I Am Pilgrim
A former intelligence agent known only as Pilgrim is drawn out of retirement when a woman is found murdered in a New York hotel room, leading to a global hunt for a terrorist planning a catastrophic biological attack.
Themes & atmosphere
What you might want to know about I Am Pilgrim
The questions readers send us most often, answered without spoilers.
A retired US intelligence officer is dragged back in to consult on a Manhattan hotel-room murder that exactly matches a case from an obscure forensics manual he wrote. The trail runs across continents.
Yes. I Am Pilgrim was originally a standalone, but Terry Hayes published a long-awaited sequel, The Year of the Locust, in 2024. Both are large dense espionage thrillers.
Yes. A film adaptation has been in development for over a decade with multiple stars attached at different points. As of 2025, the project remains in development with no confirmed release date.
I Am Pilgrim was written by Terry Hayes, published in 2014 by Simon and Schuster.
I Am Pilgrim is 624 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, I Am Pilgrim takes most readers 9 to 14 hours to finish.
I Am Pilgrim is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.