The third Joe Wilderness spy thriller from a master of the genre, moving from icy Finland to tumultuous Cold War Prague, Hammer to Fall is a tale of vodka smuggling and a legendary female Red Army general who is playing a dangerous game.

The thriller writer's thriller writer returns with one of his best: a dark tale of treachery and betrayal with a humdinger of an ending. * The i *It's a blast...all the elements coalesce for the superbly tense showdown * The Times *An entertaining read, with an intelligent backdrop of cold-war geopolitics. * Financial Times *Those of you who like your fiction based firmly in historical fact, with walk-on parts from the great and the good of the age, scattered with literary, political and cultural references and frequently hilarious to boot, are in for a real treat...This book and its predecessors are such a valuable tonic in these dark times. * Shots *A delight. Lawton's ongoing recreation of Cold War chicanery is one of the great pleasures of modern spy fiction. -- Mick HerronJohn Lawton finds himself in the same boat as the late Patrick O'Brian - a sublimely elegant historical novelist as addictive as crack but overlooked by too many readers for too long. * Daily Telegraph *John Lawton's books contain such a wealth of period detail, character description and background information that they are lifted out of any category. Every word is enriched by the author's sophistication and irreverent intelligence, by his meticulous research and his wit. * Literary Review *Lawton's gift for memorable atmosphere and characters, intelligent plotting and wry prose put him solidly at the top of anyone's A-list of contemporary spy novelists. * Seattle Times *Lawton's up there with Philip Kerr and Alan Furst. Yes, he's that good. * The Sun *Once again Lawton confirms why, alongside with Mick Herron, he is a spy writer supreme...A wonderful addition to a growing and fascinating body of work. -- Maxim Jakubowski * Crime Time, Book of the Month *