October 16, 2020

Hands down, one of the best historical espionage thrillers I have ever read. I mean, not that I read a lot in that genre, but I’ve certainly done my share with Len Deighton and Phillip Kerr. I was really excited to find this author.

My love for historical fiction is known to anyone who has read even a few entries on this blog. Most of them are straight fiction, although a few have had a mystery involved. This is one of the first in my current reading streak that is straight-up espionage. And the timing couldn’t have been better.

Going off-track for a moment: My family and I recently found “Churchill’s Secret Agents ” on Netflix. It was a reality show where the participants went through the same training that SOE agents did during WWII. It was extremely well-done and very informative.

It also put me in an excellent frame of mind for this book.

In this third Richard Prince adventure, his task is more dangerous than previous ones (apparently – more on that in a minute). When British paratroopers are ambushed, it’s up to him to figure out how the enemy knew where they would be. Or is it the enemy? Is there a traitor in the midst, or is the espionage just that intricate?

Like I’m going to tell you any of those things.

The plot is extremely detailed, and the author knows how to build the tension that surrounds spying in a time of war while keeping it realistic and not verging into fantastical. It would have been easy for the author to go for the thriller and lose plausibility, but he didn’t.

As to be expected with an espionage thriller, there are intricacies, twists, and surprises. These were all well-done and kept me engaged through the entire book.

The only negative I have (and this is totally on me) is that I had not read the previous books. While the plot in this book is a standalone, there is an awful lot of backstory that is missing if you don’t have the first two books under your belt first.

I know that I would have enjoyed this book even more than I did if I had read the first two; there would have been more depth to the character, I think, and some of his motivations might have been clearer.

I’m going to remedy that by grabbing the first two but do yourself a favor and start with them. Read them in order. And don’t read them quickly. Allow yourself the time to sink into Richard Prince’s world. You won’t be sorry.

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About Alex Gerlis:

Alex Gerlis is the author of the acclaimed Spies series of four Second World War espionage thrillers which are noted for their detailed research and intricate plots and feature two great adversaries: the British spymaster Edgar and his Soviet counterpart Viktor. The television/film rights for The Best of Our Spies have been bought by a major production company.

Born in Lincolnshire, Alex was a BBC journalist for nearly 30 years. He lives in west London with his wife and family and three black cats, a breed which makes cameo appearances in his books. He’s a lifelong supporter of Grimsby Town, which has provided some preparation for the highs and lows of writing novels. When asked if he has worked in the field of espionage he declines to answer in the hope some people may think he has.

UPDATE: (After reading through this review, I’m adding this up here – you really should give this one a try. There were some good twists, and it was definitely a psychological thriller. What follows is my experience with the book, which may be completely different from what other readers experience).

I have to start by saying that I thought this book was going to go in a totally different direction from where it actually ended up.

When I first started reading, I thought that it would be about Phoebe, who may be Maya, finding her birth mother (Kay) after her mother (Roz) dies. Clear on that? It has great premise for all kinds of psychological mindgames.

And I did get that…somewhat.

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I thought that Kay and Phoebe’s “reunion” was a little bit farfetched. The whole thing seemed off-kilter, as if neither one really believed the reality of the situation, but each was hoping that was true. I’m still not sure if that was by design to set up the rest of the plot. But it left me confused.

A tragedy occurs after Phoebe finds Kay, which sends Phoebe on a hunt to find out her true identity. Again, plenty of opportunity for some twists and turns as Phoebe realizes that there are more lies than truth in her past.

The problem for me is that the story ended up being something completely different. This is no fault of the author. I think I just had a difficult time switching gears when the author took the story in an alternate direction.

I did like the references (and remembrances) of Africa. I thought it was a good way to ground Phoebe when she began to question all of her other memories. At least she knew the ones of her growing up on the animal reserve were true, even as certain assumptions she had were shattered.

The plot seemed to meander – but it actually did trace Phoebe’s search, and searches are rarely straightforward. So, I suppose that it was clever writing. I just wanted more of a concrete search (again – no fault of the author, just of my own expectations).

Somewhere along the way, there’s a cult involved and a few more tragic incidents that illustrate how screwed up Phoebe’s life really has been. It seems as if the author was going for keeping the reader as off-balance as Phoebe was, and that was very successful

I think if I were to have read this from a different attitude or been able to switch quicker with where the author was going, I would have enjoyed it more. As it is, for the first time, I am considering re-reading a book with a different state-of-mind to see if that changes my perception. Check back for an update.

TWITTER: @Sam_Osman_Books
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Author Bio:

Sam Hepburn read modern languages at Cambridge University and, after a brief spell in advertising, joined the BBC as a General Trainee. She worked as a documentary maker for twenty years and was one of the commissioners for the launch of BBC Four. Since then, she has written several books, including psychological thrillers Gone Before and Her Perfect Life, and novels for young adults and children. She won the 2017 CWA Margery Allingham Short Story award and has been nominated for several other prestigious prizes, including the CILIP Carnegie Medal for her YA thrillers.

Sam has worked and travelled widely in Africa and the Middle East, and is a trustee of the Kenyan’s children’s charity, I Afrika. She now lives in London with her husband and children.