Everybody Wants to Rule the World : 'A thoroughly enjoyable spy novel' Mail on Sunday

It's 1985, what will soon become known at 'The Year of the Spy', and fourteen-year-old Peter Bennett is convinced his mom's new boyfriend is a Russian agent. 'Gary' isn't in the phone book, has an unidentifiable European accent, and keeps a gun in the glove box of his convertible Porsche. Peter thinks Gary only wants to get close to his mom because she works at Scientific Atlanta, a lab with big government contracts. But who is going to believe him? He's just a kid into BMX and MTV. But after another woman who works at the lab is killed, Peter recruits an unlikely pair of allies - a has-been pulp writer named Dennis Hotchner and his drag performer buddy and heavy, Jackie Demure. Both soon become the target of an unhinged Russian hitman (is it Gary? Maybe!) with a serious Phil Collins obsession.

Author: Ace Atkins

Thriller / suspense

Published on 6 Aug 2026 by Little, Brown Book Group.