My Review (5 stars out of 5) A suspicious death at the BB Sauce factory prompts Chief Inspector Mason to start an investigation. Along with his female sergeant, O’Rourke, Mason must work out what caused the death of factory worker Harry Armstrong. Found in a vat of the secret BB sauce, did the man commit…
Category: War
‘They Have Their Exits’ by Airey Neave
My Review (5 stars out of 5) Long before he became a senior member of Thatcher’s Government and his subsequent assassination by the IRA, Airey Neave had a distinguished war record. Taken prisoner in 1940, he made several escape attempts and was one of the few British prisoners to successfully make a ‘home-run’ from Colditz…
‘Killing Rommel’ by Steven Pressfield
My Review (5 stars out of 5) (Audiobook) In 1942, Hitler’s armies are sweeping across Europe. In North Africa, Rommel has beaten back the British Eighth Army and stands ready to overrun Egypt, Suez, and the oil fields of the Middle East. The British come up with a desperate plan to infiltrate enemy lines and…
‘Broadsword Calling Danny Boy’ by Geoff Dyer
My Review (5 stars out of 5) Writer and critic Geoff Dyer serves up a scene-by-scene analysis of the classic war movie, ‘Where Eagles Dare’ highlighting his favourite scenes as well as commenting on some of the actors’ proclivities – such as Richard Burton’s drinking, and Clint Eastwood’s stock-in-trade expressions. ‘Where Eagles Dare’ is one…
‘The Skeleton Road’ by Val McDermid
My Review (5 stars out of 5) The discovery of a skeleton on the roof of a gothic building in Edinburgh gives Detective Chief Inspector Karen Pirie a difficult starting point. The task of identifying the bones, which have lain there for several years, means the lack of evidence leaves the team little to go…
‘A Woman of No Importance’ by Sonia Purnell
My Review (5 stars out of 5) In September 1941, a young American woman posing as a journalist arrived in Vichy, France. Her task was to work with the French resistance to sabotage, upset, and divert the Nazi invaders. By 1942 the Gestapo were hot on her heels, but Virginia Hall continued to slip through…
‘The War of the Worlds’ by HG Wells
My Review (5 stars out of 5) When an army of invading Martians lands in England, the population are thrown into panic. As huge three-legged machines trample across the countryside destroying everything in their path with a deadly heat ray, the people of Earth must come to terms with the possibility that humanity is to…
‘The Austrian Bride’ by Helen Parusel
The Austrian Bride My Review (4 stars out of 5) Austria, 1938. Longing for a better future for her fellow Austrians, Ella is caught up in the excitement when Hitler marches into Linz. But her enthusiasm fades as she witnesses the Nazis methods. Encouraged to join the Reich Bride School by her boyfriend Max and…
‘A Town Like Alice’ by Nevil Shute
My Review (5 stars out of 5) (Audio Book) Twenty-year-old Jean Paget is captured by the Japanese while working in Malaya during World War Two. Along with a group of women and children she is forced to march through the jungle while the enemy figures out what to do with their prisoners. Meeting some Australian…
‘Burke in the Land of Silver’ by Tom Williams
My Review (4 stars out of 5) Taking on the role of a spy, soldier James Burke reinvents himself as a Buenos Aires leather merchant, and with his trusty assistant William, sets off to aid efforts to free Argentina from Spain. Caught between two warring factions, Burke is faced with a difficult task and soon…
Colin Garrow 