(See all my Book Reviews and Author Interviews) – Howard Linskey http://www.howardlinskey.co.uk/ is the author of more than a dozen novels. Ungentlemanly Warfare was published in 2020. This was the 103rd book I completed in 2022.
I received an ARC of this book through https://www.netgalley.com with the expectation of delivering a fair and honest review. Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own! Due to scenes of violence and mature situations, I categorize this novel as R.
It is 1943, and the war is definitely taking a turn against the Nazis. One of their Wunderwaffe or ‘wonder weapons’ is the rocket-propelled Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet interceptor. It is nearly ready for production, but stability issues still plague it.
German scientist Professor Gaerte has been assigned to quickly correct the flaw. If the plane is made functional and put into production, the impact on Allied bombers will be dire. This could even endanger the Normandy invasion. Fortunately, British Intelligence has discovered Gaerte’s mission.
An SOE Jedburg team is sent into France to assassinate Gaerte and put Me 163 completion behind schedule. The British put one of their best men on the team, Captain Harry Walsh. He can be ruthless and unorthodox at times, but he completes his missions.
Once in France, the team meets with another SOE agent, Emma Stirling. She is experienced, having worked in France before. Her presence complicates things as she was once Walsh’s lover. Plans go awry when the Maquis group they are working with is raided by the Germans after being betrayed.
Will they be able to evade the Germans? Can their mission still be completed?
I enjoyed the 8+ hours I spent reading this 228-page WWII-era thriller. The plot takes a few turns and is full of action and intrigue. I like the chosen cover art. I give this novel a rating of 4.5 (rounded up to a 5) out of 5.
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If you have an interest in the WWII era of history, you may find these three pages of interest.
- The “World War II Resources” page is a constantly growing collection of more than 600 links to museums, memorials, websites, Facebook pages, Twitter feeds, and other sources with information on the World War II era in history.
- The “World War II Timeline” page expands almost daily and shows events leading up to WWII, as well as during the war. Events are broken down into the Pacific and European Theaters by date.
- The About WWII page is a collection of links to posts that I have made over the years that are relevant to WWII. Included are links to many fiction and non-fiction books on WWII that I have read and reviewed. There are also links to WWII oriented podcasts.
John's Notes 