Sunday, June 21, 2020

Six top World War II spy books

At The Strand Magazine, Imogen Kealey (the pseudonym of American screenwriter Darby Kealey and British novelist Imogen Robertson) tagged six favorite World War II spy stories, including:
Restless — William Boyd

I’m a huge fan of William Boyd; he’s such a versatile writer, you never know what you are going to get when you pick up one of his books — other than an excellent story. Restless has a sort of urgency to it which is a million miles away from his bestseller, Any Human Heart, but it asks similar questions about what truth is, and how well you can truly know a person. Restless is a brilliant unpacking of a woman’s hidden past — a maze of a book with the sort of compulsive narrative drive to it that I love in thrillers. Eva’s story, and how it comes to a climax which tears through her daughter’s life, is utterly compelling. Boyd is one of those writers who make you feel you are right next to your characters, but still manages to surprise you at every turn.
Read about the other entries on the list.

Restless is among Jenny Quintana's five favorite dark and intelligent thrillers with strong female leads, Mark Skinner's twenty great espionage novels, Henry Hemming's ten top books about fake news, and Samuel Muston's ten best spy novels.

--Marshal Zeringue