Tigerman Hardcover - 2014

Media reviews

"Abundantly funny. . . . And incredibly moving, too. . . . For all that Tigerman seems to be about a superhero on the surface, appearances are deceiving indeed: Harkaway is markedly more interested in the relationship between Lester and his friend. . . . In Harkaway’s hands, this friendship is as gripping as any mystery. . . .  [Tigerman] is, in short, awesome. Read it immediately."
     —Niall Alexander, Tor.com

"[A] poignant morality tale, equally fueled by emotion and adrenaline. . . . Adroitly explores the lengths one man will go to save what he’s come to love, even in the face of almost-certain failure."
     --Publishers Weekly (starred review)


Advance Praise from the UK

“As much a homage to Graham Greene as to Stan Lee. . . . There are plenty of scrapes and escapades, lots of derring-do and derring-really-don't, building to a morally satisfying conclusion that unites the disparate plot elements. . . . Through social media and the disconnection between inhabitants and governments, to the emotional difficulties of ex-servicemen and the way in which power is the display of power, Harkaway uses the story of a disappointed man and a disenfranchised boy to examine matters of real import. His great gift as a novelist—one he shares with writers such as China Miéville, Lauren Beukes and even Eleanor Catton—is to merge the pace, wit and clarity of the best ‘popular’ literature with the ambition, complexity and irony of the so-called ‘literary’ novel. Tigerman is in some ways all about the stripes: the distinctive becomes camouflage.”
    —Stuart Kelly, The Guardian
 
“Will move you as powerfully as it will enthrall you. . . . 5 out of 5 stars.”
     —Jenny Barlow, The Daily Express (UK)

“Astonishingly imaginative… Graham Greene would have treasured this book. . . . Outlandishly larger than life, with a cast of characters written in Technicolor…Nick Harkaway has all the writerly skills to pull it off. His Tigerman lives because of his wit and daring intelligence, and his empathy. Words quiver whenever he writes.”
     —Tom Adair, The Scotsman
 
“Extraordinary. . . . The action sequences in Tigerman are some of Harkaway’s best. As ever, the writing is economical but lively, revelling in modern idiom. . . . [Has] the cinematic scope and dynamism one has come to expect from Harkaway. . . . The ending of Tigerman is pitch-perfect, thrilling and dramatic.”
     —Frank Brinkley, Literary Review (UK)
 
“A peculiar but winning combination of a Graham Greene-like end-of-empire tale and lots of Lee Child-style baddie bashing. . . . Full of fine descriptive passages and memorable figures.”
     —John Dugdale, The Sunday Times
 
“Tedious is the last word you could use to describe [Harkaway’s] writing…He tops his intellect in a ringmaster’s hat. But for all the entertainment to be had from the reading, the serious stuff is in there…Harkaway is a writer who nests big ideas inside bigger ideas.”
     —Teddy Jamieson, The Herald (Scotland)
 
“Uses politics in the service of outsized entertainment. . . . Harkaway mashes this [up] with a hyperactive, quite possibly deranged, apocalyptic imagination to produce novels whose mind-splitting pile-up of subplots usually involve various corrupt governments, a ninja or two and at least ten explosions.”
     —Claire Allfree, Metro UK
 
“An offbeat drama. . . . Harkaway has crafted an engaging story that examines the nature of heroes and the tropes of old-school pulp fiction, mixing sharp characterisation with an energetic portrait of a society heading for apocalypse. . . . Often hilarious but with an undercurrent of dark violence, this is an impressive novel that conceals provocative questions inside an old-school tale of ripping adventure.”
     —Saxon Bullock, SFX magazine

“A captivating and emotional real-world superhero tale.”
     —Jack Parsons, SciFiNow
 
“As entertaining and imaginative as you’d hope. . . . Clever and confidently written. . . . A treasure chest of brilliant and barmy delights. The end of the story seems to come too soon and that’s usually the mark of a great novel. Nick Harkaway takes the reader on a wild adventure and, though you know it’s all fiction, there’s a little part of you that wishes that Tigerman was actually real.”
     —Natalie Xenos, CultureFly.co.uk