novel and has a great twist at the end' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

'I had an absolute blast reading this. Otto and Maggie are wild characters and their behavior is shocking!' ⭐⭐⭐⭐

By: Christopher Bollen
Imprint: The Borough Press
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 234mm, Width: 153mm, Spine: 27mm
Weight: 320g
ISBN: 9780008730468
ISBN 10: 0008730466
Pages: 256
Publication Date: 04 June 2025
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Christopher Bollen is the author of the critically acclaimed novels THE LOST AMERICANS, A BEAUTIFUL CRIME, and THE DESTROYERS, among others. He lives in New York.

Reviews for HAVOC

Praise for Christopher Bollen: A Beautiful Crime 'Fantastic' ZADIE SMITH 'Deliciously diabolical' WASHINGTON POST The Lost Americans 'A perfectly taut thriller' EMMA CLINE 'Gripping and genuinely moving' NEW YORK TIMES The Destroyers 'A seductive and richly atmospheric literary thriller with a sleek Patricia Highsmith surface' NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW 'Equal parts Graham Greene, Patricia Highsmith and F. Scott Fitzgerald' GARTH GREENWELL