20BooksofSummer – What Cathy Read Next…

About the Book

1943. The war is turning against the Third Reich but the Luftwaffe are eagerly exploiting a lethal blind spot in the RAF’s Lancaster bombers with their innovative upward-firing cannon.

MI5’s Tam Moncrieff lobbies ceaselessly for a solution in the face of officials’ indifference. His quest sees him accompanying a bombing raid deep into Nazi Germany that will change the course of the war.

The target is the Nazis’ flagship city of Nuremberg. With bright moonlight and clear visibility, the conditions are perfect… for the enemy. The Luftwaffe are jubilant as they take out plane after plane.

With so many men dead or captured, can RAF Bomber Command overcome their darkest hour, when the predators have become the prey?

Format: Hardcover (400 pages) Publisher: Head of Zeus
Publication date: 2nd July 2026 Genre: Historical Fiction

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My Review

Prey is the eleventh book in the ‘Spoils of War’ collection. The books are designed to be read in any order or as standalones, although some characters appear in more than one book. Each book focuses on a particular aspect of the Spanish Civil War or Second World War – a time, a place, a campaign – weaving a fictional story around historical facts.

Like previous books, events unfold from the point of view of two main characters. In this case it’s Luftwaffe pilot Dieter Merz and MI5 officer Tam Montcrieff. (They first appeared together in Estocada, book three of the series.) Merz is one of the pilots who have perfected a tactic the Luftwaffe have named Schräge Musik which targets a blind spot on the Lancaster bombers that are carrying out devastating raids on German cities. The design flaw is not unknown to Bomber Command but they have dismissed making modifications that might counter it, even as air crew losses increase. Moncrieff becomes involved in attempts to overcome this, placing himself at risk in the process.

A secondary plot line involves Montcrieff investigating the circumstances surrounding the disappearance of a soldier, Jimmy Anderson, during the chaos of the retreat to Dunkirk. Ex-Royal Marine Tam, who carries a Beretta, is revealed as a bit of a ladies’ man. Perhaps it’s no coincidence that Sean Connery, the original cinematic embodiment of James Bond, was known in his teens as ‘Big Tam’. Having said that, Montcrieff is more of a pie and a pint man than a caviar and vodka martini one. However, he’s definitely shaken and stirred by some of his encounters during his investigation.

Graham Hurley can be relied upon to deliver thrillingly realistic and dramatic scenes. This time they include a dizzying flight through a narrow mountain pass and a night flight aboard a Lancaster bomber. There are sombre moments as well such as when Merz’s wife Beata witnesses firsthand the utter ruthlessness of the German war machine. Merz is no fanatical Nazi either. Surveying the ruined city of Augsburg he observes the change in its citizens from people with ‘heavy-bellied Bavarian swagger’ to people ‘shrunken and pale’ in thin winter coats. ‘These folk have been betrayed, Merz thought. By the regime, by Hitler’s reckless promises, by us.’ Other scenes that stick in my mind are Montcrieff’s gentle questioning of a soldier who has suffered a severe brain injury and the very personal motivation for a daring aerobatics display.

What I enjoy about this series is not just the exciting storylines but how much I learn about the history of the period along the way. I also love it when an author includes a ‘blink and you’ll miss it’ gift to the observant reader. There’s one in this book (at least it was in my ARC) – the name of an estate agent.

I received an advance reader copy courtesy of Head of Zeus via NetGalley. Prey is book 1 of my 20 Books of Summer 2026.

In three words: Compelling, dramatic, authentic
Try something similar: V2 by Robert Harris

About the Author

Graham Hurley is a documentary maker and a novelist. For the last two decades he’s written full-time, penning nearly fifty books. Two made the shortlist for the Theakston’s Old Peculiar Crime Novel of the Year, while Finisterre – the first in the Spoils of War collection – was shortlisted for the Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Award. Graham lives in East Devon with his lovely wife, Lin.

Connect with Graham
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Last year Cathy at 746 Books handed over the baton of the 20 Books of Summer Reading Challenge to two new hosts: Annabel at AnnaBookBel and Emma at Words and Peace. This year Annabel has taken on sole hosting duties producing brand new graphics and a new hashtag #20BOS26.

The 20 Books of Summer 2026 challenge runs from 1st June to 31st August. You can find all the information you need about the challenge here where you can also sign up to participate.

Every year I approach the challenge high on ambition and usually low on likelihood of success. I’m aiming for the full 20 books again but this year with a healthy dose of realism. Therefore the majority of books on my list are from my NetGalley shelf, prioritising those with publication dates between June and September that I should theoretically be reading during that period anyway. I’ve added a couple from my current Classics Club list, my book club’s June pick and a couple of nonfiction books. Finally the remaining books longlisted for this year’s Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction that I haven’t yet read.

Being a stubborn old so-and-so, I like to stick to my original list and not take advantage of the option to swap books in and out – although that doesn’t mean I won’t, especially as I give myself more freedom to abandon books during the challenge if they’re not working for me. Links from the titles will take you to the book description on Goodreads. I’ll update them with links to my reviews when I’ve read them.