Harper Perennial Modern Classics – The Colour of Blood - Tapa blanda

‘From his first to his last novel, Moore has an uncanny ability to imagine his way into the emotions and sexuality of his characters ... there aren’t many writers who do this comparably well – Flaubert, Chekhov, Julian Barnes, William Trevor come to mind.’ Hermione Lee

‘Brian Moore leads the field with a style that can only be called immaculate. The Colour of Blood is a superbly constructed suspense narrative.’ Guardian

‘A Hitchcockian sequence of chases, shaken certainties, mistaken identities, masquerades, detections and escapes. Brian Moore has always shown a mastery of suspense, and having turned his hand to the political thriller he has produced something exemplary.’ Sunday Telegraph

‘Surprise is the essence in this beautifully crafted novel. Brian Moore’s versatility, his life-long refusal to keep writing the same book over again, is too much taken for granted. He writes simply and economically, but with a true generosity of vision.’ Observer

A beautifully written Hitchcockian thriller, full of suspense and intrigue.

Somewhere in an unnamed Eastern bloc country, someone is out to silence Cardinal Bem. Is it the Secret Police, or is it – more shockingly – fanatical Catholic activists who believe that Bem, by keeping the peace between Church and State, has finally compromised himself too far? Narrowly escaping an assassination attempt, Bem is abducted by sinister, anonymous men, and spirited away to a ‘safe house’ against his will. Evading his unknown captors, he is faced with a horrifying proposition: no longer sure of whom he can trust, Bem realises that he alone can avert the revolution which threatens to tear his country apart...