'Where Bennett excels... is in his conjunction of politics and the personal... With Greene gone, and Richard Ford last spotted in suburbia, we need writers like Ronan Bennett; those who miss big books about big things set in big countries should watch his career with interest' Nick Hornby, TLS
'Where Bennett excels... is in his conjunction of politics and the personal... those who miss big books about big things set in big countries should watch his career with interest' Literary Supplement * Nick Hornby, The Times *
Those who miss Graham Greene's dry voice will welcome this... persuasive tale... Bennett writes as a fully-fledged novelist under taut control. His burgeoning invention marks him a future winner' on Sunday * Daily Mail *
'Ronan Bennett's fine second novel... Manages to keep everyone guessing until the end... Bennett has hit a tone which is frequently reminiscent of Robert Stone's earlier novels, such as A HALL OF MIRRORS and DOG SOLDIERS... He is a sensitive, sympathetic, intensely psychological writer, who uses language simply and efficiently and, above all, coldly... This sombre, low-key novel possesses a deceptive power and shell-shocked detachment but none of that structural rigidity which so often weakens thrillers... Well-written, convincing and controlled, OVERTHROWN BY STRANGERS is far more than a literate 'good read': it demonstrates the possibilities of the political thriller as a genre and also marks the swift progression of an Irish writer to international status' Eileen Battersby, Irish Times
'Those who miss Graham Greene's dry voice will welcome this... persuasive tale... Bennett writes as a fully-fledged novelist under taut control. His burgeoning invention marks him a future winner' The Mail on Sunday
Impressive... Bennett is one of those rare novelists who give thriller writing a good name * Observer *
A thriller without gadgets or gimmicks... Bennett relies on his questing characters to carry a story which manages to keep everyone guessing until the end * Irish Times *
'he has the ferocious visio and spell-binding oratory of an Old Testament prophet... It is astonishingly powerful, for Bennett is a superb writer' Andro Linklater, Sunday Times
'This is an intelligent novel that keeps you gripped to the plot, and faces you with the 'mean things' that lie under the stories that each character tells - and that we tell ourselves.' Guardian
'Bennett is a writer who refuses the easy option with the result that the reader sees the human condition with ambiguities intact... OVERTHROWN BY STRANGERS is a deeply political novel which refuses to proselytise, offering instead an unrelenting insight into the heart of human conflict. Eoin McNamee, Sunday Tribune
'Impressive... Bennett is one of those rare novelists who give thriller writing a good name' Observer
'This restless search for truth - whether political, social or personal - in trauma, coupled with the vivid, confident handling of demanding 'foreign' material suggests Bennett is a writer whose talent is coming on fast' Time Out
`Bennett tackes the tough subject with a rare sensitivity and his tight narrative grips and disturbs in equal measures' The Times
