Set in a luxury high rise in Bangkok, a brilliantly unsettling story of civil and psychological unrest—from the author of Beautiful Animals and Bangkok Days.Escaping New York for the anonymity of Bangkok, Sarah Mullins arrives in Thailand with a suitcase of money and a deception she holds close to her chest. Her plan is to lie low and map out her next move in a high-end apartment complex called the Kingdom, whose glass-fronted façade boasts views of the bustling city and glimpses into the vast honeycomb of lives within. It is not long before she meets the alluring Mali, doing laps in the apartment pool, a half-Thai tenant determined to bring the quiet American out of her shell. An invitation to her weekly poker nights soon follows where - fueled by shots of yadong, good food and gossip - Sarah falls into step with the Kingdom's glamorous circle of ex-pat women.But as political chaos erupts on the...

A veteran journalist in Hong Kong is caught in a shadowy web of truth and betrayal as he investigates the disappearance of a student protester in this menacing, atmospheric novel written with “shades of Graham Greene and Patricia Highsmith” (Sunday Times) from the celebrated author of The Forgiven—now a major motion picture starring Jessica Chastain and Ralph Fiennes. “Osborne is a startlingly good observer of privilege, noting the rites and rituals of the upper classes with unerring precision and an undercurrent of malice.”—Katie Kitamura, The New York Times Book Review, on Beautiful Animals ONE OF THE MOST ANTICIPATED BOOKS OF 2022—CrimeReads, FodorsAfter two decades as a journalist in Hong Kong, ex-pat Englishman Adrian Gyle has very little to show for it. Evenings are whiled away with soup dumplings and tea at Fung Shing, the restaurant...

'Brilliant' SUNDAY TIMES'Compelling and unnerving' SPECTATOR**A NEW STATESMAN Book of the Year 2023**This first collection of stories by Lawrence Osborne perfectly showcases his talent for tension, atmosphere - and characters out of their depthA naïve young linguist sent to the forests of Irian Jaya is manipulated into betraying her mission by a ruthless and disturbed pastor. A deaf girl hired as a maid by a wealthy New York couple turns the tables on her obliviously abusive employers and answers blackmail with blackmail. A psychiatrist treating a girl in rural England becomes ensnared in a love affair that threatens to destroy her career; while a young couple on holiday in Oman accidentally witness a killing, which leads to their being hunted as well. An entomologist at a remote hotel in the Andamans survives a tsunami and uses a dead body to further her study of ants.Collected here for the first time,...

Tourists come to Bangkok for many reasons: a night of love, a stay in a luxury hotel, or simply to disappear for a while. Lawrence Osborne comes for the cheap dentistry, and then stays when he finds he can live off just a few dollars a day.Osborne's Bangkok is a vibrant, instinctual city full of contradictions. He wanders the streets, dining on insects, trawling through forgotten neighbourhoods, decayed temples and sleazy bars.Far more than a travel book, Bangkok Days explores both the little-known, extraordinary city and the lives of a handful of doomed ex-patriates living there, 'as vivid a set of liars and losers as was ever invented by Graham Greene' (New York Times).

The new Philip Marlowe novel from Lawrence Osborne, a master of the psychological thriller.In this brilliant new novel, commissioned by the Raymond Chandler Estate, the acclaimed author Lawrence Osborne gives us a piercing psychological study of one of literature's most beloved and enduring detectives, told with a contemporary twist. It is an unforgettable addition to the Raymond Chandler canon.The year is 1989, the Reagan presidency has just come to an end, and detective Philip Marlowe - now in his seventy-seventh year, is on the case again. What country is this for old men? For Marlowe, this is his last roll of the dice, his swan song, and he is back on his home turf. Set between the border and badlands of Mexico and California, Marlowe's final assignment is to investigate the disappearance of Donald Zinn: supposedly drowned off his yacht in Mexico, and leaving his much-younger wife a very rich woman. But is Zinn actually alive, and are the pair living off the...

"Let's not mince words. This is a great book. Truly difficult to put down... sophisticated, smart and uncomfortable, and the story is cracking." – Lionel Shriver, Washington Post "Startlingly good...Osborne has been described as an heir to Graham Greene, and he shares with Greene an interest in what might be called the moral thriller." – Katie Kitamura, New York Times Book ReviewFINANCIAL TIMES SUMMER PICK 2017GUARDIAN BEST HOLIDAY READS 2017 On a hike during a white-hot summer break on the Greek island of Hydra, Naomi and Samantha make a startling discovery: a man named Faoud, sleeping heavily, exposed to the elements, but still alive. Naomi, the daughter of a wealthy British art collector who has owned a villa in the exclusive hills for decades, convinces Sam, a younger American girl on vacation with her family, to help this stranger. As the two women learn more about the man, a...

A riveting tale of risk and obsession set in the alluring and dangerous world of Macau's casinos, by the author of the critically acclaimed The Forgiven. As night falls on Macau and the neon signs that line the rain-slick streets come alive, Doyle - "Lord Doyle" to his fellow players - descends into his casino of choice, to try his luck at the baccarat tables that are the anchor of his current existence. A corrupt English lawyer who has escaped prosecution by fleeing to the East, Doyle spends his nights drinking and gambling and his days sleeping off his excesses, continually haunted by his past. Taking refuge in a series of louche and dimly lit hotels, he watches his fortune rise and fall as the cards decide his fate. At a moment of crisis, he meets Dao-Ming, a beautiful and enigmatic native Chinese woman who seems to offer salvation in the form of both money and love. But as Doyle attempts to make a rare and true connection, all that he accepts as reality seems to be slipping from his grasp. Richly atmospheric and suspenseful, The Ballad of a Small Player is a contemporary ghost story, steeped menacingly in the supernatural, but also recalling classics by Dostoevsky and Graham Greene.                                            

Lawrence Osborne brings one of literature's most enduring detectives back to life – as Private Investigator Philip Marlowe returns for one last adventure. The year is 1988. The place, Baja California. And Philip Marlowe – now in his seventy-second year – is living out his retirement in the terrace bar of the La Fonda hotel. Sipping margaritas, playing cards, his silver-tipped cane at the ready. When in saunter two men dressed like undertakers, with a case that has his name written all over it.    For Marlowe, this is his last roll of the dice, his swan song. His mission is to investigate the death of Donald Zinn – supposedly drowned off his yacht, and leaving behind a much younger and now very rich wife. But is Zinn actually alive? Are the pair living off the spoils? Set between the border and badlands of Mexico and California, Lawrence Osborne’s resurrection of the iconic Marlowe is an unforgettable addition to the Raymond Chandler canon. **Review ‘Brilliant... Osborne and Chandler are a perfect match.’ — William Boyd, author of Any Human Heart and Solo: A James Bond Novel 'It's a joy to see Philip Marlowe lured back for one last job by the gleefully unsentimental Lawrence Osborne... If you like noir, pour yourself something cool and enjoy one final dark night of the soul.’ — Joseph Knox, author of Sirens  'Osborne is the third writer to have resurrected Raymond Chandler’s Philip Marlowe (following Robert B.Parker and Benjamin Black), and his effort may be the best of the lot. Wisely electing not to re-create Chandler’s iconic PI in his salad days, nor to imitate the author’s simile-strewn style, Osborne gives us a retired Marlowe, 72 years old and living in Baja California in the late 1980s. Osborne’s real triumph here is to create a new style for the septuagenarian Marlowe that seems absolutely right, less florid but even more driven by mordant wit.' — *Booklist*  'Osborne skillfully channels Chandler’s distinctive prose and tone. He also captures Marlowe’s keen observations and courage, along with a world-weariness and cynicism that somehow mesh with his essential sense of hope.' — *Seattle Times * 'Fans of the Raymond Chandler originals as well as the Robert B. Parker and Benjamin Black successors will find much to like here... A fresh perspective on one of the classic hard-boiled detectives.' — ***Library Journal * About the Author LAWRENCE OSBORNE was born in England but has traveled and lived all over the world. He is the author of the critically acclaimed novels The Forgiven, The Ballad of a Small Player, Hunters in the Dark, and Beautiful Animals. He is the third writer, after John Banville (writing as Benjamin Black) and Robert B. Parker, to be asked by the Raymond Chandler Estate to write a new Philip Marlowe novel. In Only to Sleep, Osborne draws from his time working as a reporter on the Mexican border in the early 1990s. His non fiction includes Bangkok Days and The Wet and the Dry. His short story 'Volcano' was selected for Best American Short Stories 2012. He has written for The New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker, Conde Nast Traveler, Forbes, Harper's, and other publications. He lives in Bangkok. 

This stylish, haunting novel by literary travel writer Lawrence Osborne explores the reverberations of a random accident on the lives of Moroccan Muslims and Western visitors who converge on a luxurious desert villa for a decadent weekend-long party. David and Jo Henniger, in search of an escape from their less than happy lives in London, accept the invitation of their old friends Richard and Dally to attend their annual bacchanal at their home deep in the Moroccan desert. On the way, the Hennigers stop for lunch, and the bad-tempered David can't resist consuming most of a bottle of wine. Back on the road, darkness has descended, David is groggy, and the directions to the Ksar are vague. Suddenly, two young men spring from the roadside, apparently attempting to interest passing drivers in the fossils they have for sale. Panicked, David swerves toward the two, leaving one dead on the road and the other running into the hills. At the villa, the...

Selected as a Top Ten Book of the Year by Dwight Garner, New York TimesA "stylish and engaging...fearlessly honest account" (Financial Times) of man's love of drink, and an insightful meditation on the meaning of alcohol consumption across cultures worldwideDrinking alcohol: a beloved tradition, a dangerous addiction, even "a sickness of the soul" (as once described by a group of young Muslim men in Bali). In his wide-ranging travels, Lawrence Osborne--a veritable connoisseur himself--has witnessed opposing views of alcohol across cultures worldwide, compelling him to wonder: is drinking alcohol a sign of civilization and sanity, or the very reverse? Where do societies and their treatment of alcohol fall on the spectrum between indulgence and restraint? These questions launch the author on an audacious journey, from the Middle East, where drinking is prohibited, to the West, where it is an important--yet perhaps very often a...

From the novelist the New York Times compares to Paul Bowles, Evelyn Waugh and Ian McEwan, an evocative new work of literary suspense Adrift in Cambodia, Robert Grieve -- pushing thirty and eager to side-step a life of quiet desperation as a small-town teacher -- decides to go AWOL. As he crosses the border from Thailand, he tests the threshold of a new future. And on that first night, a small windfall precipitates a chain of events involving a bag of "jinxed" money, a suave American, a trunk full of heroin, a hustler taxi driver, a corrupt policeman, and a rich doctor's daughter, in which Robert's life is changed forever.Hunters in the Dark is a sophisticated game of cat and mouse, where identities are blurred, greed trumps kindness, and karma is ruthless. Filled with Hitchcockian twists and turns, suffused with the steamy heat and pervasive superstition of the Cambodian jungle, and unafraid to confront uneasy questions about luck...