After reading the description of The Last Secret Agent by authors Pippa Latour and Jude Dobson, I wanted to read this story about the last female British secret agent in WWII.
This memoir is a fascinating and gripping account of Pippa Latour’s early life and her experiences as a British female operative who was dropped behind enemy lines in France during WWII. Pippa’s early life and experiences uniquely equipped and developed her character to be well-suited for the work she would sign-up for in her early 20’s.
I never knew that women were used as secret agents and deployed in war zones. It was interesting to read about her training and the dangerous work she engaged in to transmit information on Germany’s troop movements back to Britian. The dangers that these operatives encountered in the battle against Nazi Germany is almost unimaginable. The life span of the operatives behind enemy lines was short. They had a greater chance of being taken captive, tortured, and murdered than coming out alive. The courage that Pippa displayed, along with the men and women like her, who served their county and the Allied Nations is awe-inspiring.
We owe a great debt to the men and women fought in the critical battle against the great evil that Hitler’s Germany unleashed on the free-world.
Pippa Latour’s recollections were beautifully recorded, researched and written by writer Jude Dobson. This is an excellent memoir about an extraordinary woman who lived in a unique and critical time in history. I highly recommend The Last Secret Agent by Pippa Latour with author Jude Dobson.
I would like to thank St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read a complimentary copy of The Last Secret Agent by Pippa Latour with Jude Dobson. I was under no obligation to give a favorable review.
Ann Cleeves is an excellent storyteller and I was excited for the opportunity to read her new book The Raging Storm, the third book in the Detective Matthew Venn series. I have not read the first two books.
Matthew Venn and his team were called to handle a case in Greystone, Devon after a famous sailor and adventurer, Jem Rosco, has been found dead in a dinghy. Though Jem hails from the Greystone area, he is not necessarily considered a local hero by those who knew him way back when. Will the investigators be able to draw out the truth from the people in this community?
I wanted to like this book, but I really struggled with the characters. The main character Matthew was not likable. He came off as a miserable man, who chose to carry the baggage from his past, and have a chip on his shoulder. At times he treated his team poorly and seemed to have a low opinion of them, as well as the townspeople.
Of all the characters I liked Sergeant Jen Rafferty the best. Her character was better developed and came across likeable. Though things are not easy in her life, she doesn’t wallow in self-pity. Ross May’s character was rather flat and the object of Matthew’s criticism.
From Matthew’s experience of religion, to the people in the community that seemed rather cultish, Christianity was portrayal as unhealthy. It was an unrealistic portrayal of Christian believers.
The story was very convoluted. The people in the community seems rather insular and secretive, not the kind of folks you want to spend time with. There were only a few characters that were somewhat likeable. The story seemed to drag on and I just wanted it to end. From the town, to most the characters everything about this booked seemed rather grey and unappealing.
I have enjoyed Ann Cleeve’s other books and movies taken from her novels. But The Raging Storm was not appealing. When the main character is so off-putting it doesn’t make a good foundation for a story. I would like have to have had the other characters on Matthew’s team better developed.
Because of the unlikable main character Matthew and the convoluted story that dragged on, I didn’t care for The Raging Storm.
I would like to thank St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read Ann Cleeve’s book The Raging Storm. I received a complimentary copy of this book and was under no obligation to give a favorable review. The Raging Storm is schedule to be released September 5, 2023.
The Rising Tide by Ann Cleeves is the tenth book about DI Vera Stanhope. I’ve watched the PBS series on Vera over the years but never read a novel by Ann Cleeves. She makes the characters come alive as she reveals details about their personalities and lives while unveiling the mystery.
The Rising Tide is about a group of friends who have known each other since high school. Fifty years ago, their teacher had organized a weekend, Only Connect, where the group members bonded. They’ve been gathering every five years since. During the first reunion, one of their friends, Isobel, was killed in a terrible tragedy. On their 50th reunion, friend Rick Kelsall was found hanged. Was it suicide or murder? You can be sure that Vera and her team will not rest until they find out the truth about what happened, why, and who is responsible.
Vera Stanhope is one of my favorite characters. I love her dogged determination to solve a case and bring justice for the deceased. She is not intimidated by powerful and influential people and treats all potential suspects the same way. I especially appreciated getting a better understanding and insight into Vera’s team members Joe, Holly, Billy, and Paul.
I enjoyed reading TheRisingTide and getting to know the characters better. AnnCleeves does a great job bringing characters to life and describing the scenes so the reader can visualize what’s happening. She’s a great storyteller and I highly recommend TheRisingTide by Ann Cleeves.
I would like to thank St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read a complimentary copy of TheRisingTide by Ann Cleeves. I was under no obligation to give a favorable review.
I wanted to read The Crown in Crisis – Countdown to the Abdication by author Alexander Larman because I had heard about the King Edward VIII’s abdicating the throne for divorcee Mrs. Wallis Simpson. I didn’t know any of the details other than the fact that Mrs. Simpson was an American who was twice divorced. It all seemed very romantic and like true love that would bring a man to give up the throne of England to be with his beloved.
Well, I was in for an awakening. As I write my thoughts about King Edward VIII, I need to divorce my feels about him from what I think about this book.
As the man was portrayed in this book, I found King Edward VIII to be an arrogant, rude, immature, vapid, insufferable, selfish, boring jerk who focused on himself instead of others. He put himself over and above the Country he had been entrusted with. Mrs. Wallis Simpson wasn’t much better. She seemed to be on a quest for power and money and used sex or whatever she had to entrap men, including King Edward VIII. Wallis was not twice divorced, but once when she started committing adultery with King Edward. As part of their weird relationship, a plan was implemented for Wallis to divorce her current husband so the two could marry. But they made it look like Wallis’ husband was the one who was committing adultery and she was the innocent one. Their adultery was blatant and it fractured Edward’s relationship with his father, King George V.
Not sure if the book accurately portrayed Kind Edward VIII and Wallace Simpson? It may have been accurate. Obviously, when a man is ready to toss the crown away for a woman who uses people, they will make a few enemies along the way. It was hard to tell if the author had a negative viewpoint of the King and Mrs. Simpson, or if the preponderance of information about them was negative from the people who surrounded them during this timeframe.
Regarding the book, apart from two very dislikable people, it had some negatives. The book came across as very gossipy, and you know gossips are not always the most reliable source. At times, I found the story and scenes confusing in how they were written. It has long sentences that made the point hard to follow. There were volumes of people in this book, too many to really tell the story in a straight, interesting understandable manner. Some of the accounts were very confusing and skipped from one person to another. There didn’t seem to be a logical order, especially about to the attempted assassination of King Edward VIII. At times, the author went into too much detail and pursued rabbit trails that took away from the story instead of making it richer. It seemed like the author had so much information about King Edward VIII and Mrs. Simpson from the many, many people that surrounded them that he included it all in the book. I’m sure he left a lot out, but I found this book was not written in a fashion that made drew the reader in and unveiled what happened during this crisis in an interesting, logical, and organized way.
I hated the first chapter, it was gross and vile in what was said and seemed to be rumors, innuendo, and speculation as opposed to facts. Throughout this book, I noted many times that it seemed gossipy. If I hadn’t agreed to read the book and give a review, I would have closed the book and not finished it.
I did find that the last third of the book interesting. You would think if someone wanted to walk away from the throne, they could hand over the reins to the next one in line. Not so. It was a huge crisis for England and there were a lot of politics and power plays that were happening and of course, family relationships that were impacted. This was the part of the book that was most interesting.
King Edward VIII was a man who should have never been king. From the beginning, I thought it was God’s providence that spared England from a weak self-absorbed king, as the nation would soon be in a war for the survival of their nation and the free world.
Would I recommend this book? Probably not. Take into account the good and bad information and make a decision if you would like to read it.
I would like to thank St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read the TheCrown in Crisis by Alexander Larman. I was provided with a complimentary copy of this book and not under any obligation to give a favorable review.
Susan's Blog 