Stories, edited by Neil Gaiman and Al Sarrantonio (Headline, £18.99)
Part critique of Stalin-era communism, part inquiry into the nature of evil, Declare is also a thrilling adventure and a moving love story. When he discovers dark forces at work, he is called on to help destroy the djinn used by unscrupulous Soviet agents. Andrew Hale is a British spy of the old school – a take on Le Carré's world-weary academic spies – who works undercover in postwar Berlin.
Declare is an immense hybrid of classic spy novel and supernatural thriller, impeccably wrought cold war period detail combining with the brooding sense of evil that Powers does so well. Powers is hardly prolific, but when he does release a novel it's big in every sense: vast in scope, philosophically deep and satisfying in terms of characterisation.
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