Reviews

A Game of Lies by Rebecca Cantrell

sarah_reading_party's review against another edition

5.0

Each book in this series is better than the last. I can't put them down! This one, set during the 1935 Olympics in Berlin was wonderful. It was interesting to consider how Hitler portrayed the country to the world then, and equally interesting to watch Hannah gauge her alliances and relationships as she fights back. I hope this series keeps going!

marlynb's review against another edition

5.0

Hannah Vogel has been living in Switzerland with her adopted son Anton and her lover Boris, occasionally working as a reporter for a Swiss newspaper under the name of Adelheid Zinsli. She has also been acting as a courier, transporting documents out of Germany for quisling SS Officer Lars Lang.

This time, though, Adelheid has been asked to remain in Berlin for the entire two weeks of the Olympics, which could prove to be difficult as many of the local press would certainly recognize Hannah.

At the opening ceremonies, Hannah slips away to meet her mentor, Peter Weill, but moments after they greet each other, he dies. She suspects he's been poisoned, but how to prove it?

Rebecca Cantrell won the Bruce Alexander Memorial and the Sue Feder Memorial(Macavity) historical mystery awards in 2010 for the first book in the series, A Trace of Smoke. Fluent in German, she went to high school and university in Germany, and it is obvious that she has done deep and careful research about life in Nazi Germany.

Cantrell writes from Hannah's point of view in the first person, describing Hannah's experiences so vividly that the reader can almost identify with her completely. The "almost" is a result of the many instances when the reader wants to caution her against something she's decided upon, but of course this is what makes the narrative into a story.

The book concludes with a glossary and historical notes.

tlt19's review against another edition

3.0

I didn't enjoy this one as much as the first 2 but still a good series. It gives the reader a taste for what life was like in Germany in the 30s under the influence of the Nazi government.

sarahs_readingparty's review against another edition

5.0

Each book in this series is better than the last. I can't put them down! This one, set during the 1935 Olympics in Berlin was wonderful. It was interesting to consider how Hitler portrayed the country to the world then, and equally interesting to watch Hannah gauge her alliances and relationships as she fights back. I hope this series keeps going!

matthew_p's review against another edition

3.0

Better characterization, in some ways, and surprising. gaps in others. Good pace, and strong plotting, again.

acanuckreader's review against another edition

4.0

This book is probably my favourite in the series so far, with more mystery for me than the other two combined and a great deal more drama.

I devoured it completely and loved it. I love the way history is melded with fiction and I drank it down like it was the richest of drinks.

The drama is heart wrenching and the stakes are definitely higher. Hannah is one of my favourite female characters in fiction, because she makes mistakes and is not infallible but she is soon ready to admit it.

libraryjunkie's review

4.0

This was the third book in a series and by far one of the best series I have read in a long time, I only hope this is not the last one. This book, like the previous two, grabs the reader from the first chapter. It is fast paced and carries a complex plot along with well-developed characters, even the minor ones. Please do not miss reading this series, however, one must start at the beginning with Trace of Smoke. I guarantee you will not be able to put any of the novels down.

mbp's review

4.0

(4.5)

I loved this - the evocation of 1936 Berlin, the impact of politics & fear upon relationships - including that of Hannah Vogel & Lars Lang. The evolution of their relationship is what really kept me turning the pages.

My only complaint is that several mystery plot elements were not fully explained or resolved. The meaning of Peter Weill's flower list is never fully revealed. Is it a coded list of members of an underground group? And Project Zephyr? Saratov?

I can only hope that the author was setting the stage for the 4th Hannah Vogel novel with all these unanswered questions. And I can't wait to read it, to see where she takes Hannah, Lars, and Anton.