Ebook: 398 pages
Genre: Contemporary Thriller, Political Thriller, Espionage
Publisher: July 1, 2025 by HarperCollins
Source: My Kindle Library via NetGalley
First Sentences: So now I'll tell you what happened, as best I can. No spin. No agenda. If I get something wrong, it's not because I am being evasive or trying to protect Sebastian. It's simply because I don't understand what happened today either.
Setting: Hong Kong
Review Quote: ‘[An] impressive first novel … illuminating and extremely alarming’ Literary Review
My Opinion:
A debut novel from an Australian writer, that I knew nothing at all about when I was offered the opportunity to read. Given the Hong Kong connection I decided to give it a go.
Focused around two male protagonists, Charlie and his best friend and boss Sebastian, 'The Peak' is a tense story of long term comradeship and deception. Told against a background of politics at a time when the world is changing forever, it feels feasible and is chilling reading.
The Hong Kong element of this political thriller was particularly interesting as I know many of the places the author realistically describes. The Australian politics I had absolutely no understanding of, but that did not spoil my enjoyment of this fast paced thriller. Definitely recommended to fans of the genre looking for a new author.
With thanks to NetGalley, Harper Collins and the author for the opportunity to read and review.
Précis Courtesy of Goodreads:
Sure to be THE debut thriller of 2025, The Peak is a nailbiting and unputdownable read, a powerfully taut, gripping and fast-moving international thriller that weaves a story of friendship, love and betrayal together with the ruthless geopolitics of China's rise, set in the last 24 hours of the world as we know it.
'Now I'll tell you what happened, as best I can. No spin. No agenda. If I get something wrong, it's not because I'm being evasive. It's simply because I'm still trying to understand what happened today ... It's to explain, as best I can, what Sebastian has done, and why tomorrow when you wake up, it will be the end of the world.'
Political hatchet man Charlie will do anything to protect Sebastian, government minister and his best friend since their brutal private school days. Rising to power and prominence through international diplomatic postings and then the rough and tumble of Australian politics, they are as close as brothers - or so Charlie thinks - while both keep the secret that lies at the very heart of their relationship - a secret that in one way or another will change the world.
But then a single phrase in Mandarin is spoken in Sebastian's ear and he does the unthinkable. As Charlie tries to piece it all together - from their youth spent in Hong Kong to the recent past in Beijing and Washington - things in the outside world start to fall apart too. Planes can't land, the phone lines go down and the power is out. Then the secret intelligence services comes knocking. Charlie wonders, what the hell did Sebastian do?
From the jostling streets of Hong Kong to Beijing's shadowy halls of power and the backstabbing Machiavellian workings of Parliament House in Canberra, The Peak is a powerful, propulsive and nailbitingly tense international thriller. Written with an extraordinary insider knowledge of China, the realities of global power and the inner dealings of the Australian Government, The Peak has the authenticity and moral complexity of a Le Carre novel and the narrative power of an Australian Robert Harris.
Author Profile:
Courtesy of Amazon
Sam Guthrie writes international political thrillers based on his experience working at the nexus of business, politics, and international diplomacy.
His character-driven fiction explores the human desires and frailties that shape world-altering events, drawing on an insider’s knowledge of the machinations of power, political intrigue, and the geostrategic challenges confronting the global order.
Prior to publishing his first novel, The Peak, Sam had a twenty-five-year career in international relations serving as a trade envoy to China, an Asia Pacific corporate affairs adviser and political lobbyist and a senior government official.
He has worked extensively across Europe, the US and Asia, and has spent close to a decade living and working in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Prague. He has a master’s degree in international relations.
Photographs, Trailer and Biographical Information courtesy of the following sites:
Amazon Author Page Sam Guthrie Official Website. Goodreads Profile