Tag: historical thriller

Book Review – The Predicament by William Boyd

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About the Book

Front cover of The Predicament by William Boyd

Gabriel Dax, travel writer and accidental spy, is back in the shadows. Unable to resist the allure of his MI6 handler, Faith Green, he has returned to a life of secrets and subterfuge. Dax is sent to Guatemala under the guise of covering a tinderbox presidential election, where the ruthless decisions of the Mafia provoke pitch-black warfare in collusion with the CIA.

As political turmoil erupts, Gabriel’s reluctant involvement deepens. His escape plan leads him to West Berlin, where he uncovers a chilling realisation: there is a plot to assassinate magnetic young President John F. Kennedy. In a race against time, Gabriel must navigate deceit and danger, knowing that the stakes have never been higher . . .

Format: Hardcover (272 pages) Publisher: Viking
Publication date: 4th September 2025 Genre: Historical Fiction, Thriller

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My Review

Gabriel Dax is certainly in a predicament. He’s in thrall to Faith Green, the head of the MI6 section known as ‘the termite hunters’ charged with rooting out traitors within the service. He finds her alluring but something of an enigma. Indeed he refers to her as ‘the Sphinx of the Institute of Developmental Studies’, the cover name for her section.

Does she feel the same way about him? Sometimes he thinks the answer is yes, at other times he wonders if he’s just being manipulated because his travel writing provides useful cover for trips abroad and opens doors that might otherwise be closed. Such is the case when he’s sent to Guatamala to interview an influential presidential candidate. His last interview with a similar figure didn’t end well, and this time is no different.

So enmeshed in the secret world of espionage has Gabriel become that he’s found himself in the dubious position of posing as a double agent for the Russians, acting as decoy for a British triple agent. The only upside is the Russians are generous with money enabling him to move to the countryside in the hope of finding some peace and quiet to work on his latest book. Some hope…

Gabriel is someone you can’t help rooting for even though he often makes foolish blunders and lets his fascination with Faith lead him into all sorts of dangerous situations. Having said that, Faith is facing her own challenges just at the moment. To quote Shakespeare, ‘When sorrows come, they come not single spies, but in battalions’ because a problem Gabriel encountered on his previous mission, which he thought he’d put to bed permanently, resurfaces (literally), he’s being sued for plagiarism and his ex-girlfriend Lorraine is keen to rekindle their relationship. His only respite from his problems is his sessions with his therapist, Dr Katrina Haas.

The book has all the hallmarks of an espionage thriller with Gabriel forced to adopt the sort of spycraft you’d find in a John lé Carre novel, including how to lose someone trying to follow you. He’s also given a quick lesson in how to kill using only the contents of your pockets, such as a notebook or set of keys. The prospect of finding himself in a dangerous situation involving some very nasty people is never far away.

From Guatemala the action moves to West Berlin (don’t worry, there are connections) and sees Gabriel become involved in frantic attempts to disrupt a plot to assassinate President John F. Kennedy. You might be thinking, we all know JFK wasn’t assassinated in Berlin so where’s the tension? But of course Gabriel doesn’t know that. His frenzied efforts to spot a face in the crowd, a face only he has seen, and then the sudden realisation that everyone is on the wrong track is absolutely gripping even if it does have strong ‘The Day of the Jackal’ vibes.

The Predicament is a thoroughly enjoyable, stylish spy thriller with a great sense of time and place.

I received a review copy courtesy of Viking via NetGalley.

In three words: Intriguing, entertaining, well-crafted
Try something similar: The Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth

About the Author

Author William Boyd

William Boyd was born in 1952 in Accra, Ghana, and grew up there and in Nigeria. He is the author of sixteen highly acclaimed, bestselling novels and five collections of stories. Any Human Heart was longlisted for the Booker Prize and adapted into a TV series with Channel 4. In 2005, Boyd was awarded the CBE. He is married and divides his time between London and south-west France. (Photo: Goodreads author page/Bio: Publisher author page)

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Book Review – A Death in Berlin by Simon Scarrow #ADeathInBerlin @headlinepg

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Welcome to today’s stop on the blog tour for A Death in Berlin by Simon Scarrow, the third book in the author’s crime thriller series set in WW2 Berlin. My thanks to Sophie at Ransom PR for inviting me to take part in the tour and to Headline for my digital review copy via NetGalley. Do check out the review by my tour buddy for today, Sue at Brown Flopsy’s Book Burrow.

About the Book

Berlin. May 1940. As Hitler prepares to invade Western Europe, there is bloodshed closer to home.

CI Horst Schenke is an exceptional investigator with the Kripo unit. Powerless against the consequences of the wider war, he fights to keep criminals off his patch of Berlin. But with influential men questioning his loyalty to the Nazi regime, he is walking a tightrope. If his secret relationship with a Jewish woman is exposed, that would spell the end.

Berlin’s gangsters run their crime rings with impunity. Decadent senior Nazis are happy to protect them. Schenke is different. He refuses to turn a blind eye when innocent victims are caught in the crossfire between warring gangs. But dangerous enemies know everything about him. They will do whatever it takes to bend him to their will . . .

From the seedy wartime nightlife scene to aristocratic homes frequented by the Führer himself, against a backdrop of a war spiralling into a greater, and closer conflagration, A Death in Berlin conveys the horror and banality of evil. And the terrible danger for those who dare stand against it.

Format: Hardcover (400 pages) Publisher: Headline
Publication date: 13th March 2025 Genre: Historical Fiction, Crime, Thriller

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My Review

A Death in Berlin is the third book featuring Criminal Inspector Horst Schenke, the follow-up to Blackout and Dead of Night.

Horst Schenke is a brilliant character. He has a strong sense of justice and bringing criminals to book is what drives him. It enables him to temporarily put to one side his growing alarm at and distaste for what is happening to Germany under the Nazis. But that’s becoming increasingly difficult. The fact he has not yet joined the Nazi party or applied for membership of the SS and turned down a role working for Heydrich marks him out in the eyes of his new boss Oberfuhrer Radinsky as a maverick. Nazi Germany does not care for mavericks. It’s only Schenke’s excellent results that protect him. Oh, and his previous career as a famous racing driver. It turns out he has an unexpected fan too.

Schenke has an additional weak spot in the form of his relationship with Ruth, a Jewish woman. Their relationship must remain clandestine for both their sakes: snatched meetings in out of the way places organised by coded messages and constant vigilence. For Schenke, discovery would mean the end of his career, and possibly worse. For Ruth it would mean certain death. ‘Caution was not just a watchword but the essence of their survival.’

But a secret makes you vulnerable and open to manipulation, as Schenke discovers. It results in the most difficult moral dilemma he has faced in his career.

Schenke’s team return: the trusty Sergeant Hauser, handy in a brawl; and Scharfuhrer Liebwitz, seconded from the Gestapo and possessed of a remarkable memory and eye for detail. (I did love learning a little more about their personal lives.) Their investigation into forged ration coupons, a valuable commodity in a time of increasing deprivation for ordinary Germans (but not for high-ranking Nazis), takes them into the murky, dog-eat-dog, world of criminal gangs.

For Schenke, increasingly there’s little difference between the immorality of the criminal underworld and that of the Nazi regime. And sometimes – just sometimes – your enemy’s enemy is your friend and the end does justify the means. It’s the cue for some terrific action scenes, including one fuelled by revenge and a desperate attempt to save a life.

As Hitler unleashes the full might of the German army on Western Europe, Schenke can only despair at what his country has become. I’m sure we can all think of contemporary parallels.

If you’re looking for a brilliant historical thriller set against the backdrop of real events with a leading character you can’t help but root for, A Death in Berlin will not disappoint.

In three words: Dramatic, atmospheric, suspenseful
Try something similar: The Ashes of Berlin by Luke McCallin

About the Author

Author Simon Scarrow

Simon Scarrow is a Sunday Times No. 1 bestselling author. His books – which have sold over 6 million copies – include two earlier Criminal Inspector Schenke thrillers, Blackout and Dead of Night, and his Eagles of the Empire novels featuring Roman soldiers Macro and Cato, most recently Revenge of Rome, Rebellion and Death to the Emperor.

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