Everybody Wants to Rule the World

[It plays] smartly with historical events, while blending them with larky speculation. He never neglects the basics of intrigue, action, and misdirection, but one suspects he had the most fun conjuring up the novel's nostalgic Eighties ambience . . . A comic thriller which reads like a mash-up of Elmore Leonard and The Goonies.

Ace Atkins delivers laughs aplenty that overlay a terrifying cold war thriller. Readers who grew up in the 1980s will smirk at many of the popular culture references that Atkins peppers in this page-turner . . . The complexity and darkness of the narrative are balanced by equal doses of gentle humour and farce that striate the novel, making it very moving and at times tragically sad. But it is thought-provoking at all times . . . A wonderful book filled with weird insights into the machinations of an absurd reality that masks the dangers of existence.

With his boisterous and beguiling new novel Don't Let the Devil Ride, Ace Atkins confirms his status as the poet laureate of Southern hustlers and ne'er do wells. Full of wily humor and epic bad behavior, this is an ebullient, rollicking ride you don't dare miss.

All of the drama is served up with a generous amount of humour, combining to create a thoroughly enjoyable adventure.

Brilliantly plotted, with a nice streak of black comedy, a thoroughly enjoyable spy novel.

Ace Atkins' Everybody Wants to Rule the World was an absolute joy to read. A thriller that is as hilarious as it is intense, containing a kaleidoscope of diverse and well-drawn characters, and infused with a sense of place and time that exquisitely capture the zeitgeist of the last decade of the Cold War. This thrill-ride of a novel would make one hell of a movie!

This 80s-set yarn mixes fact and fiction in a winning comedy thriller. It's totally ace, Ace.

Everybody Wants to Rule the World blazes like a missile through Cold War spy games, KGB assassinations, the fiercest Tina Turner drag show ever performed by an Atlanta Falcons defensive end, and the nuclear passions of a 14-year-old boy's heart. Strap in and hold on for a fantastic ride.

I thoroughly enjoyed this fast-paced, darkly funny novel . . . This wry adventure unfolds like a classic blockbuster movie, encompassing a vibrant array of characters and 1980s cultural references to create an immersive, multi-layered story that never becomes overcomplicated. Instead, Atkins' 31st novel makes for an entertaining read with a fabulous, irreverent sense of fun.