3.78 AVERAGE

banoffee_macdonald's profile picture

banoffee_macdonald's review

4.25
adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
adventurous challenging dark emotional informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
ashleyb94's profile picture

ashleyb94's review

4.5
adventurous emotional informative tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Interesting historical fiction. I didn't know anything about the circumstances that the book is based on and found it quite fascinating.

Fantastic book! Didn't realise it was the 5th in a series featuring Tom Wilde, so I am now eager to read the others.
ilikestartrek's profile picture

ilikestartrek's review against another edition

DID NOT FINISH: 53%

The writing is bland. Felt bored while reading it. 
shonac's profile picture

shonac's review

4.0
adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: N/A
Loveable characters: N/A
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: N/A

jmatkinson1's review

5.0

A tragic accident or was it? The brother of the King is killed in a plane crash on a remote Scottish hillside and Tom Wilde is asked to look into it as a courtesy to FDR, Godfather to the Prince's newborn son. What Tom finds raises more questions than answers and suddenly he is on a chase to find a defector from the Nazi regime hiding in Sweden. The evidence he carries is proof that the Nazis are killing masses of Jews in Poland.
Clements has honed his craft over the years and his books are always a treat. Here Professor Tom Wilde is implausibly caught up in a search for missing German in the Swedish islands, chased by Nazis, and then back in England pursued by several different factions. It's a twisty plot but driven by high excitement and a solid twist of humour.

ja_hopkins's review

4.0

I was in two minds as to whether to read this fifth book in the Tom Wilde series after reading several poor reviews, and a slightly disappointing book four. However, when it was on offer I decided to take a chance, and it is definitely a return to the earlier form of the series.
With WW2 in full swing, two cousins – Prince George, Duke of Kent (and the King’s brother) and Prince Philipp von Hessen (a Nazi and friend of Hitler) – meet in neutral Sweden in 1942. The meeting is a highly guarded secret. When, a few days later, Prince George is killed in a plane crash it is deemed an accident, but some have their doubts.
Tom Wilde is sent north to look into the matter, as the US president has an interest in the case. With the British desperate to keep the meeting under wraps, Wilde is hindered at every turn, and finds himself in the middle of the conspiracy.
Once again, Rory Clement uses real events (the crash) to create this almost alt-history narrative. The story moves along at pace, and although the perceived internal enemy seem a bit overdone on occasions, I enjoyed this much more than the previous edition and have the (presumably) final episode ready to read. My only quibble is Wilde has, as ever, women throwing themselves at him constantly – he really must be an astonishingly attractive man!
adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

The best in the series so far. Fast paced, full of little unexpected twists. The main theme of this novel is the Holocaust, which is handled very well.