Graham Hurley (1) (1946–)

This is one of my favorite British police procedural series. Faraday is a determined investigator who demands truth and justice. As a widower, he hasn't had an easy time of raising his deaf son by himself, but he's done a good job-- even though both his job and his son have had him hiking out to commune with the birds he loves so much. (Some detectives hit the bottle, others listen to jazz or opera, Faraday goes bird watching.) Joe's son is pretty much independent at this stage and even show more helps during the investigation. I've enjoyed watching him grow up during this series.

The case is an absolute beast of a maze. Coughlin went out of his way to be hated, and his decades of practice stood him in good stead. Faraday has his hands full weeding through all the suspects, and his efforts at piecing together the dead man's history are hampered by a brick wall called the Royal Navy. I found the entire plot thread of the Falklands war to be very interesting, and Hurley uses it to give readers a slight advantage that Faraday does not have. (It doesn't mean that we get to the resolution any quicker however.)

As usual, the Portsmouth setting is superb from its wildlife habitats to the mean city streets. Hurley seems to be a writer that's not all that well known outside of the UK. It's a pity because his books are excellent, but that lack of "world renown" also makes me feel as though I'm getting an insider's look at his patch of England. His books aren't polished up or toned down for international audiences. It's an insider's look that I appreciate and keep coming back to for more. show less

“Wars..are so easy to start. And after that..they demand a constant surrender. Katastrophe indeed.”
This gem about World War II, from the perspective of a European point of view delves into espionage, national intelligence, traitors and spies. Topics of German and Russian refugees, prisoners, Stalingrad, rebuilding as it’s all being torn down and torture all make an appearance. Heavy hitters Stalin, Giebbels, Himmler, Wolff & Hitler are represented as well, and everyone’s looking out show more for themselves.

The main characters who drive the story are varied, from a former German intelligence enforcer, Goebbels’ propaganda and speech writer for Hitler and a government intelligence agent, all with connections to each other personally and professionally. You learn that you could trust no one in the ‘despairing resignation’ of doing what you had to do to survive.

Katastrophe is cleverly written, heady and surprisingly accurate for a historical fiction novel. It even has messages we should be heeding today. “..1939, and everything that followed, need never have happened. Not if we’d been listening properly.”

This is not your slow, easy, beach read, so saddle up when you begin. I had to read in increments just so I could process the characters, code names, events and the plot current as I combined it with WWII history, but it was in a word, magnificent. True WWII history buffs, this story is for you.
*I received an arc from the publisher through NetGalley for an honest review show less

More Nazis. I do seem to be reading a lot of books about Nazi Germany at the moment. Walter Nehmann is a journalist in Berlin in the first half of the Second World War. Nehmann works for the Propaganda Ministry, reporting directly to Joseph Goebbels and has a talent for making capital out of a good photograph, or stories of soldiers and airmen. Nehmann has covered the victories in Poland, France and elsewhere and is riding high on the spoils of war. As the Germans advance rapidly into Russia show more and Nehmann is commissioned to cover events there, Goebbels sets him a personal assignment which sets Nehmann on the road to personal disaster and a posting to the deadly battle for Stalingrad.
This was not enjoyable at all, but was gripping nonetheless. Well-written, gritty, shocking, deeply nasty and every single character absolutely loathsome. Last Flight to Stalingrad is a compelling account of the horrors of the battle for Stalingrad and the equally horrific internal politics, in-fighting and viciousness of the Nazi leadership. Having finished I felt a bit disgusted for having read it and at a loss to explain what the point of the story and plot might be. I guess it is an account of an individual's journey as the novel views the world through the eyes of Nehmann as he travels from the triumphant cynicism of the Propaganda Ministry through to being a victim of the regime, and a sick desire for revenge. Don't read this expecting a happy ending. show less

In April 1943 twenty seven year old Flight Sergeant Billy Angell, a Wireless Operator, joins Bomber Command at RAF Wickenby, one of a network of airfields in the east of England. Prior to the start of the war he had been a successful actor but, as a committed Quaker and pacifist, when the war started he became a registered conscientious objector, working in a hospital. However, the death of the close friend who had introduced him to Quakerism causes him to question both his faith and his show more role in the war and so he enlists. He is well aware that barely half of bomber crew members survive the thirty missions which constitute a full tour, after which there is an exemption from active service for six months. However, against all the odds, Billy does survive, although he is deeply traumatised by the psychological effects of seeing so much carnage, uncomfortably recognising the part he has played in this destruction.
His fears about eventually having to face future missions are, to some extent allayed when he is approached by MI5 to take part in a top secret mission in Nazi-occupied France. They are interested in a woman called Lafosse who lives in a château in Touraine, where she is known to offer refuge to Jews, refugees, members of the resistance movement and downed Allied airmen. She is protected in these activities because of her relationship with an Abwehr intelligence officer, Bjorn Klimt, a man she has come to love and trust, even though she is still in love with her husband, Nathan Khorrami, a Jewish art dealer who has fled to London. MI5 wants Billy to agree to be dropped in France, to make contact with this woman, gain her trust and plant a false lead about the expected Allied invasion of northern France, with the expectation that this will be passed on to her German lover. The ability to act well is a pre-requisite for a spy and, although nervous about his mission, Billy is at least confident in his acting skills.
I found this an engaging novel, and thought that the author maintained a real tension in his story-telling. As in his first WWII novel, Finisterre, initially the narrative switched between Billy’s and Hélène’s stories but, as these gradually merged there was less switching and more of a feeling of focus to the story. However, for me the real strength in this story was the portrayal of the individual characters, their relationships and their interactions. I thought that Graham Hurley captured, in a thought-provoking way, the moral dilemmas and dangers they faced as they tried to navigate their personal journeys through the horrors of war and occupation. In my review of Finisterre I reflected on the fact that I found his development of the romantic aspects of his characters’ relationships less successful. However, in this story I thought that he was far more convincing in his portrayals of the multi-faceted and complex relationships which exercised the consciences of Billy and Hélène.
Most of his plot development felt credible, although there were a couple of occasions when I did find that my credulity was stretched just a bit too far! I thought that he generated a very real sense of the ever-impending threat which must accompany any espionage mission or participation in a resistance movement. As the story progressed, this threat and accompanying fear began to feel almost unbearable, to the extent that I was torn between not wanting to be exposed to the horrors being faced, and yet finding myself unable to bear to put the book down. There were some shocking, although not totally surprising, twists towards the end and these images, which I won’t elaborate on because that would spoil the story, continue to haunt me. As in his earlier book, the author blended fact and fiction in a way which made very effective use of his extensive research, reminding the reader of some of the horrors of this shameful period of European history whilst not making them the only focus of his story-telling.
This is the second book in the “Wars Within” trilogy; Finisterre was first in the series and Estocado is to follow. However, as I know from having very recently read, reviewed and enjoyed Finisterre, this book is one which can easily be read as a stand-alone novel because the links between the stories, although adding extra interest, are tenuous rather than crucial. In some ways I found this a less thought-provoking read than the first book but, as a group read I think some of the themes and moral dilemmas covered would make for some very interesting discussion and debate. show less