Bell Ringers

Praise for The Bell Ringers

"A sophisticated, engrossing, and important political thriller." --Patrick Anderson, The Washington Post

"Superb." --Anna Mundow, The Boston Globe

"A wonderful novel. I read it addictively and was sorry the minute it was over. It's way too good to be called a thriller." --Richard Ford

"Porter has battled for years against the insidious creep of government snooping. If you worry about too large a dollop of didacticism, fear not: The Bell Ringers is a thriller, and Porter is a stylist who enjoys a bit of theatrical flourish. You'll find yourself imagining the movie it would make--North by Northwest meets House of Cards. Still, the message is clear, and persuasive. Porter claims that the novel is set in the near future. Don't be fooled." --Cullen Murphy, Vanity Fair

"[An] outstanding near-future thriller. . . . Shaken U.S. readers will wonder how much of the fiction might soon become fact on this side of the Atlantic."--Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"Read it and you'll be hooked." --Alan Cheuse, Dallas Morning News

"Henry Porter writes fabulous novels. Empire State was one of my favorites a couple of years back. The Bell Ringers is even better, a spy novel for everyone who loves le Carré and Deighton, but with a crisp modern woman in charge. You won't put this novel down until the final paragraph." --Margaret Cannon, The Globe & Mail (Canada)

"A vibrant thriller dealing with ... the surveillance state and the erosion of individual liberty. Although set in the future, it feels as up-to-the-minute as tomorrow's headlines." --Roger Alton, The New Statesmen, Books of the Year

"The prose sings . . . Gripping and chillingly realistic." --Kirkus Reviews

"[The] characters are skillfully rendered, and Porter deftly ratchets up the tension as MI5, hired assassins, and police close in . . . . A superb thriller." --Thomas Gaughan, Booklist (starred review)

"The Orwellian parallels are clear, but Porter gives the subject a subtle, complex and well-timed shot in the arm." --Adam Woog, The Seattle Times

After her husband, a former head of intelligence, is killed, Kate Lockhart inherits his dangerous secrets and unfinished business, all having to do with the Orwellian reality this near-future England has become, and she soon finds herself on the run from the security-obsessed state, with a shadowy group called the Bell Ringers her only hope for freedom. Reprint.