Dublin 1940.
An IRA attack leaves two guards dead on the streets of Dublin. Two days later, a battle between warring gangs erupts at a race meeting, and on Ireland’s east coast the cremated bodies of a wealthy family of five are found in their shuttered, burned-out villa.
Dispatched from Special Branch to investigate, Detective Inspector Stefan Gillespie soon finds himself caught in a web of Irish, British and German Intelligence – all playing against each other, all watching each other, and all plagued by rogue operators they can’t quite control, as the certainty grows that Hitler is about to invade England.
And then, Stephen is sent to Berlin on a sensitive mission. His journey home becomes a dangerous pursuit in which no one can be trusted and the information he carries puts his life on the line.
An IRA attack leaves two guards dead on the streets of Dublin. Two days later, a battle between warring gangs erupts at a race meeting, and on Ireland’s east coast the cremated bodies of a wealthy family of five are found in their shuttered, burned-out villa.
Dispatched from Special Branch to investigate, Detective Inspector Stefan Gillespie soon finds himself caught in a web of Irish, British and German Intelligence – all playing against each other, all watching each other, and all plagued by rogue operators they can’t quite control, as the certainty grows that Hitler is about to invade England.
And then, Stephen is sent to Berlin on a sensitive mission. His journey home becomes a dangerous pursuit in which no one can be trusted and the information he carries puts his life on the line.
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Reviews
Complex but compelling ... utterly vivid and convincing ... Michael Russell's style is a pleasure: easy, fluent, clear, always calm and never over-heated. The result is an exciting comfort read, which sounds like a paradox but isn't
Atmospheric thriller
In action ranging from Dublin to Danzig Russell has drawn on real-life Irish characters whose decent behaviour in the face of the impending Holocaust has been sadly lost over the years. This book has triumphantly revived their reputation
Having already brought 1930s Dublin and Danzig vividly to life in his outstanding debut The City of Shadows, Russell does the same for New York in a sequel that's even better. The unique complexity of Ireland's divided loyalties and enmities on the eve of the Second World War is explored with unusual clarity and intelligence, and there are plenty of thrills and spills too
Michael Russell is a master at building tension. This is a thriller to keep you guessing and gasping
A superb, atmospheric thriller...A page turner of high quality, populated by a marvellous set of fictional characters, interwoven cleverly with real characters of the era. Highly recommended
Part thriller and part historical novel, this is a blinder of a read!
A great insight into a turbulent time in Dublin and Ireland, in a challenging-to-your-heartbeat kind of way
