 |
This historical novel of World War II employs a "you are there" technique to put readers right in the middle of some of that conflagration's most intricate planning and preparation, particularly as it relates to England's efforts at keeping Germany from turning Portugal (under the guise of neutrality) into a haven for Nazi support. Historical figures play dominant roles in the story, and many of their depictions feel unusually authentic, aided no doubt by the author's personal relationships with them later in their lives.
Lisbon is at the heart of the action where double and even triple agents swap secrets, market misinformation, and engage in all manner of dangerous liaisons. However, it's the scenes within the corridors of power in London and the cottages and estates nearby that have been turned into training grounds for spies, counterspies, and code-breaking that enhance this chronicle's atmosphere of credibility. Real locations and people such as the traitor Kim Philby, the computer wizard Alan Turing, the German admiral who helped the allies—Wilhelm Canaris, and the famed writer of James Bond novels, Ian Fleming, are all brought to life engagingly in chapter after chapter.
Author Wells manages not only to shed light on a seldom-explored yet critical British operation in the second world war, but he also reveals the importance of this clandestine undertaking in the birth of America's OSS (under the direction of William "Wild Bill" Donovan) that was later to become the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). At the end of his crisply written narrative, Wells provides a bio and photo of the real-life participants characterized in his story. This is a tale likely to entice history buffs, spy fans, and readers who like their fiction with a large dollop of facts.