The Centre

How it reads

The Centre is thriller (literary psychological thriller, specifically), and its dominant mood is tense. The suspense is the kind you feel in your shoulders. It moves fast: plot-driven and hard to put down, the kind of book that carries you along even when you're tired.

It's set in a big city setting, in the present day, told in the third person, staying close to one character. Its central concerns are identity, power and politics and secrets. In weight it sits in the middle: substantial without being heavy going.

It stands alone, so there's nothing else you need to read first or after. The ending is dark — no rescue, no neat bow. At 288 pages it's a quick read. It's moderately known: read by plenty of people, but not a household name.