October 1944
Nancy glanced through the slash of rain to where Josef, tall and dark in a belted raincoat, was checking the others were in position. He stooped to tie a shoelace as he came out from the shelter of the weight-house... He looked up briefly and Nancy silently returned his gaze before checking her watch...
***
Holland, 1944: Undercover British agent Nancy Callaghan has been given her toughest case yet. A key member of the Dutch resistance has been captured, and Nancy must play the role of a wealthy Nazi to win over a notorious SS officer, Detlef Keller, and gain crucial information.
England: Coding expert Tom Lockwood is devastated that the Allies have failed to push back the Nazis, leaving Northern Holland completely cut off from the rest of Europe, and him from his beloved Nancy. Desperate to rescue the love of his life, Tom devises Operation Tulip, a plan to bring Nancy home.
But as Nancy infiltrates the Dutch SS, she finds herself catching the eye of an even more senior member of the Party. Is Nancy in too deep, or can Tom reach her before she gets caught?
Inspired by the true events of occupied Holland during WW2, don't miss this utterly gripping story of love, bravery and sacrifice.
***
Deborah Swift is a great author and with every one of her new releases she seems to get better and better.
Operation Tulip is no exception to that. It is the third in her World War II Secret Agent series and made for gripping reading. I have previously read The Shadow Network which is the second in the series. If you would like to read my review you can find it by clicking here.
Operation Tulip is set in Holland as the war is coming to an end. People are starving to death and the resistance cells are deteriorating. Nancy, a secret agent, is tasked with impersonating a wealthy widow in order to catch the eye of a senior Nazi in order to find a way to release a key resistance member who has been captured.
The atmosphere throughout the book is tense. Every word and every action are imbued with meaning as Nancy attempts to find the information that she needs and not be discovered as a secret agent in the process.
She is a great character and exhibits bravery and courage throughout. She has been well developed in this book and interacts with the secondary characters in a believable way. Even when her resistance cell fails, she fights on alone in her bid to help others.
The author clearly does her research very well and clearly understands the time period in which the book is set. She captured the desperation of the people remaining in Holland as they slowly starved to death while the Nazi's ate and their health thrived.
This is a book that is well worth reading. It works perfectly well as a stand alone if you have not previously read the first two books in the series.
This will appeal to lovers of historical fiction, and I highly recommend it.
ISBN: 978 0008586904
Publisher: HQ Digital
Formats: e-book, audio and paperback
No. of Pages: 368 (paperback)
About the Author:
Deborah Swift is a USA TODAY bestselling author of twenty books who is passionate about the past. Deborah used to be a costume designer for the BBC, before becoming a writer. Now she lives in an old English school house in a village full of 17th Century houses, near the glorious Lake District. After taking a Masters Degree in Creative Writing, she enjoys mentoring aspiring novelists and has an award-winning historical fiction blog at her website www.deborahswift.com.
Deborah loves to write about how extraordinary events in history have transformed the lives of ordinary people, and how the events of the past can live on in her books and still resonate today.
Recent books include The Poison Keeper, about the Renaissance poisoner Giulia Tofana, which was a winner of the Wishing Shelf Book of the Decade Award, and a Coffee Pot Book Club Gold Medal. Her most recent books are The Silk Code and The Shadow Network both set in the Second World War.
(ARC and media courtesy of The Coffee Pot Book Club)
(all opinions are my own)
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