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David Grann

The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder

The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder

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#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the author of Killers of the Flower Moon, a page-turning story of shipwreck, survival, and savagery, culminating in a court martial that reveals a shocking truth. The powerful narrative reveals the deeper meaning of the events on The Wager, showing that it was not only the captain and crew who ended up on trial, but the very idea of empire.

A Best Book of the Year: The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The New Yorker, TIME, Smithsonian, NPR, Vulture, Kirkus Reviews

“Riveting...Reads like a thriller, tackling a multilayered history—and imperialism—with gusto.” —Time

"A tour de force of narrative nonfiction.” —The Wall Street Journal

On January 28, 1742, a ramshackle vessel of patched-together wood and cloth washed up on the coast of Brazil. Inside were thirty emaciated men, barely alive, and they had an extraordinary tale to tell. They were survivors of His Majesty’s Ship the Wager, a British vessel that had left England in 1740 on a secret mission during an imperial war with Spain. While the Wager had been chasing a Spanish treasure-filled galleon known as “the prize of all the oceans,” it had wrecked on a desolate island off the coast of Patagonia. The men, after being marooned for months and facing starvation, built the flimsy craft and sailed for more than a hundred days, traversing nearly 3,000 miles of storm-wracked seas. They were greeted as heroes.

But then ... six months later, another, even more decrepit craft landed on the coast of Chile. This boat contained just three castaways, and they told a very different story. The thirty sailors who landed in Brazil were not heroes – they were mutineers. The first group responded with countercharges of their own, of a tyrannical and murderous senior officer and his henchmen. It became clear that while stranded on the island the crew had fallen into anarchy, with warring factions fighting for dominion over the barren wilderness. As accusations of treachery and murder flew, the Admiralty convened a court martial to determine who was telling the truth. The stakes were life-and-death—for whomever the court found guilty could hang.

The Wager is a grand tale of human behavior at the extremes told by one of our greatest nonfiction writers. Grann’s recreation of the hidden world on a British warship rivals the work of Patrick O’Brian, his portrayal of the castaways’ desperate straits stands up to the classics of survival writing such as The Endurance, and his account of the court martial has the savvy of a Scott Turow thriller. As always with Grann’s work, the incredible twists of the narrative hold the reader spellbound.
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Editorial Reviews

"Gloriously atmospheric and utterly riveting, this is my favourite Alex Michaelides yet. Readers you are in for a treat! But then what else would you expect from the undisputed master of the twist?"―Lucy Foley, New York Times bestselling author of The Paris Apartment and The Guest List

“Alex Michaelides hits the trifecta with his third novel, The Fury. The highly original story presents the reader with the king of all unreliable narrators, enough twists and turns to power two novels, and a host of characters that bleed right on the page. For fans of erudite, locked room mysteries told with style and theatrical panache, The Fury delivers, on all counts.”―David Baldacci

“A classic, twisting, brilliant murder mystery. A wonderfully drawn cast of characters with a motive to kill for, in a location to die for, keep you guessing until the shocking finale. Clever, and fiendishly fun.”―Chris Whitaker, New York Times bestselling author of We Begin at the End

“The Fury, like its beguiling narrator, is endlessly evolving, wildly entertaining, and like the very best fiction, impossible to pin down. Just when you think you have it cornered, it moves, impossibly and with stunning flourish, toward a devastating finale. The Talented Mr. Ripley for our time.”―Blake Crouch, New York Times bestselling author of Dark Matter

"Audacious, twisty, compelling, and full of the joyous verve that one only finds in the very best storytelling, this is the best novel yet from Alex Michaelides."―Sophie Hannah

“You’ll think you know where it’s going and you couldn’t be more wrong.”―Linwood Barclay

"A very sophisticated book which takes the format of a classic murder mystery and elevates it to something very devious and clever indeed. The narrator is fabulous -- I was thoroughly gripped by his voice and it seems to have been written with great glee. There's such a tremendous complicity to it even though the reader has no idea how much of what he's telling is true, even down to the final pages. The way it reveals itself through the layers of the narrative is very well done indeed."―Harriet Tyce, author of Blood Orange

"Alex Michaelides is the grand master of the modern mystery. The Fury reads like Hitchcock with a heart, or Agatha Christie running amok on a wind-whipped Greek island. A tale of old friends and buried emotions ready to explode, all set on an idyllic island rendered so perfectly you can smell the jasmine, the ouzo and the Aegean Sea. The Fury will, quite literally, blow you away. Totally brilliant."―Tony Parsons, author of Who She Was

“The Fury by Alex Michaelides is a proper, grown-up thriller that exudes class from every page. So much more than a murder mystery, every twist and turn is simultaneously a total surprise and completely inevitable. The writing is perfectly sparse, yet cloaks a narrative of rare complexity. So many contradictions, yet all unite in a devastating whole. The Fury is a very special book and highly recommended.”―Janice Hallett, author of international bestseller The Appeal

"Glamorous, sinister, and endlessly surprising, The Fury reads like Agatha Christie and Patricia Highsmith took a Greek vacation together and decided to write a book while there. It's twisty, twisted entertainment."―Riley Sager, New York Times bestselling author of The Only One Left

“A glorious triumph―just brilliant.”―Stephen Fry

"This is a masterclass in suspense. A unique and captivating narrator takes you on a journey filled with twists and finely drawn characters you will treasure. This is probably his best book. Not to be missed."―Steve Cavanagh, author ofThirteen and Kill for Me, Kill for You

“One of those rare books where really nothing is as it seems. As usual, Alex Michaelides does not disappoint.”―Ragnar Jonasson

"The Fury is a masterfully woven story of Shakespearean twists and Machiavellian turns. A Greek Tragedy in the guise of a postmodern thriller. Do not miss this one."―Holly Jackson, #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Good Girl's Guide to Murder

"Mesmerising―a beguiling labyrinth of twists and surprises, even better than The Silent Patient. The Fury is The Magus meets The Secret History on a Greek island paradise where nothing is as it seems, and Alex Michaelides is a master magician, skilfully misdirecting the reader at every turn."―JP Delaney

“Shades of Agatha Christie and Sunset Boulevard color this outstanding psychological thriller …Michaelides keeps readers on deliciously unsteady ground throughout, ratcheting up the tension until he arrives at the final series of reveals. The result is a character-driven, atmospheric delight.”―Publisher’s Weekly

“From the author of The Silent Patient comes another perfectly-paced thriller that will have you looking at your friends with a hint of suspicion… It unfolds so satisfyingly well, you just might want to block off a weekend to read it all in one.”―Good Housekeeping | 12 Most Anticipated Books of 2024

"Michaelides again creates an almost tangible blend of tension,manipulation, and obsession. Even readers will fall prey to Michaelides' craft, nudged intoshifting, sympathetic allegiances to the damaged, unlikable characters in this pitch-perfect,classic crime set-up and modern psychological thriller."―Booklist

About the Author

DAVID GRANN is the author of the #1 New York Times bestsellers KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON and THE LOST CITY OF Z. KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON was a finalist for the National Book Award and won an Edgar Allan Poe Award. He is also the author of THE WHITE DARKNESS and the collection THE DEVIL AND SHERLOCK HOLMES. Grann’s investigative reporting has garnered several honors, including a George Polk Award. He lives with his wife and children in New York.

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