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The Information Officer
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Review
Acclaim for ‘The Information Officer’:
'Outstandingly good … beautifully written, cleverly plotted and highly recommended' Literary Review
'Mark Mills is a superb writer, and The Information Officer is a superb read' Joseph O'Neill
'A forgotten corner of World War II rediscovered and expertly revealed to us. Fascinating and shrewdly compelling - Mark Mills does it again' William Boyd
'A lush, romantic thriller, skilfully crafted by master stylist Mark Mills' George Pelecanos
‘This tense and beautifully written thriller grips you right to the final devastating revelation’ Bella
‘A brilliant read with a super-smart thriller plot and an amazing denouement – it had me transported and enthralled all the way through’ Sadie Jones (bestselling author of ‘The Outcast’)
‘A good thriller, a stunning book about human beings surviving under extreme circumstances, an eye-opener for anyone who didn’t know the ‘Malta story’ and a master-class in fluent storytelling’ Eurocrime
Acclaim for 'The Savage Garden':
'An intriguing puzzle, elegantly written… a pleasure to read… the atmosphere of an Italian summer and of the mysterious garden are beautifully captured' Sunday Telegraph
'Mills writes beautifully; leading us gently and atmospherically through the Tuscan renaissance garden… an unusual, captivating novel that is a cut above the norm' The Times
'A fine sense of period and place, a well-managed narrative, crisp prose and fascinating information… Mills is one to watch' Spectator
'Mills juggles the mysteries of three periods, switching between centuries with a conjuror's skill… the book is beautifully written, giving life to the figures in their Tuscan landscape' Literary Review
Further acclaim for ‘The Savage Garden’:
'A mesmerizing piece of writing… Mills is a skillful writer and combines all the disparate strands into a striking tapestry' Independent
'An intriguing historical thriller which confirms him as a first-class and unusual crime writer' Daily Mail
'To be savoured… Mills weaves together an intriguing mixture of love, loss and divided loyalties' Guardian
Review
Acclaim for 'The Information Officer': 'Outstandingly good ! beautifully written, cleverly plotted and highly recommended' Literary Review 'Mark Mills is a superb writer, and The Information Officer is a superb read' Joseph O'Neill 'A forgotten corner of World War II rediscovered and expertly revealed to us. Fascinating and shrewdly compelling - Mark Mills does it again' William Boyd 'A lush, romantic thriller, skilfully crafted by master stylist Mark Mills' George Pelecanos 'This tense and beautifully written thriller grips you right to the final devastating revelation' Bella 'A brilliant read with a super-smart thriller plot and an amazing denouement -- it had me transported and enthralled all the way through' Sadie Jones (bestselling author of 'The Outcast') 'A good thriller, a stunning book about human beings surviving under extreme circumstances, an eye-opener for anyone who didn't know the 'Malta story' and a master-class in fluent storytelling' Eurocrime Acclaim for 'The Savage Garden': 'An intriguing puzzle, elegantly written! a pleasure to read! the atmosphere of an Italian summer and of the mysterious garden are beautifully captured' Sunday Telegraph 'Mills writes beautifully; leading us gently and atmospherically through the Tuscan renaissance garden! an unusual, captivating novel that is a cut above the norm' The Times 'A fine sense of period and place, a well-managed narrative, crisp prose and fascinating information! Mills is one to watch' Spectator 'Mills juggles the mysteries of three periods, switching between centuries with a conjuror's skill! the book is beautifully written, giving life to the figures in their Tuscan landscape' Literary Review Further acclaim for 'The Savage Garden': 'A mesmerizing piece of writing! Mills is a skillful writer and combines all the disparate strands into a striking tapestry' Independent 'An intriguing historical thriller which confirms him as a first-class and unusual crime writer' Daily Mail 'To be savoured! Mills weaves together an intriguing mixture of love, loss and divided loyalties' Guardian
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
17 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review
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Malta, 1942. Max Chadwick is an information officer whose job is to keep up the morale of British troops and Maltese islanders under daily bombardment from the Luftwaffe. But when one of his friends reveals his suspicions that a serial killer is preying on Maltese barmaids, Max turns detective to try and prevent a scandal that would divide British forces and the local community.
Mark Mills has clearly done a lot of research into wartime life in Malta and the book is at its best when it evokes the effects of the war on the Maltese landscape and the people living on the island. This alone would have been sufficient material from which to craft an interesting and moving novel about a theatre of war that is not often written about. Instead, the book attempts to be all at once a wartime romance, an espionage thriller and a detective story about a serial killer. The combination of genres leads to a not entirely convincing plot.
At times the narrative structure is also a little confusing. In lengthy exchanges of dialogue, I often found myself losing track of who said what, and flashback passages examining the early life of the killer were occasionally not well signposted as distinct from the main narrative.
Despite my criticisms of the plot and structure, I did find this book a pageturner. The denouement was a bit disappointing, but I enjoyed getting there, and would suggest this as a good summer holiday read.
Mark Mills has clearly done a lot of research into wartime life in Malta and the book is at its best when it evokes the effects of the war on the Maltese landscape and the people living on the island. This alone would have been sufficient material from which to craft an interesting and moving novel about a theatre of war that is not often written about. Instead, the book attempts to be all at once a wartime romance, an espionage thriller and a detective story about a serial killer. The combination of genres leads to a not entirely convincing plot.
At times the narrative structure is also a little confusing. In lengthy exchanges of dialogue, I often found myself losing track of who said what, and flashback passages examining the early life of the killer were occasionally not well signposted as distinct from the main narrative.
Despite my criticisms of the plot and structure, I did find this book a pageturner. The denouement was a bit disappointing, but I enjoyed getting there, and would suggest this as a good summer holiday read.
21 of 23 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is the 3rd novel by crime writer Mark Mills. It is set in Malta during the Second World War at the height of the German bombing campaign against the island. The main character, Max, is the Information Officer of the title. It comes to his attention that a British officer is murdering local women and he decides to investigate quietly, hoping to avoid any further souring of relations between the islanders and the British forces stationed on Malta.
I came to this book with high expectations being a huge fan of his previous works, especially the excellent Whaleboat House. However, I was left feeling that this novel lacked his usual precision with characters and events and the twists and turns of the plot were vague and often extremely unlikely. The atmosphere of an island under constant threat of attack was very well done and the main characters were likeable. But the ending was abrupt, unsatisfactory and left me feeling like a significant chunk of the book had been missed out.
Overall, I would say the book was an enjoyable, undemanding read but very clumsy - not something I would expect from this author and I would recommend reading his other 2 books instead. I will probably still look out for his next work but in spite of and not because of this book.
I came to this book with high expectations being a huge fan of his previous works, especially the excellent Whaleboat House. However, I was left feeling that this novel lacked his usual precision with characters and events and the twists and turns of the plot were vague and often extremely unlikely. The atmosphere of an island under constant threat of attack was very well done and the main characters were likeable. But the ending was abrupt, unsatisfactory and left me feeling like a significant chunk of the book had been missed out.
Overall, I would say the book was an enjoyable, undemanding read but very clumsy - not something I would expect from this author and I would recommend reading his other 2 books instead. I will probably still look out for his next work but in spite of and not because of this book.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Having read the mesmerizing The Savage Garden I came to this book with very high expecations; sadly I left feeling extremely dissappointed.
This story about Malta's Information Officer, Max, during WWII tries to combine detective story, thriller, romance, war and espionage into one big explosion - producing a convoluted, complicated piece of story-telling lacking in conviction, fludity and transarency; it simply was too much to take in in one go - confusing not only the reader, but I imagine the author also.
I found myself initially intrigued by Malta's history and part in the war, but felt more and more alienated by the deluge of repetitive bombings, fringe-characters and multiple story-lines. As a romance, the story lacked sympathy, as a detective story, it was extremely hard to distinguish the narrative from the killer and normal story lines, and as a thriller, it was not much of a mystery & sadly quite easy to figure out. However, what frustrated me most about the story was its ending, which was sudden and offered no real explanation other than telling us the name of the killer; for most fans of suspense, I imagine its also very important to understand the why as well the who and how.
As mentioned already, if you are looking for a classic Mark Mills, look no further than the highly enjoyable The Savage Garden. Then skip this one and wait for his next book. I really do hope that in his next adventure, we will see the old Mark Mills and not this confusing imitator.
This story about Malta's Information Officer, Max, during WWII tries to combine detective story, thriller, romance, war and espionage into one big explosion - producing a convoluted, complicated piece of story-telling lacking in conviction, fludity and transarency; it simply was too much to take in in one go - confusing not only the reader, but I imagine the author also.
I found myself initially intrigued by Malta's history and part in the war, but felt more and more alienated by the deluge of repetitive bombings, fringe-characters and multiple story-lines. As a romance, the story lacked sympathy, as a detective story, it was extremely hard to distinguish the narrative from the killer and normal story lines, and as a thriller, it was not much of a mystery & sadly quite easy to figure out. However, what frustrated me most about the story was its ending, which was sudden and offered no real explanation other than telling us the name of the killer; for most fans of suspense, I imagine its also very important to understand the why as well the who and how.
As mentioned already, if you are looking for a classic Mark Mills, look no further than the highly enjoyable The Savage Garden. Then skip this one and wait for his next book. I really do hope that in his next adventure, we will see the old Mark Mills and not this confusing imitator.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Very disappointing
I just couldn't engage with this book at all, and I see from the comments on here a lot of readers feel the same. Read more
Published 4 months ago by joevascotia
Enjoyable wartime whodunnit
I'd read Mark Mills' later "The House of the Hanged" and greatly enjoyed.
So much that I promptly bought "The Information Officer" and "The Savage Garden". Read more
So much that I promptly bought "The Information Officer" and "The Savage Garden". Read more
Published 8 months ago by M. Saxby
Atmospheric but Slow - until the End
"The Information Officer" is sold as a "thriller" but, except towards the end, is far from thrilling. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Mr. Ross Maynard
Missing character
This is a book worth reading: if only to 'spot the incongruencies' - there are, however a few well-written passages that save the narrative. Read more
Published 17 months ago by Rosanne Dingli
Not All Bad but Generally Confusing!
I read the Savage Garden a few years back and I remember really enjoying it at the time. This however is a different kettle of fish altogether. Read more
Published 20 months ago by Loupop
Disappointing mish mash
Unfortunately this book had potential ( had it been written by a good author) but it was total confusion from the get go. Read more
Published 20 months ago by Lawrence Anastasi
The Information Officer
Malta in the war years visited here in a great mystery novel. This island played a big part in World War Two and Mark Mills brings it to life in vivid description and... Read more
Published on 26 April 2010 by T. Smith
Enjoyable WW2 tale
I really enjoy the sort of novel that explores the off-beat corners of WW2, of which there must have been many, this is one such that captures the mood of the times though not as... Read more
Published on 16 April 2010 by John Richard
"They'll be watching you closely"
In this cinematic war-time novel Mills combines the elements of espionage with a love story in a setting that is evocative as it is beautiful. Read more
Published on 26 Mar 2010 by Michael Leonard
Extremely disappointing
All I can say is that I'm glad I read "The Savage Garden" first. The Information Officer is awful, totally confusing and I certainly wouldn't recommend it to anyone.
Published on 23 Mar 2010 by D. C. bonham
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