[3] Duns has said he was influenced by the novels A Dandy in Aspic, by Derek Marlowe and The Human Factor by Graham Greene.

The Daily Telegraph considered the novel to be "a retro-cool romp as spare of prose as it is cleverly convoluted of plot",[6] and later named it as one of its "Thrillers of the Year", praising "the timeless feel [that] fosters the clear impression of Duns as a talented thriller geek posing a challenge to modern publishing".

[7] The Guardian agreed, and considered the book to be an "excellent debut" born from the writer's "deep knowledge of espionage and classic spy novels",[8] while Publishers Weekly wrote that "Duns's terrific debut will draw inevitable comparisons to early John le Carré",[9] Kirkus Reviews was also positive in saying that the "plotting is delectably tricky", although they tempered the praise by highlighting that "the character of Dark requires more shading before he returns for the promised next episode".

[10] When the trilogy of Paul Dark books was released, a further review by Kirkus noted that "the immediacy of Duns' writing grabs and suspends the reader in a beautifully realized heartbeat of recent history".

[11] The South African news outlet Independent Online agreed with Eric Van Lustbader that the "first chapter is electrifying", although "it comes a terrible sense of disappointment as we swiftly find ourselves in the swamps of moral equivalence".