The Last Line by Stephen Ronson

 

341 pages

This book is not due out untill 2nd November 2023. 

You can pre order The Last Line...Here

• The Blurb...

May 1940.

With Nazi forces sweeping across France, invasion seems imminent. The English Channel has never felt so narrow.

In rural Sussex, war veteran John Cook has been tasked with preparing the resistance effort, should the worst happen.

But even as the foreign threat looms, it's rumours of a missing child that are troubling Cook. A twelve-year-old girl was evacuated from London and never seen again, and she's just the tip of the iceberg - countless evacuees haven't made it to their host families.

As Cook investigates, he uncovers a dark conspiracy that reaches to the highest ranks of society. He will do whatever it takes to make the culprits pay. There are some lines you just don't cross.

• Our Review...

John Cook, Sussex landowner and veteran of WW1 and Afghanistan tries to re-enlist for the new war. However given his history he is instead recruited to form a resistance cell, which is to become active after the Germans have invaded in a few weeks.

On his return from London a young girl is found murdered on his property. John is implicated and he begins his own investigations. What he finds horrifies him and he resovlves to fix the problem his way. All the while with one eye on the coast and recruiting a diverse band of feisty fighters.

Having recently read the excellent Paris Requiem by Chris Llloyd and the equally good Embassy Murders by Mark Ellis, I thought I was in for more of the same. Police procedural set in wartime europe. This book sort of started out like that but by the end it had pivoted at least twice into WW2 James Bond territoty and again into WW2 Jack Reacher territory. And what a belting idea to set Reacher in a WW2 setting. I even wrote in my notes (WW2 Reacher?) When I later checked other reviews, I saw others had been thinking along the same lines. Nice to know it's not just me going off on a tangent then. 

So it's a bit of a hybrid then. Much like a hybrid bike or car, the concept may seem odd until you get one yourself and then you realise the was a slot in the market for it all along, This was a very entertaining book in all aspects. The violence was well written ala Lee Child. However the bits I liked the most were the historic setting parts as can probably be seen by my choice of quotes (see below.) 

The auxillary (resistance) unit that Cook is asked to develop in his home area was a real thing. Having read the authors notes for Resisitance by Owen Sheers, I discovered that it also inspired that book. 

With the war in Ukraine it makes you stop and think what would I do? Would I fight? Would I just shrug my shoulders and instead of paying  tax  to HMRC it would go to Berlin (as one character in the book puts it). 

I thought the opening scene was paticularly well thought out and a bit different from the norm. In addition I like the rugged character of John Cook. I think I am roughly the same age as the author and grew up in 70s. There were some hard, quiet men in the village who were forged in the war. The like of which we dont see today. I dont know if thats a good thing or not. On the plus side it means we haven't needed men like that, men who can kill en mass for a long time because there hasn't been a major war since.

 I digress, back to the book. Although the high body count without police involvement means it as more of a step away from historical accuracy than the police procedurals that I have been reading, I found this to be an enjoyable adventure. It sort sits like Where Eagles Dare sits next to A Bridge Too Far. One is fantasy one is history but if you didn't know that both are equally enjoyable.

Look out Reacher.. John Cook is coming 

• Selected Quotes..

Uncle Nob didn’t do well in the last war. The Great War: always capitalised, always thick with meaning.

 ‘She’s grown up fast,’ he said, watching her. I knew what he meant. She was like one of those pictures they painted on the bombers in the newsreels, all curves and smiles and rosy cheeks.

‘You drink in these huge pubs where they bring you gallons of the stuff. You just sit there at your table while birds with their tits falling out of their shirts keep topping up your glass.’ He looked around at his own pub. No birds with tits falling out of their shirts. No revelry. I almost felt sorry for him. ‘Maybe the birds with the tits will follow behind the tanks,’

Let them come, I thought. Let them roll through my farm and my town. I’d surrender, and I’d say my ‘Heil Hitler’ along with everyone else. I’d survive and I’d make sure my family survived. And then, when their generals had gone back to Bavaria to plan the invasion of Russia, I’d be ready. Ready to do my bit. Ready to get the job done.

• If You Liked This Then You May Like..

Resistance by Owen Sheers

Fatherland by Richard Harris

SSGB by Len Deighton

The Embassy Murders by Mark Ellis

• About The Author...

Stephen Ronson grew up in Sussex, and spent a large part of his childhood exploring the woods and fields around Uckfield, many of which were still dotted with reminders of WW2 - pill boxes, tank traps, nissen huts, and graffiti left by soldiers awaiting D-Day. He is a passionate student of local history, and when he learnt about Auxiliary Units - groups of men who were instructed to lay low during the predicted nazi invasion and lead the fight back, he knew he had to write about a Sussex farmer, one with a love of the land, and a natural desire and ability to get the job done. Many of the locations and characters in the John Cook series are inspired by real places and real people. In particular, Stephen was inspired by his grandparents, Eric, Bessie, Peter and Vera, each of whom did their bit on the home front.

Nowadays, Stephen divides his time between Vermont, USA, and Uckfield, East Sussex. When he's not writing, he can be found renovating his house, or walking the woods and the fields.