The Predicament

Author: William Boyd

Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945)

Published on 4 September 2025 by Penguin Books Ltd (Viking) in the United Kingdom.

Hardback | 272 pages
241 x 163 x 28mm | 470g

BRITAIN'S MOST BELOVED STORYTELLER RETURNS WITH A TWISTING ADVENTURE OF OBSESSIVE LOVE AND ELEGANT ESPIONAGE . . .

---‘Extravagantly enjoyable' THE TIMES‘William Boyd once again brings to the spy novel his particular storytelling genius’ MICK HERRON‘Boyd is one of my favourite authors – he never disappoints’ KATE ATKINSON‘The Predicament is ingenious, thrilling and wonderfully entertaining’ JOHN BANVILLE ---Gabriel Dax, travel writer and accidental spy, is back in the shadows. Unable to resist the allure of his MI6 handler, Faith Green, he has returned to a life of secrets and subterfuge. Dax is sent to Guatemala under the guise of covering a tinderbox presidential election, where the ruthless decisions of the Mafia provoke pitch-black warfare in collusion with the CIA.

As political turmoil erupts, Gabriel's reluctant involvement deepens. His escape plan leads him to West Berlin, where he uncovers a chilling realisation: there is a plot to assassinate magnetic young President John F. Kennedy. In a race against time, Gabriel must navigate deceit and danger, knowing that the stakes have never been higher . . . In The Predicament, the second novel starring accidental spy Gabriel Dax, William Boyd weaves yet another masterful tale of suspense, loyalty, love and the dark temptations of spy craft.