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ibbbbs's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
halept's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Hate crime, Violence, Religious bigotry, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Grief and War
rosannelortz's review against another edition
4.0
In the days of Adolf Hitler's rise to power, a young photographer named Elena Standish travels to Italy to photograph a convention. After meeting a personable young man named Ian, they travel together towards France, only to be thrown into a frightening world of espionage, assassination, and events that seem to hurtle headlong toward the start of another World War. Undertaking an emergency commission from the English secret service, Elena travels to Berlin, camera in hand, determined to stop an international incident that will split Europe in two.
Meanwhile, back in England, Elena's grandfather Lucas Standish ponders the imminent future and impending doom that faces Europe. Unbeknownst to his family, Lucas was the chief of MI6, the British secret service, during the last war. Too old to play that game anymore, he can only hope that the weak-kneed politicians will stop conciliating that menace Hitler. But when he receives word that his favorite granddaughter Elena is in trouble in Berlin, he discovers that one is never too old to work behind the scenes....
In this first book of a new series, Anne Perry rides the popular wave of World War II fiction to create her own memorable offering. The cast of characters contain echoes of Anne Perry's ensembles from other series, but this gives the book a sense of comfortability rather than a tediousness. One thing I enjoy is Perry's unique gift for delivering historical detail in dialogue that unfolds the character at the same time as explaining the situation. As usual, Perry's pacing keeps the reader turning pages, and while Elena is not quite as standout a protagonist as some of Perry's other leading ladies, Lucas makes up for any deficiencies with his own septuagenarian charm. Readers who enjoy World War II fiction will enjoy this international thriller.
Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.
Meanwhile, back in England, Elena's grandfather Lucas Standish ponders the imminent future and impending doom that faces Europe. Unbeknownst to his family, Lucas was the chief of MI6, the British secret service, during the last war. Too old to play that game anymore, he can only hope that the weak-kneed politicians will stop conciliating that menace Hitler. But when he receives word that his favorite granddaughter Elena is in trouble in Berlin, he discovers that one is never too old to work behind the scenes....
In this first book of a new series, Anne Perry rides the popular wave of World War II fiction to create her own memorable offering. The cast of characters contain echoes of Anne Perry's ensembles from other series, but this gives the book a sense of comfortability rather than a tediousness. One thing I enjoy is Perry's unique gift for delivering historical detail in dialogue that unfolds the character at the same time as explaining the situation. As usual, Perry's pacing keeps the reader turning pages, and while Elena is not quite as standout a protagonist as some of Perry's other leading ladies, Lucas makes up for any deficiencies with his own septuagenarian charm. Readers who enjoy World War II fiction will enjoy this international thriller.
Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.
eastofthesunwestofthemoon's review against another edition
5.0
5 stars. Audio book. This is a great start to a new series. Elena is a very engaging protagonist; I liked the supporting characters as well. The plot kept me interested and the mystery was reasonable too. I've already started the second in series.
mindyt's review against another edition
3.0
Maybe a 3.5. It is setting the stage for the new series. I found the main character (Elena) exasperating at times.
nicholeigh's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
3.0
kubooks's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
sabregirl's review against another edition
5.0
I'm not a big mystery reader because I hate waiting until the end to find out things. This as no different, which explains why I read the last 100 or so pages in two days. It does take a while to get into, there is a lot of backstory that they gloss over. Which is disappointing, but looks like it's going to be covered in the second book. A lot of dialogue was vague and hard to understand. I think a lot of the book was supposed to be like that but sometimes it didn't work out. The twist at the end I saw coming which was disappointing but still enjoyable.
It took me a while to like Elena. She was awfully naive, especially for someone who has already gone through a World War and a lot in her life. She got better as the book went on but not a lot. I want to read the second book but if she's the same way especially for what she's doing it'll ruin the book series for me.
It took me a while to like Elena. She was awfully naive, especially for someone who has already gone through a World War and a lot in her life. She got better as the book went on but not a lot. I want to read the second book but if she's the same way especially for what she's doing it'll ruin the book series for me.
tyrshand's review against another edition
3.0
I used to read a lot of Anne Perry’s mysteries — I quite lived Charlotte Pitt. However, apparently I’m not as keen on Perry’s spy thrillers. I just could not get too interested in Elena’s flopping into trouble because she’s hanging around with one dude or another. It is quite lucky for her that so many men, for reasons of their own, helped her out of scrape after scrape. Often to their detriment.
I’m not too sure why the rest of her family had so much page-time as they were pretty unhelpful and divorced from much of the main plot. I don’t think we really needed to know as much about them as we did. If anything, their scenes seemed to be about being the moral right. Like, yay, I do want reads with acceptance of diversity! However, it seemed a bit disingenuous to have the Brits in the story be so “why those awful Germans and their cruel views on Gypsies, Jews, and homosexuals!” as if that was just Nazi stuff and not, you know, pretty common. The British, after all, put their own extremely valuable asset, Alan Turing, through hell for being gay not long after this book is set. So yeah, it’s cool to have the Standishes be so accepting, but make sure it doesn’t appear that everyone except the Nazis were so very noble.
I’m not too sure why the rest of her family had so much page-time as they were pretty unhelpful and divorced from much of the main plot. I don’t think we really needed to know as much about them as we did. If anything, their scenes seemed to be about being the moral right. Like, yay, I do want reads with acceptance of diversity! However, it seemed a bit disingenuous to have the Brits in the story be so “why those awful Germans and their cruel views on Gypsies, Jews, and homosexuals!” as if that was just Nazi stuff and not, you know, pretty common. The British, after all, put their own extremely valuable asset, Alan Turing, through hell for being gay not long after this book is set. So yeah, it’s cool to have the Standishes be so accepting, but make sure it doesn’t appear that everyone except the Nazis were so very noble.