Rosie’s #BookReview Team #RBRT Codename Lazarus by @APMartin51 #WW2 #Thriller

Today’s team review is from Cathy, she blogs here, http://betweenthelinesbookblog.wordpress.com/

Cathy has been reading Codename Lazarus by A P Martin

Codename Lazarus is taken from a true story and set in pre World War II Britain and Germany. It’s John King’s last day of an eighteen month research stay in Heidelberg. Although he will be sorry to leave his friends, the threatening climate in Germany, the increase in Hitler’s dictatorship and the ensuing violence against Jews only disgusts and horrifies, somewhat neutralising the sadness at leaving.

Several years later, John King is a gifted academic with a Doctorate and a major interest in the Second Reich. He is approached by his erstwhile tutor, Professor Pym with an incredible proposition. If John agrees, his life will never be the same but his help would be invaluable to Britain in the fight against Germany.

John’s struggles with the constraints of his new role, and the position he finds himself in, are compelling and I enjoyed the danger, intrigue and resulting tension.

A very good story with a well thought through plot, which I found extremely interesting. The build up was slow and steady, most of the action takes place in the second half of the book. The author obviously has an incredible knowledge and huge enthusiasm for this period of history, and it shows. The re-creation of certain points, such as the rise of the Nazis and the growing persecution of the Jewish community in Germany, an impromptu execution, the Blitz and the evacuation of British troops from Dunkirk were written realistically and very well done. I liked the way Dunkirk was experienced from the perspective of Joachim Brandt, John King’s erstwhile friend. The feeling of time and place is apparent and the narrative gives an authentic sense and of events.

However, I do feel that the narrative needs a little smoothing out, some of the dialogue, a couple of characters and situations were unconvincing, most notably John and Greta’s relationship. Also, I think there was scope for more development of John King’s character. Having said that all that, Codename Lazarus is a promising debut.

Book Description

Spring 1938: Great Britain is facing potentially lethal threats: the looming war with Germany; the fear that her Secret Service has been penetrated by Nazi agents and the existence of hundreds of British citizens, who are keen to pass information to her enemies.

John King, a young academic, is approached by his Oxbridge mentor to participate in a stunning deception that would frustrate Britain’s enemies. As King struggles to come to terms with the demands of his mission, he must learn to survive in a dangerous and lonely ‘no man’s land’, whilst remaining one step ahead of those in hot pursuit.

Adapted from a true story, ‘Codename Lazarus’ takes the reader on a journey from the dark heart of Hitler’s Germany, across the snowy peaks of Switzerland to the horrors of Dunkirk, the Battle of Britain and the London Blitz, before reaching a thrilling and decisive conclusion, from which none of those present emerges unscathed.

About the author

I was born and spent my entire working life in the North West of England, where I taught at school, college and university levels. I became Head of Department of Social Sciences at a University, specialising in the study of social inequality, social mobility and sport. During my academic career I published many sociological studies on these themes.

Since taking early retirement, I have really enjoyed immersing myself in reading and writing fiction. I feel that most historical fiction benefits from a connection to something that actually happened, so when I wrote my first book, Codename Lazarus, I took a little known true story and used it as a framework for an exciting thriller.

I am currently writing my second spy story, which also takes as its inspiration a fascinating, yet almost unknown episode from the Second World War.

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Rosie’s #BookReview Team #RBRT Codename Lazarus by @APMartin51 #WW2 Spy novel

Today’s team review is from Judith, she blogs at http://judithbarrowblog.com/

Judith has been reading Codename Lazarus by A.. P. Martin

My Review:

I was looking forward to reading Codename Lazarus for two reasons; that it’s adapted from a true story and that it’s set against the background of WW2, a particular time in history I’m interested in.

This is a dense story to read due to the extensive details and descriptions  built around the actual plot.  I admire the author’s obvious knowledge and research to set the story in both the era and the places the protagonist moves around in. There is a wonderful sense of place.

The lead up to the war, the settling in of the plot, although well written and described, is too slow for me, mainly because I didn’t feel I was getting to know the protagonist, John King. I didn’t get any sense, initially, or as the plot progressed, of his emotions at what must have been an extremely tense time. I don’t think his internal dialogue works; a lot of the time the thoughts portrayed were too formalised and revealed nothing of the tension and apprehension of a young man  newly learning to survive under cover in an dangerous and threatening situation.

 And I felt the same about his personal life. The love angle with Greta became instantly too intense and then abruptly dismissed. Although I am aware that such immediate and tempestuous relationships must have happened during wartime, this neither felt passionate or particularly dangerous for either of them, despite them being citizens of countries almost at war with one another.

Saying that, as the story progresses , there are other characters who are extremely well rounded, who stand out by the way they are portrayed. And their dialogue is excellent and gives greater insight to them and their part in the plot.

All in all, I would have liked the beginning to move at a faster pace; I thought the pacing of the plot in the middle just right; but I would have liked a more gradual lead up to the ending, which felt as though it all came in a rush and finished the story too suddenly.

I don’t know if it was the way the novel was downloaded onto my reader but there are times when sentences, dialogues and paragraphs run together where there should be spaces so I ignored that. But there were quite a few punctuation errors.

This is a good story. If it weren’t for the fact that I felt the protagonist to be too distant from the reader I would have given five stars. A rewrite of only a few places to bring John King/James Kemp to life and another final, tighter edit, would make this an excellent 5* read.

Book Description

Spring 1938: Great Britain is facing potentially lethal threats: the looming war with Germany; the fear that her Secret Service has been penetrated by Nazi agents and the existence of hundreds of British citizens, who are keen to pass information to her enemies.

John King, a young academic, is approached by his Oxbridge mentor to participate in a stunning deception that would frustrate Britain’s enemies. As King struggles to come to terms with the demands of his mission, he must learn to survive in a dangerous and lonely ‘no man’s land’, whilst remaining one step ahead of those in hot pursuit.

Adapted from a true story, ‘Codename Lazarus’ takes the reader on a journey from the dark heart of Hitler’s Germany, across the snowy peaks of Switzerland to the horrors of Dunkirk, the Battle of Britain and the London Blitz, before reaching a thrilling and decisive conclusion, from which none of those present emerges unscathed.

About the author

I was born and spent my entire working life in the North West of England, where I taught at school, college and university levels. I became Head of Department of Social Sciences at a University, specialising in the study of social inequality, social mobility and sport. During my academic career I published many sociological studies on these themes.

Since taking early retirement, I have really enjoyed immersing myself in reading and writing fiction. I feel that most historical fiction benefits from a connection to something that actually happened, so when I wrote my first book, Codename Lazarus, I took a little known true story and used it as a framework for an exciting thriller.

I am currently writing my second spy story, which also takes as its inspiration a fascinating, yet almost unknown episode from the Second World War.

Goodreads | AmazonUK | AmazonUS | Twitter

Rosie’s #Bookreview Team #RBRT CODENAME LAZARUS by @APMartin51 #WW2 Spy #Thriller

Today’s team review is from Liz, she blogs here https://lizannelloyd.wordpress.com/

Liz has been reading Codename Lazarus by A.P Martin

Codename Lazarus by A P Martin

Codename Lazarus takes us first to Germany in the mid-1930s as Hitler and the Nazis rise to power. We see the unpleasant changes through the eyes of John King, an English academic, whose friends include a Jewish family, the Bernsteins and a young German, Joachim Brandt, who has decided to join the SS.

Moving to 1938, King is recruited by his former professor to the world of espionage, in an attempt to foil the efforts of Nazi sympathisers in England. This requires him to cut off all ties with his former life and after another visit to Germany, he must disappear. However his under-cover activities take place in London, where he has to cultivate relationships with British nationals who wish to aid Germany. A significant relationship with a young German nurse, is suspended, but old friends from the past will take a dramatic part in the denouement.

This is an exciting plot-driven story and although we gain knowledge of King’s feelings early in the story, he becomes increasingly more distant as other protagonists take a more active part in the storyline. One of the Nazi sympathisers gains our sympathy and we realise that she has trapped herself in a web of deceit. I was especially interested in the vivid description of pre-war Germany and in the realistic account of the evacuation scene at Dunkirk. The final scenes intensify in excitement and are real page-turners, but I was disappointed at the sudden conclusion which left questions about other threads in the book.

This debut novel is a fluent tale set in a fascinating time. Plotting and descriptions are sound but the earlier parts of the book lead me to expect greater knowledge of the hero’s emotions and confusion at his use of subterfuge and his abandonment of his friends and family. I look forward to reading the next book by this promising author.

Book Description

Spring 1938: Great Britain is facing potentially lethal threats: the looming war with Germany; the fear that her Secret Service has been penetrated by Nazi agents and the existence of hundreds of British citizens, who are keen to pass information to her enemies.

John King, a young academic, is approached by his Oxbridge mentor to participate in a stunning deception that would frustrate Britain’s enemies. As King struggles to come to terms with the demands of his mission, he must learn to survive in a dangerous and lonely ‘no man’s land’, whilst remaining one step ahead of those in hot pursuit.

Adapted from a true story, ‘Codename Lazarus’ takes the reader on a journey from the dark heart of Hitler’s Germany, across the snowy peaks of Switzerland to the horrors of Dunkirk, the Battle of Britain and the London Blitz, before reaching a thrilling and decisive conclusion, from which none of those present emerges unscathed.

About the author

I was born and spent my entire working life in the North West of England, where I taught at school, college and university levels. I became Head of Department of Social Sciences at a University, specialising in the study of social inequality, social mobility and sport. During my academic career I published many sociological studies on these themes.

Since taking early retirement, I have really enjoyed immersing myself in reading and writing fiction. I feel that most historical fiction benefits from a connection to something that actually happened, so when I wrote my first book, Codename Lazarus, I took a little known true story and used it as a framework for an exciting thriller.

I am currently writing my second spy story, which also takes as its inspiration a fascinating, yet almost unknown episode from the Second World War.

Goodreads | AmazonUK | AmazonUS | Twitter

Rosie’s #BookReview Team #RBRT Codename Lazarus by @APMartin51 #WW2 #Spy #Thriller

Today’s team review is from Terry, she blogs here http://terrytylerbookreviews.blogspot.co.uk/

Terry has been reading Codename Lazarus by A P Martin

CODENAME LAZARUS by A P Martin

4 out of 5 stars

This is a spy story set in England and Germany during Hitler’s rise to power and the first year of the Second World War.  John King, a history lecturer, is invited to become an undercover agent, and, despite the realisation of how dangerous and lonely his life will become, he agrees.

What I liked about this book

• The author clearly knows his subject inside out and, I would imagine, has a great interest in it, as opposed to just having done the research required to produce this novel; you can tell the difference.  I feel that A P Martin has an innate understanding of the era itself, and the people who lived within it.
• The section before the war, when agent King witnesses the ‘gathering storm’ of Nazi Germany, is excellent, and SS man Joachim Brandt’s witnessing of Dunkirk, from the point of view of a German spy, is outstanding.  I loved these two parts.
• I thought the plot was well thought out, generally, and it kept me interested throughout.
• The understated communication between King and his controller, Pym, was most believeable.  The characterisation of Pym and Brandt was particularly good, as was that of misguided informant Abigail Stevenson; Brandt’s duplicitous relationship with her was executed very well, as was Brandt’s developing character, as he grows from patriot to confirmed Nazi.  There’s a key scene were he slaughters some POWs, which triggers him off; it’s so well done.
• The build up to the war, with the growing danger in Germany, the differing attitudes to Hitler, and the many theories about his intentions, was fascinating, and gave such insight into how that time must have been for different people across both countries.

What I was not so sure about 

• I found some elements early in the book less than convincing; at the beginning, King is with his friends in Germany in 1933, and everyone speaks in perfectly formed sentences, giving just the right amount of information to the reader; the conversation didn’t seem real.
• I wasn’t convinced by the romance with Greta; I found their Christmas together in 1938 not a last idyllic, romantic few days before the war, but a mildly interesting account of activities.  Greta never came across to me as a living, flesh and blood woman. However, it was no worse than the depiction of women by some well-known writers of this genre, Jeffrey Archer to name but one.
• I would urge Mr Martin to seek out a proofreader who knows how to punctuate ~ there are scores of missing or incorrectly placed commas, and the curious placing of quotations marks around proper nouns (eg, ‘Lords Cricket Ground’).  I didn’t find any spelling mistakes or typos, though.
• The ending.  The book just stopped.  The main conflict of the plot is resolved, and satisfactorily, but it seemed almost as though the author had forgotten that minor story threads needed resolution, too.  I turned the page expecting another chapter, or at least an epilogue, but that was that.

This book has much to commend it, hence the four stars; the parts I liked, I liked very much indeed, but I feel it needs a bit of ‘sorting out’ by a really good editor, perhaps a trimming down and removing of mundane detail, to make it the first class novel it deserves to be.  I think lovers of ‘old school’ sort of spy stories will love it.

Book Description

Spring 1938: Great Britain is facing potentially lethal threats: the looming war with Germany; the fear that her Secret Service has been penetrated by Nazi agents and the existence of hundreds of British citizens, who are keen to pass information to her enemies.

John King, a young academic, is approached by his Oxbridge mentor to participate in a stunning deception that would frustrate Britain’s enemies. As King struggles to come to terms with the demands of his mission, he must learn to survive in a dangerous and lonely ‘no man’s land’, whilst remaining one step ahead of those in hot pursuit.

Adapted from a true story, ‘Codename Lazarus’ takes the reader on a journey from the dark heart of Hitler’s Germany, across the snowy peaks of Switzerland to the horrors of Dunkirk, the Battle of Britain and the London Blitz, before reaching a thrilling and decisive conclusion, from which none of those present emerges unscathed.

About the author

I was born and spent my entire working life in the North West of England, where I taught at school, college and university levels. I became Head of Department of Social Sciences at a University, specialising in the study of social inequality, social mobility and sport. During my academic career I published many sociological studies on these themes.

Since taking early retirement, I have really enjoyed immersing myself in reading and writing fiction. I feel that most historical fiction benefits from a connection to something that actually happened, so when I wrote my first book, Codename Lazarus, I took a little known true story and used it as a framework for an exciting thriller.

I am currently writing my second spy story, which also takes as its inspiration a fascinating, yet almost unknown episode from the Second World War.

Goodreads | AmazonUK | AmazonUS | Twitter