REPOST The Survivors by Jane Harper Now out in paperback

My rating: 5 of 5 stars 

I have always been a sucker for 'returning home' novels and, in recent years, perhaps any year, Jane Harper's THE DRY was one of the best. THE SURVIVORS is a close second. Like her debut, this novel concerns a man returning home after a tragedy. Kieran returns to Tasmania, to a small coastal town where, several years ago his brother, Finn, died in circumstances for which Kieran has always felt guilt. Finn did not die alone and others blame Kieran too. Not long after Kieran, his girlfriend and their baby daughter arrive back in Evelyn Bay another suspicious death occurs...

Jane Harper has spun another tale of going home, to suspicion, to gossip, to retribution? THE SURVIVORS is tightly plotted and suspenseful, but it is the author's ability to draw realistic, fully-rounded and flawed characters, and her sense of place which makes the book stand out. You can feel the sand blowing against your shins, hear the waves crashing around the feet of the statues which stand in the surf and which give the novel its title. But, of course, the real survivors are those whose lives have been impacted by decisions made in the past. The book is a tour de force which builds to a climax as storms, both physical and metaphorical, rise and threaten to devastate everything in their path.

#BlogTour - Resistance by Mara Timon

Three women. One mission. Enemies everywhere.

May 1944. When spy Elisabeth de Mornay, code name Cécile, notices a coded transmission from an agent in the field does not bear his usual signature, she suspects his cover has been blown– something that is happening with increasing frequency. With the situation in Occupied France worsening and growing fears that the Resistance has been compromised, Cécile is ordered behind enemy lines.

Having rendezvoused with her fellow agents, Léonie and Dominique, together they have one mission: help the Resistance destabilise German operations to pave the way for the Normandy landings.

But the life of a spy is never straightforward, and the in-fighting within the Resistance makes knowing who to trust ever more difficult. With their lives on the line, all three women will have to make decisions that could cost them everything - for not all their enemies are German.

Mara Timon's follow up to last year's excellent CITY OF SPIES continues the story of Special Operations Executive agent, Elisabeth de Mornay as she is dropped behind enemy lines in Occupied France in the weeks leading up to the D-Day Landings. As part of an all-female team, Elisabeth works with the resistance against the occupying Nazi force, sending coded messages back to London, attempting to disrupt German plans, and spreading disinformation about the anticipated Allied 'invasion' of Normandy. Posing as a German/Alsatian gentlewoman, Elisabeth finds that she is not readily accepted by the Réseau with which she is working, indeed comes to suspect that there may be a traitor in the resistance network.

RESISTANCE is an exciting novel, tense and claustrophobic. Mara Timon captures perfectly the suspicion and fear, the simultaneous 'living on the edge' thrill of WWII spycraft. The plot does not let up, it drives forward with increasing anxiety. The characters, on both sides, are realistic and very well drawn, the dialogue convincingly authentic. While primarily an espionage thriller, the book does not shy away from the horrors of war. I thoroughly enjoyed the book as entertainment and was also inspired to dig a bit deeper into the historical reality against which the story takes place, and the author's notes at the end offer some guidance to those who want to understand the background.

RESISTANCE is superb, even better than CITY OF SPIES, and I look forward to seeing what Mara Timon comes up with next.

Thanks to Tracy Fenton of Compulsive Readers @Tr4ctF3nt0n, Vicky Joss of Bonnier Books @VickyJoss1 and Mara Timon @MaraTimon for the invitation to the Blogtour.