| This is the second book in a series about Sergeant Fredrick Troy of Scotland Yard during the war years. It is however a prequel, since the first took place in 1944 and this one takes place in 1941.
A secondary character, Calvin M. Cormack III, is an American handler of a spy in the service of Heydrich. When the spy is discovered, he places his papers and uniform on a faceless body he found in the rubble of his bombed out apartment house in Berlin and escapes to London. Cormack believes he is dead, and it takes the British to bring to his attention the fact that the spy is not dead and the Germans have given him a heroes funeral because the want to quietly find him and keep the secret he has escaped with. In London, Sergeant Troy is drawn into the story because of a murder of a German agent. I did not like the style of writing this author used. All his characters sounded the same, all used clipped or choppy sentences. The American, Cormack, is a Virginian, with a Civil War Veteran grandfather and father who are both in politics. He tries to get the speech and slang right but keeps slipping back into British slang and ideas. | ||
|
Plot & Themes Tone of story - suspenseful (sophisticated fear) Time/era of story: Spying/Terrorism Thriller Yes Cloak & Dagger Plotlets: Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book descript. of violence and chases - 10 % Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 40 % Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 30 % How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 20 % War-time military intelligence mission? Yes Main Character Gender - Male Profession/status: Age: - 20's-30's Ethnicity/Race Main Adversary Identity: - Male Age: - 40's-50's Profession/status: The antagonists are: - communists How sensitive is this character? Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters Setting Europe Yes European country: - England/UK Writing Style Accounts of torture and death? - moderately detailed references to deaths Explicit sex in book? Yes What kind of sex: - actual description of sex Amount of dialog - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog |
||