Lauded quite rightly by Philip Pullman, who supplies a new introduction, as the best thriller he's ever read, this is an indispensable reissue. Set in the white desolation of a Siberian research station hitherto unknown to the world at large, the tale follows the quest of native-Canadian Indian Johnny Porter to reach the station hidden amongst the permafrost and answer the call from an old friend before the world is shattered by terrible revelations. Volcanically atmospheric, peopled with a palette of exquisitely-drawn and conflicted characters, this is a spy thriller that never lets up and insidiously slithers its way into your brain, never to leave. On a par with the best of Le Carre and truthfully exciting to the max. Unmissable. Will make you feel both cold and breathless as you read along!
The best thriller I've ever read. (Philip Pullman). Kolymsky Heights. A Siberian permafrost hell lost in endless nights, the perfect setting for an underground Russian research station. It's a place so secret it doesn't officially exist; once there, the scientists are forbidden to leave. But one scientist is desperate to get a message to the outside world. So desperate, he sends a plea across the wildness to the West in order to summon the one man alive capable of achieving the impossible... Sensationally good. Cleverly conceived and brilliantly executed. One of the great thrillers of the last century. (Charles Cumming).
Lionel Davidson was born in 1922 in Hull, Yorkshire. He left school early and worked as a reporter before serving in the Royal Navy during the Second World War. His first novel, The Night of Wenceslas, was published in 1960 to great critical acclaim and drew comparisons to Graham Greene and John le Carre. It was followed by The Rose of Tibet (1962), A Long Way to Shiloh (1966), The Chelsea Murders (1978) and Kolymsky Heights (1994). He was thrice the recipient of the Crime Writers' Association Gold Dagger Award and, in 2001, was awarded the CWA's Cartier Diamond Dagger lifetime achievement award. He died in 2009.
