Review: I Am Pilgrim

The plotlines and details from the debut novel by screenwriter Terry Hayes are going to stay with me for the rest of my life. And I hope it’s the start of a series featuring Pilgrim, the codename for a man who doesn’t exist, a reluctant but brilliant secret agent who is sent out to save the world. 

There are no spoilers here.

I’ll just say that the intricacies of the crimes and how they weave together surprisingly on several continents, the way secrets are kept and manipulated at the highest levels of government, the lengths to which those charged with protecting our safety are willing to go for the greater good – it’s master story-telling.  And even though it’s a complex tale involving terrorism, revenge-killing, and delicious double-crossings, Hayes tells it in a simple and direct way that makes you almost think you’re reading a dossier of actual events put into plain language.

Among others, Hayes wrote the movie Dead Calm, the thriller that launched Nicole Kidman’s career. Perhaps because he normally writes for films, I Am Pilgrim isn’t difficult to imagine as a movie, except for the exquisite complexity of it all. It’s without a doubt the best thriller I have ever read.