An enthralling what-if action adventure in the tradition of FATHERLAND, but set in occupied Britain December 1940 and England lies under German occupation. In the West Country, Nick Penny comes home after four months as a prisoner of war to act as interpreter to the provincial governor. He finds his father dead, his mother crippled, and his best friend Roy heavily involved in a resistance movement. When war hero Matty Cordington returns to run his father's estate, the three friends are re-united in a common purpose. Life under the occupation becomes a compromise at every level. Nick's sister Joan sleeps with a profiteer to find food for her family. There are leaks in the resistance movement, and Matty's girlfriend is fingered and dispatched. The occupation turns nastier as Hitler invades Russia, with less food and greater demands on the civilian population to labour in the Reich. Britain's Jews are first deported, then the 'Final Solution' is enacted on English soil. But treachery still dogs the resistance and, hunted by the Gestapo and the British police, Nick and his girlfriend Angel desperately race to eliminate the real traitor. The story then escalates to an explosive climax at the very centre of occupational power.
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All the ingredients of a good thriller... An imaginative blend of well-researched fact and well crafted fiction. -- Sunday Mirror, September 2003
About the Author
Murray Davies is the author of three previous thrillers, THE DRUMBEAT OF JIMMY SANDES, THE SAMSON OPTION and THE DEVIL'S HANDSHAKE (published by Macmillan). He lives in Greenwich and Wiltshire.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
By Sam Holliday
VINE™ VOICE
Format:Paperback
A first class war time thriller this. It follows the familiar - but rarely successful - storyline of what Britain would have been like if the Nazis had invaded these islands and took over the country in 1940.
It follows the story of man caught up in a very difficult position - he is a fluent German speaker and so he is called upon to be an interpreter for the senior officers of the occupying power which leaves him hated by the loyal Brits but still mistrusted by his German masters.
To complicate things, our hero, Nick Penny, then becomes one of the most senior members of the growing Resistance movement and his double life causes him, his family and his friends many problems and agonies as the story grows.
This has more validity than some of the other books on the subject I have read in that it seems to portray a more honest and accurate picture of what life would have been like under the Nazis where not every Brit would heroically fight the invaders and many would actually view the occupation as an opportunity for self-advancement.
This is a well-written and well-researched book which makes for great holiday reading. It has all the elements you want from a page turning thriller - chases, battles, double-dealing, blackmail etc - with more thought-provoking elements such as the true nature of occupation, what would Britons have done when we first saw hints of Jewish persecution and, indeed, would we really be as brave to take on an enemy as we imagine we would?
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
'What if' books regarding the invasion of Britain tend to concentrate on the immediate aftermath.
This book on the other hand took a longer look at what would have happened. I personally find the whole concept very disturbing and to read how many of the upper classes/aspiring upper middle classes would have thrown their hand in with the Nazis is disturbingly all too believable.
An excellent book and I look forward to a sequel - the reinvasion of Britian!
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This has everything you could wish for in an alternative history novel. It's well researched, well written, thought provoking and it even manages to make the German invasion of 1940 seem plausible!
Like the previous reviewer I am looking forward to the sequel.
By L. Sharrock
Format:Paperback
I have only just discovered Murray Davies' Collaborator and, not knowing what to expect, thought it might be a boy's own type thriller. But instead I found myself riveted by a disturbing What If tale that rings only too true. For as the hero says 'Those who suffer to live under an Occupation are cowards, compromisers and collaborators. Those who don't are dead.'
Truly chilling.
Truly chilling.
By Dick Pearson
Format:Paperback
Pacy, believable, chilling, and a thoroughly consistent alternative world. Nice sting in the tail as well.
I also liked the way the heroes have faults, and the baddies have good points - just like th real world.
I also liked the way the heroes have faults, and the baddies have good points - just like th real world.
By J.Flood
Format:Paperback
Collaborator is set in a fictional 1940/41, where the Nazis have won the Battle of Britain, and now ruthlessly control all of Britain. The British government, has been sent into exile, in Canada.
The book's main character, Nick Penny, has just been released from a prisoner of war camp, and has returned to England, to act as an interpreter for the German general in his hometown area. On his return home, Penny, links up with two lifelong friends, Roy Locke, and Matt Cordington, as they join the local resistance.
I found this book a fascinating read. The number of people, particularly the richer ones, willing to collaborate, with the Germans at all costs, was quite chilling, particularly as the Nazis become more and more vicious, as time progresses. What made it so chilling, is that the book made it seem quite conceivable, had history turned out that way.
With resistance fighters thin on the ground, there are quite a number adventures in the book, as the resistance tries to fight back in what little ways it can. The characters, in the book, are well fleshed out, although, one or two seemed a little bit cliched.
Once I had started this book, I found it hard to stop reading it.
The book's main character, Nick Penny, has just been released from a prisoner of war camp, and has returned to England, to act as an interpreter for the German general in his hometown area. On his return home, Penny, links up with two lifelong friends, Roy Locke, and Matt Cordington, as they join the local resistance.
I found this book a fascinating read. The number of people, particularly the richer ones, willing to collaborate, with the Germans at all costs, was quite chilling, particularly as the Nazis become more and more vicious, as time progresses. What made it so chilling, is that the book made it seem quite conceivable, had history turned out that way.
With resistance fighters thin on the ground, there are quite a number adventures in the book, as the resistance tries to fight back in what little ways it can. The characters, in the book, are well fleshed out, although, one or two seemed a little bit cliched.
Once I had started this book, I found it hard to stop reading it.
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By billywhizzuk
Format:Paperback
Didn't know quite what to expect on this, but I read it in just 2 evenings - couldn't put it down!!!
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By D. C. BROWN
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Quite an exciting story, well researched. But the style is so clumsy. I found it hard jumping from first person the third over and over again. Some of the scenes are a bit incoherent. Also "crisp packets blowing around the streets" is a bit unrealistic for 1940. And some of the writing does not ring true "some people do not want to be here, others would rather be somewhere else". Overall not bad, but no great literary masterpiece.
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