November 25, 2024
Sundin (Embers in the London Sky) delivers a pulse-pounding tale of divided loyalties during WWII. Cilla van der Zee is a member of the Dutch resistance who infiltrates the local Nazi Party to gather intel, but as conditions grow increasingly violent, she decides to escape the country. Agreeing to serve as a Nazi spy in the U.K.—but planning to change her name and disappear once she arrives in England—she boards a U-boat headed across the North Sea. Things go awry, however, and she winds up rowing a fishing boat to the Scottish shore, where Navy lieutenant Lachlan Mackenzie brings her to the police and she’s recruited to be a double agent. Cilla and Lachlan start working together, and his initial distrust turns into curiosity and then attraction as the pair bond over their faith. But when Cilla’s Nazi contacts begin to suspect that she’s hiding something and orchestrate a plan to bring her to Germany, she and her Scottish allies must find a way to protect her. Some readers may be distracted by the occasional cliché (Cilla’s “liveliness and cleverness invigorated more than the sea air”), but Sundin’s tight plotting and snappy dialogue keeps the suspense high as the plot builds to its satisfying conclusion. It’s captivating stuff.
Starred review from January 1, 2025
Plenty of readers will be hooked at the idea of Scottish romance; add in spies and little-known World War II history, and Sundin (Embers in the London Sky) has penned another historical hit. Cilla van der Zee chafes as a Dutch citizen under Nazi rule but gets in over her head when she infiltrates the Nazi party on behalf of the Resistance. To get herself out of a jam, she agrees to train with the Abwehr in Germany, planning all along to escape to England and disappear for the war's duration. Landing near Skapa Flow in the Orkney Islands, she is greeted by a grumpy Scot in a kilt who promptly turns her in as an enemy combatant. Forced to help with MI5's Double Cross program, Cilla is less free than ever. VERDICT With shifting loyalties, a global geopolitical stage, family feuds, the legend of the Scottish selkie, and a forbidden romantic attraction, this novel has many of the best elements of historical fiction. Readers will also notice a few cameos from Sundin's previous novels. For read-alikes, try the sweeping historical dramas of Amanda Dykes and Cathy Gohlke.
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