- Hardcover: 234 pages
- Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books; 1 edition (Aug 2002)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0312286791
- ISBN-13: 978-0312286798
- Product Dimensions: 21.3 x 14.7 x 2.5 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 4,115,696 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Review
"Cleverly crafted... combines romance, intrigue and acute historical atmosphere." -"The Times
"From the Trade Paperback edition. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Product Description
Autumn, 1940, and the Luftwaffe is firebombing London. Jack Finlay, a man already notorious for his capacity to fight fires, and men, is hauled back from his unit in the Western Desert. He falls in love with a woman as unorthodox as himself, and becomes a vunerable pawn in an Intelligence game.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is beautifully written account of love in wartime -- love of family, romantic love, and love of the fight itself, despite it all. The author's eye and ear for detail are faultless; his language has the ring of crystal.
All that being said, however, the book is disappointing in the end, as its series of intriguing enigmas are tied up in way that is a tad too neat, and lacks the authentic feel of the rest of the book.
Still, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this book. It is not just for those who have a fetish for wartime Britain, but is a work of literature, worth it for anyone who can appreciate such things.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Jack Finlay was born to fight. His front line career however, ends abruptly when in 1940 he is ordered to leave the Western Desert and return home, to fight fires. The constraints of his new assignment require him to fire-proof five buildings located within the city of London - but for what purpose and whose expense? As Finlay's involvement deepens, his endeavours to protect both the buildings and his own sense of self-worth falter as he begins to question the limited role which he is now required to play in a war which no-one believes can be won.
Cottam's disquieting recreation of London during the Blitz provides a haunting backdrop for his exploration of betrayal and the frailty of human relationships in times of war. Finlay is betrayed by his superiors, his colleagues and even his mother who becomes involved in a compassionate and intricate deception for the love of her son. Ultimately, however, Finlay betrays himself and reveals his emotional frailty by his inability to come to terms with the loss of his father.
Cottam's first novel displays a bold style which is crisply unsentimental. The author moves the story forward by using recurrent sub-plots woven into the fabric of this intrigue. Coupled with a skilled development of his cameo characters, Cottam provides a powerful and moving account of the devastating role and effects of fire and war during the Blitz.
Gillian Kay Higgins
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I just felt that I had no idea what the book was really about. I could not get into it at all. And the plot, what was really the plot in this book?
Another review mention love but the so called love story was extremly weak and hardly non excisting.
neither did I like the way it was written, I found it pretty short and "stocky", it didn't have a great flow.
Not worth reading I'd say.
Another review mention love but the so called love story was extremly weak and hardly non excisting.
neither did I like the way it was written, I found it pretty short and "stocky", it didn't have a great flow.
Not worth reading I'd say.
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