Advanced
Error loading page.
Try refreshing the page. If that doesn't work, there may be a network issue, and you can use our self test page to see what's preventing the page from loading.
Learn more about possible network issues or contact support for more help.
Title details for Ilium by Lea Carpenter - Available

Ilium

A novel

by Lea Carpenter
Tanya Cubric
Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
Borrow Listen to a sample Listen to a sample
1 of 1 copy available
Set in the dark world of international espionage, from London to Mallorca, Croatia, Paris, and Cap Ferret: the gripping and suspenseful story of a young woman who unwittingly becomes a perfect asset in the long overdue finale of a covert special op
The young English narrator of Lea Carpenter’s dazzling new novel has grown up unhappily in London, dreaming of escape, pretending to be someone else and obsessed with a locked private garden. On the eve of her twenty-first birthday, at a party near that garden, she meets its charismatic and mysterious new owner, Marcus, thirty-three years older, who sweeps her off her feet. Before long they are married at his finca in Mallorca, and at last she has escaped into a new role – but at what price? On their honeymoon in Croatia, Marcus reveals there is something she can do for him—a plan is in place and she can help with “a favor.”
This turns out to be posing as an art advisor to a family on Cap Ferret, where Marcus asks her to simply “listen.” A helicopter deposits her at a remote, highly guarded and lavishly appointed compound on a spit of land in the Atlantic. It’s presided over by an enigmatic, charming patriarch Edouard, along with his wife Dasha, children Nikki and Felix, and populated by a revolving cast of other guests—some suspicious, some intriguing, perhaps none, like her, what they seem.
Brilliantly compelling, this is a spellbinding and unexpectedly poignant story of a long- planned, high-stakes CIA-Mossad operation that only needed the right asset to complete.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    January 16, 2024

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9780593788295
      • File size: 196581 KB
      • Duration: 06:49:32

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      November 13, 2023
      A young woman learns her new husband is a spy intent on recruiting her for a dangerous mission in this anemic slow-burn from Carpenter (Red, White, Blue). The book’s unnamed British narrator—who tells much of the story in flashback from middle age—is an aimless 20-year-old when she meets Marcus, a wealthy 50-something American who proposes marriage shortly after the pair falls into a whirlwind romance. On the couple’s honeymoon in France, Marcus confesses he’s dying, and solicits the narrator’s help with a “project.” He then introduces her to Raja, a fellow intelligence officer who asks the narrator to pose as an art dealer and dine at a “dear friend’s” Cap Ferret compound. After the narrator follows instructions to observe the conditions and report back, Raja enlists her participation in the “last act” of a nine-year, multiagency plot to catch the compound’s owner—a former Russian general planning the assassination of U.K.-based American assets. Much of the story is framed as the narrator’s reflection on her long-ago induction into the “secret world” as an unwitting pawn, and while Carpenter wrings some pathos out of that conceit, her narrative elides too much and holds readers at too great a remove to truly captivate. Espionage fans are likely to find this disappointing. Agent: Eric Simonoff, WME.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

Loading