#6Degrees Of Separation Book Challenge From Fight Club to We That Are Left

Welcome to my first #6Degrees challenge

Hosted by Kate from Books Are My Favourite And Best The idea is to start at the same book as other readers, then link six books, and see where you end up! I first saw this challenge on @bookertalk ‘s blog. Here is a link to her February list.

This month the starting book was Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk The book features an unnamed narrator who leaves his lackluster job when he comes under the thrall of Tyler Durden, an enigmatic young man who holds secret after-hours boxing matches in the basement of bars. There, two men fight “as long as they have to.” This work exposes the darkness at the core of our modern world.

(I have not read Fight Club, but I have read my six books).

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I chose the unnamed narrator as my link to the next book in my chain.

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The Golden Orphans by Gary Raymond has an unnamed narrator. This is a mystery set on Cyprus. An artist is asked to paint the dreams of his mysterious Russian benefactor.

I chose Russia as my link to my next book.

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Moscow Bound by Adrian Churchward. An English human rights lawyer is asked to find a man who has been languishing for decades without trial in the Gulag system. He’ll uncover hidden cold-war secrets during his search.

I chose the cold war theme as the link to my next book.

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Nighfall Berlin by Jack Grimwood This book is set mainly in Berlin. In a plot with plenty of twists, British Intelligence, the East German Stasi and the Russian Communists are all involved.

I chose spies as my link to my next book.

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Transcription by Kate Atkinson is historical fiction with three distinct settings. It is about a young women recruited by the secret service into the world of espionage. The second part of the story is set in 1950 where she is a producer of radio programmes for schools.

I chose the post World War Two period as my next theme.

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Call Nurse Millie by Jean Fullerton For 25-year-old Millie, a qualified nurse and midwife, the jubilation at the end of the war is short-lived as she tends to the needs of the East End community around her.

I chose nursing in war as my last book.

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We That Are Left by Juilet Greenwood – Set during WWI it features three friends: Alice finds work in a hospital, Elin makes plans to grow more foodstuffs to feed the local community, and Mouse heads off to France with a truck full of medical supplies.

I’m a little late posting this. If you’d like to join the challenge in March (posts should go out around March 2nd) The starting point book is The Arsonist by Chloe Hooper, a true crime novel.

2018 WHEN Are You Reading? @SamAnnElizabeth ‘s Challenge – Completed

Way back in January I decided to try this challenge run by Sam Ann Elizabeth 

The complete challenge was to include at least 12 books, one from each of the following eras:

  • Pre 1500
  • 1500-1599
  • 1600-1699
  • 1700-1799
  • 1800-1899
  • 1900-1919
  • 1920-1939
  • 1940-1959
  • 1960-1979
  • 1980-1999
  • 2000-Present
  • The Future

I wasn’t sure if I read widely enough across the timeline, but today my results surprised me. In sections where I’ve read a high volume of books, I’ve chosen a selection of books. Book titles have links to my reviews.

Pre 1500s

Athena’s Champion by David Hair and Cath Mayo – Greek mythology

Brethren by Robyn Young – Knights Templar

Smile Of The Wolf by Tim Leach – Set in Iceland

The Greenest Branch by J.K. Adams – Set in Germany and features Benedictine abbess Hildegard

The Heart Of The Conqueror by G. Lawrence – About William the Conqueror

Daughter Of War by S .J .A. Turney – Knights Templar

1500-1599

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The Golden Lynx by C.P. Lesley – Set in Russia

1600-1699

Flood by Ann Swinfen – Set in England’s Fenlands

The Green Phoenix by Alice Poon – Set in China

1700-1799

The Earl And The Enchantress by Paulette Golden – Historical romance

Whales And Strange Stars by Kathy Sharp – Set in Kent

1800-1899

The Tides Between by Elizabeth Jane Corbett – YA tale of emigration

The Mysterious Lord Millcroft by Virginia Heath – Historical romance

From Governess To Countess by Marguerite Kaye – Historical romance

The Dressmaker’s Secret by Charlotte Betts – Features Princess Caroline Of Brunswick

Winds Of Time by Lilly Gayle – Historical romance set in Texas

My Antonia by Willa Cather – Classic American historical fiction set in Nebraska

1900-1999

The Wild Air by Rebecca Mascull – Featuring early women aviators

Call Of The Canyon by Zane Grey – Set in Arizona

The Captain And The Calvalry Trooper by Catherine Curzon – M/M romance set during WW1

1920-1939

Trusting The Currents by Lynnda Pollio – Set in small town America, with a spiritual theme.

The Madonna Of The Mountains by Elise Valmorbida (begins in 1923) Set in Italy

1940-1959

A Ration Book Christmas by Jean Fullerton – Family saga set in London during WW2

Never Say Goodbye by Hilary Green – A resistance-themed WW2 drama

1960-1979

Lost Lake by Sarah Addison Allen (begins in 1962) Set in southern Georgia

Mourning Dove by Claire Fullerton – Set in Memphis

1980-1999

Nightfall Berlin by Jack Grimwood – A cold war thriller

Dear Comrade Novak by Silvia Hildebrant – Set in Romania during the revolution

Lucky Star by Holly Curtis – Coming of age story

2000- present

Connectedness by Sandra Danby (begins in 2009) – Story featuring adoption

Lush by Gabrielle Fernie – A true story soaked in gin

The Woman At Number 24 by Juliet Ashton – Set in Notting Hill

Future

Amendments by Hannah Lynn – Set in futuristic Britain

The Afterlife Of Alice Watkins by Matilda Scotney – Mild scifi

If you’d like to join in with the challenge for 2019 check out Sam’s blog post here.

#Spy #Thriller Nightfall Berlin by Jack Grimwood @JonCG @penguinrandom #TuesdayBookBlog

Nightfall BerlinNightfall Berlin by Jack Grimwood

4.5 stars

Nightfall Berlin is a cold war thriller. It opens in 1972 with an assassination in the Lake District.

Next the timeline moves to 1986. Major Tom Fox, an undercover military intelligence officer, is holidaying with his family in the Caribbean. But it ends abruptly when Tom is called back to work. He’s wanted in East Berlin to bring back Sir Cecil Blackburn, a traitor who now wishes to return to the UK and face his crimes.

On the flight to Germany, Tom reads files which hint that Cecil is about to give names of high ranking people who are keeping secrets about sexual corruption. But when Tom meets Cecil, he finds a man unsure that he wants to return home. Soon Tom is compromised and he’s running for his life. Who can he trust? He must rely on his instincts and try to stay one step ahead in a dangerous game.

In a plot with plenty of twists, Tom is like a piece of flotsam in a storm filled stream. Pummelled between British Intelligence, the East German Stasi and the Russian Communists. He struggles to take a breath before being dragged back under and finally spat out, bruised and tattered.

I liked the smaller story threads as much as the main ones, especially the gymnastic elements as they have a personal interest for me. I also liked Tom’s son Charlie, who showed early signs of espionage talents, but who I also wanted to rescue from a boarding school he disliked.

The well written contrasts between east and west, for me, ticked the boxes for this genre. I easily envisioned the bleakness of East Berlin, but there were touches of humour too, which lifted the tension, just when it was needed. I would definitely recommend this to anyone who enjoys the drama of a thriller set during the cold war.

View all my reviews Goodreads

Book description

In 1986, news that East-West nuclear-arms negotiations are taking place lead many to believe the Cold War may finally be thawing.

For British intelligence officer Major Tom Fox, however, it is business as usual.

Ordered to arrange the smooth repatriation of a defector, Fox is smuggled into East Berlin. But it soon becomes clear that there is more to this than an old man wishing to return home to die – a fact cruelly confirmed when Fox’s mission is fatally compromised.

Trapped in East Berlin, hunted by an army of Stasi agents and wanted for murder by those on both sides of the Wall, Fox must somehow elude capture and get out alive.

But to do so he must discover who sabotaged his mission and why…

Nightfall Berlin is a tense, atmospheric and breathtaking thriller that drops you deep into the icy heard of the Cold War.

About the author

Jack Grimwood, a.k.a Jon Courtenay Grimwood was born in Malta and christened in the upturned bell of a ship. He grew up in the Far East, Britain and Scandinavia. Apart from novels he writes for national newspapers including the Times, Telegraph, Independent and Guardian. Jon is two-time winner of the BSFA Award for Best Novel, with Felaheen, and End of the World Blues. His literary novel, The Last Banquet, as Jonathan Grimwood, was shortlisted for Le Prix Montesquieu 2015. His work is published in fifteen languages. He is married to the journalist and novelist Sam Baker. Moskva is his first thriller.

Jack Grimwood

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