Orders from Berlin
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3.3 • 17 Ratings
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- £3.99
Publisher Description
An ingenious thriller in which young Detective Constable Trave uncovers a sophisticated plot at the heart of MI6 to assassinate Churchill and bring the Second World War and the whole Allied effort to an untimely end.
It’s 1940, and Bill Trave is a Detective Constable in his early thirties working in West London. France has fallen and the capital is being bombed both day and night – it seems against all odds that Britain can survive the onslaught. Almost single-handedly Winston Churchill maintains the country’s morale, with the German enemy convinced that his removal would win them the War.
Albert Morrison, a rich widower forced into early retirement by failing eyesight, is stabbed to death in his Chelsea flat. His only daughter, Ava, tells Trave that she would read the newspapers to him every evening, and the night before his death he had become suddenly excited when she read him an obscure obituary notice.
At Morrison’s funeral, Ava learns from an old colleague that her father worked for MI6 before the War. The obituary notice was a coded message preparing for an assassination, although it does not specify the target. Trave realizes that there is a Nazi double agent within MI6, with a plan to assassinate Churchill and to set up another agent to take the blame. He is in a race against time to save Churchill, for if he fails, Britain’s entire war effort could be at stake…
Reviews
‘Tolkien’s writing is quietly impressive; his atmosphere of the blitzed capital superb.’ The Times
‘Jack Higgins fans will enjoy Tolkien’s exciting third suspense novel featuring Det. Insp. William Trave. Heartfelt evocations of the horrors of war, in particular the effects of the bombing raids on Londoners, show Tolkien has upped his game.’ Publishers Weekly
REVIEWS FOR SIMON TOLKIEN:
‘Half Christie and half Grisham.’ Los Angeles Times
‘A fine novel. A thinking person’s Da Vinci Code.’ Chicago Tribune
‘A very British thriller … a page turner.’ Daily Mail
About the author
Simon Tolkien was a successful Criminal Justice barrister in London specializing in serious crimes before moving to California with his wife and two children to take up writing full time. He has been acclaimed as a naturally gifted storyteller with a terrific command of language and a unique perception into the darker sides of human nature. The grandson of J.R.R. Tolkien, with whom he had a very special relationship, Simon Tolkien’s writing is set firmly in this world.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Jack Higgins fans will enjoy Tolkien's exciting third suspense novel featuring Det. Insp. William Trave (after 2011's The King of Diamonds), a prequel set in the fall of 1940. As Adolf Hitler and Reinhard Heydrich, the head of the Gestapo, plot to use a mole in British intelligence to further the Reich's ambitions, Trave lands a murder case. Albert Morrison, the ousted head of MI6, has been killed, flung down a flight of stairs by someone Morrison's grown daughter, Ava, who witnessed the crime, could not identify. Trave's oafish superior, Det. Chief Insp. John Quaid, quickly settles on Ava's husband, Bertie, as the killer, since Bertie had a pecuniary motive for his father-in-law's death. Trave isn't so sure, a feeling that's only heightened as he tries to learn more about Morrison's work. Heartfelt evocations of the horrors of war, in particular the effects of the bombing raids on Londoners, show Tolkien has upped his game.
Customer Reviews
Lazy writing
Plot seemed interesting and undemanding hence the purchase. I had difficulty with the manner in which the Detective Inspector spoke to some of the characters involved. He was blunt in a way that was not realistic given the rigid class system of the time and would even now raise an eyebrow. In another chapter one of the officers looks forward to having a shower before work ! Living in a place with a kettle on a gas ring he has a shower ? - not in 1940’s London he didn’t, at best a bath. In another scene the police ring the local cab office ! Again highly unlikely in 1940 and the cabs were all black ones. On another occasion a witness is shown an exhibit in a plastic exhibits bag ! Again not in 1940 they weren’t. As titled I think that this is just lazy writing and needlessly spoils a half-decent plot.
Average
I found it a bit predictable and no real twists in it. Nicely written but not sure I will this author again.
Poorly written and read
This book does not live up to the promise of its blurb. The plot is peurile and badly constructed; and there is a lack of attention to period detail (plastic evidence bags during WWII - come on!). The poor writing is dragged further down by the reader who gives completely unconvincing characterisation in the dialogue.