The Pearl River

I really enjoyed the atmospheric Far East story line, the heat, sunshine and scenery. Great feeling of place and life in the armed forces.  Hannah's journey in life is facinating and very much a feature of the times.  Unexpected ending!

This is an absorbing and intelligent novel with engaging and believable characters. The author captures with perfection the atmosphere of the late 1940s when Britain had to reimagine her role in a post-war period.

The plot is clever and compassionate, and the writing has great moments of tenderness, but doesn't flinch from the suspicion, tension and brutality of life in Hong Kong on the wrong side of the tracks.

As well as the love interest, there's plenty of action in the air and the novel throughout has a glorious nostalgic feel.

Highly recommended.

It had me hooked - what a great read it was, and Mark must be congratulated on his storytelling skills, I really felt I was out there in the thick of the action and found the plot fascinating and couldn't put it down.

Thoroughly enjoyed this well written book. Great plot structure and character portrayal with cinematic descriptions of the fighting to contain Communist China's post-WWII designs on Hong Kong.

Assured debut and beautifully paced, well observed historical fiction. What an enjoyable piece of historical fiction this is.  It's the mark of a good book, in my opinion, if it consumes you and in my case I read this over a few days. I found the period chosen really interesting and gained some useful insights into the mindsets of servicemen in the immediate aftermath of WW2. The characters were well developed, believable and the dialogue well observed and historically plausible. Mark writes fluidly and there were plenty of clever plot twists that I didn't see coming at all. I really hope some of these characters get at least another run out as my expectation is that the next Mark Butterworth novel will be even better!

An excellent debut novel, well written and constructed, looking forward to the next instalment

An excellent debut novel with a pacy narrative that engages the reader from start to finish. It has a fine sense of time and place, especially late 1940s Hong Kong. The characters are all well-rounded, provoking a response in the reader as the story ebbs and flows.
There are plenty of twists and turns but they are never confusing or unnecessarily complex: the story always takes primacy.

Having worked in Hong Kong and the City of London, I readily recognised both the locations and the characters. Well written, good pace and I learnt a few things I didn't know. A great debut and I hope for another instalment.

Just wanted to say that I've just finished your brilliant book, The Pearl River. It had me gripped, I was thinking about it when we were out east in the Disney park and was excited to get back and keep reading. The storyline kept me guessing and the characters are brilliant . . . "

My dad was given this book and The Berlin Assignment from his father in law, and he absolutley loved them. I'm his daughter, and his carer and they aren't books he would of necessarily chosen himself, but he has thoroughly enjoyed them both, beautifully written, and included parts of the world both of us had forgotten he had been to, and that his family had served in... the only complaint is that he couldn't put them down, so read them too quickly! I'm now on the search for more - well done Mark, keep writing please !!