Review: THE PEAK, Sam Guthrie

• 
  This edition read as an e-book on Borrow Box through my local library
  
• Imprint: HarperCollins
• ISBN: 9781460718384
• Pages: 352
• Publication Date: 2nd July 2025
• Shortlisted for the John Creasey First Novel Dagger 2026
• Shortlisted for Best Debut Fiction, Ned Kelly Awards 2026  

Synopsis (publisher)

A nailbiting and unputdownable read, The Peak is a powerfully taut, gripping and fast-moving international thriller that weaves a story of friendship, love and betrayal together with the ruthless geopolitics of China's rise, set in the last 24 hours of the world as we know it.

'Now I'll tell you what happened, as best I can. No spin. No agenda. If I get something wrong, it's not because I'm being evasive. It's simply because I'm still trying to understand what happened today ... It's to explain, as best I can, what Sebastian has done, and why tomorrow when you wake up, it will be the end of the world.'

Political hatchet man Charlie will do anything to protect Sebastian, government minister and his best friend since their brutal private school days. Rising to power and prominence through international diplomatic postings and then the rough and tumble of Australian politics, they are as close as brothers - or so Charlie thinks - while both keep the secret that lies at the very heart of their relationship - a secret that in one way or another will change the world.

But then a single phrase in Mandarin is spoken in Sebastian's ear and he does the unthinkable. As Charlie tries to piece it all together - from their youth spent in Hong Kong to the recent past in Beijing and Washington - things in the outside world start to fall apart too. Planes can't land, the phone lines go down and the power is out. Then the secret intelligence services comes knocking. Charlie wonders, what the hell did Sebastian do?

From the jostling streets of Hong Kong to Beijing's shadowy halls of power and the backstabbing Machiavellian workings of Parliament House in Canberra, The Peak is a powerful, propulsive and nailbitingly tense international thriller. Written with an extraordinary insider knowledge of China, the realities of global power and the inner dealings of the Australian Government, The Peak has the authenticity and moral complexity of a Le Carre novel and the narrative power of an Australian Robert Harris.

My Take

A political thriller, not really my genre of choice, but nevertheless an impressive and thought provoking piece of work. It uses a background of Australian/Chinese relationships, in particular those between a Chinese operative and Sebastian, who over a period of years holds a range of consular positions, and is manipulated through his love for a Chinese woman.

A bit of a slap in the face for those who think that on the world stage Australia does not matter. 

My rating: 4.6

About the author

Sam Guthrie writes international political thrillers based on his experience working at the nexus of business, politics, and international diplomacy. His character-driven fiction explores the human desires and frailties that shape world-altering events, drawing on an insider's knowledge of the machinations of power, political intrigue, and the geostrategic challenges confronting the global order.

Prior to publishing his first novel, The Peak, Sam had a twenty-five-year career in international relations serving as a trade envoy to China, an Asia Pacific corporate affairs adviser and political lobbyist and a senior government official. He has worked extensively across Europe, the US and Asia, and has spent close to a decade living and working in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Prague. He has a master's degree in international relations. He splits his time between Canberra and Sydney.