THE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER**A ''Book of the Year'' in The Times, Sunday Times, Guardian, Observer, Daily Telegraph, Spectator, Sunday Express, TLS, Irish Times*''Pure class'' Ian Rankin ''Pitch-perfect'' Lee Child''A powerful standalone spy thriller from a true contemporary master'' Daily TelegraphTrying to investigate the Secret Service is like trying to get rid of the stink of dead badger. Hard.For two years the government''s Monochrome inquiry has produced nothing more than a series of dead ends.The Service has kept what happened in the newly reunified Berlin under wraps for decades, and intends for it to stay that way.But then the OTIS file turns up.What classified secrets does it hold? And what damage will it create?All Max Janácek knows is that someone is chasing him through the pitch-dark country lanes and they want him gone.WE ALL HAVE JOBS TO DO IN THE DAYLIGHT. IT''S WHAT YOU DO IN THE SECRET HOURS THAT REVEALS WHO YOU REALLY ARE.''Wonderful . . . high action, a spinning moral compass, and hidden motives on every page'' Michael Connelly*Mick Herron''s The Secret Hours was a Sunday Times Number Four bestseller in hardback in the second week of September 2023