{"product_id":"world-pacific-a-novel-isbn-9780063375352","title":"World Pacific: A Novel","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA \u003ci\u003eNew Yorker \u003c\/i\u003eBest Book of 2025\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e“Terrific . . . John le Carré meets Evelyn Waugh.”—\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e (starred review)\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSet in San Francisco and the Asian Pacific during the outbreak of the Second World War, a darkly comic novel of intrigue, adventure, and the perils of self-invention from the author of \u003ci\u003eThe Torqued Man.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn 1939, boys’ adventure writer Richard Halifax vanishes in the Pacific while sailing from Hong Kong to San Francisco as part of the World’s Fair festivities.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHildegard Rauch, an émigré painter and the daughter of Germany’s greatest living writer in exile, finds her twin brother in a coma after an attempted suicide, leaving behind a mysterious note that sends her searching for the truth about her brother’s relationship with Richard Halifax and the dangerous secret he entrusted to the writer before his voyage.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSimon Faulk, a British intelligence officer hunting Nazi spies in California, learns of the arrival of a mysterious American agent from across the Pacific, part of a joint German-Japanese operation.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTold in the alternating voices of these three characters whose fates intersect, \u003ci\u003eWorld Pacific\u003c\/i\u003e is a madcap, quixotic tale that explores the many forms of shipwreck, exile, betrayal, and the stories we tell ourselves in the fight to stay afloat.\u003c\/p\u003e | \u003cp\u003e“Set at the beginning of the Second World War, this bracing and erudite novel weaves together three ostensibly unrelated plots. . . . As Mann intertwines these stories, his jaunty sentences combine propulsive humor with international intrigue.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe New Yorker\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“The prospect of reviving a Halliburton-ish character and launching him into a maelstrom of spies, émigrés and double-dealers prove[s] irresistible to Mann, who demonstrate[s] a knack for comic thrillers.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Terrific . . . John le Carré meets Evelyn Waugh . . . . Mann displays an extraordinary comedic gift for outlandish embellishment, and makes hay out of the incompetence and hubris on all sides of the impending war.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly (starred review)\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“A fantastic, fanciful, and often extremely funny novel . . . [and] wonderfully inventive. . . . Along with being a quixotic tale of adventure complete with truth-telling sidekicks and wild goose chases, \u003ci\u003eWorld Pacific\u003c\/i\u003e is, like Mann’s first novel, a spy thriller of ingenious quality.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eSan Francisco Chronicle\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"At once thrilling and comic, Mann’s novel is a rollicking ride.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eMinneapolis Star Tribune\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Start to finish, \u003cem\u003eWorld Pacific\u003c\/em\u003e is about our ongoing attempts to re-invent ourselves in order to survive another day. It is part history, part thriller, and part contemporary satire. Peter Mann has filled his new work with everything from a Chinese junk to a penal camp on Saipan, from a famous writer’s misappropriated diary to the Anti-Fascist Writers League, from rogue international agents to Sally Bent’s Nude Ranch. It is a madcap marvel.”  - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eAnniston Star\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Far removed from the staid worlds of most historical fiction, this is a wonderfully comic, gripping, and intriguing novel—like \u003cem\u003eAll the Light We Cannot See\u003c\/em\u003e, but with a wry, macabre humor—following three hugely different, yet brilliantly developed characters.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Mann brilliantly captures the betrayed ideals of the period of US neutrality as a boys’ adventure. . . . . There’s a touch of Chandleresque noir thrown in for good measure as well. For anyone willing to suspend disbelief in the vein of a boy storylover, enthralled by a tale of double-crossing and improbable daring and enlivened with Chaucerian ribaldry, this is a rollicking good read.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eHistorical Novel Society\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“An intriguing, darkly comic novel of adventure and personal crisis, set against the tumultuous backdrop of the Pacific on the eve of World War II. Mann crafts a clever fun work of fiction, drawing inspiration from actual historical figures to create a narrative that is as complex as it is captivating.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eMSN.com\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"\u003cem\u003eWorld Pacific\u003c\/em\u003e will appeal to readers seeking a sophisticated reading adventure.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eNovels Alive\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Writing with intelligence, style, and wit, Peter Mann has created two unforgettable characters and braided them together in a thrilling World War II story unlike any other.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eDavid Ebershoff, New York Times bestselling author of The 19th Wife and The Danish Girl, on The Torqued Man\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“I loved \u003cem\u003eThe Torqued Man\u003c\/em\u003e, its riotous irreverence, its coiled suspense. It’s a brilliant, surprising novel, Don Quixote by way of le Carré.”  - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eJess Walter, New York Times bestselling author of Beautiful Ruins and The Cold Millions, on The Torqued Man\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Clever genre elements and felicitous prose? Oh yes; this novel is the elusive cake that you are allowed to both have and eat.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew York Times Magazine on The Torqued Man\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“‘Vexing’ doesn’t begin to describe the intricate maneuverings of the two narrators in Peter Mann’s quick-witted World War II caper. But ‘compelling’ certainly does.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew York Times Book Review on The Torqued Man\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"As the chapters alternate between the manuscripts, two irreconcilable portraits of Pike emerge, while de Groot's love for the Irishman gradually emboldens him.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe New Yorker on The Torqued Man\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Mann’s sometimes graphic, sometimes heartbreaking, always entertaining thriller draws parallels to similar forces pulling against each other in modern life.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eWashington Post on The Torqued Man\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“This fiendishly clever, elegant debut novel… combines a clear-eyed vision of a not-so-distant period of history with canny spy-world touches and astute elements of farcical humor.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eBoston Globe on The Torqued Man\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Harper Perennial","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48588086116581,"sku":"NP9780063375352","price":18.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780063375352.jpg?v=1773961997","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/world-pacific-a-novel-isbn-9780063375352","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}