The Partisan: The explosive debut thriller for fans of Robert Harris and Charles Cumming

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The story is very complex, and some patience is needed in the early stages, but Worrall steadily and skilfully knits his various strands into a compelling whole that comes together in a series of stunning finales in Spain, London and Sweden. The second half of the book is particularly suspenseful, as the twin storylines in 1961 and 1944 reach their violent conclusions and Worrall offers some unexpected final twists. Her father used to say that with mushrooms, as with people, a skirt was a sign of impending danger.” De partizaan suist in een jachtig tempo, springt doordacht tussen tijdperken en oorlogsgebieden. Om meteen te herlezen. At some points this story can be difficult to read, it references torture and the cruel nature of war. This however, is important to the plot and is extremely compelling.

Ik laat me niet meer zoveel sturen door een cover en een titel of wat er omheen geschreven staat. Maar bij deze heb ik me er wel door laten leiden. Ook al weet ik dat niet steeds de juiste keuze is. Ook trekt de schrijver een lijntje tussen de internationale verhoudingen in de 20ste eeuw en de schaaktoernooien die toen plaatsvonden. Immers, het strijdtoneel van de Koude Oorlog speelde zich niet alleen af op nucleair en spionagegebied maar ook in de wereld van de schaaktoernooien. De schaakpartijen tussen Amerikaan Bobby Fisher en de Rus Boris Spasski zijn legendarisch. Want eenmaal iedereen zijn plaatsje kreeg in het boek, bleek het voor mij ook gemakkelijker om alles te begrijpen en te genieten van het boek. This book was a completely unexpected find at the bookstore window shelf in Durham. The last copy in that store. Lithuania was independent, was taken over by the Soviets, then by the Nazis. As the Nazis weakened, the Soviets moved in again, treating the country like just another pawn on their chessboard.In the Soviet Union, if you get tired of reality, a new one will come along and replace it. Every new leader ushers in a glorious new past. Na zdrovye!’”

Meanwhile, there is also tenderness and youthful romance in the chess sections of the story where English boy Michael meets Russian girl Yulia at a tournament in London. She is the daughter of Sergei (mentioned in the opening quotation), whom she knows to be somebody important, something to do with military secrets. He writes about chess in the newspapers. She and her father pretty much communicate through chess. Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Random House UK, Transworld Publishers for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes. There is tenderness and youthfulness romance in the chess parts of the story. An English boy named Michael meets a Russian damsel named Yulia during a tournament in London. Yulia is the daughter of Sergei, a person important to the government with military secrets. Her mother, Anna, was among the first women to join Politburo, so Yulia is keenly guided throughout. If she needs to attend a chess tournament, she is often escorted by two masculine men who also sleep in her suite at the hotel.

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A dazzlingly confident debut...marks the advent of a real talent' ( Sunday Times). Compelling, intricate and epic in scope, The Partisan is a virtuoso WW2/Cold War thriller with a difference. If you're a fan of Len Deighton and John le Carre then this nerve-jangling thriller is for you...The characters are skilfully drawn and complex threads masterfully combined into a gripping read Yours If I were to have any slight criticisms against this book they would be that sometimes the chapters jump around time periods and locations slightly too frequently (and that some may find it hard to keep up) however it does not detract from the main story. Additionally, I wish that Michael and Yulia were given slightly more time to develop as characters however this is not a major criticism as they still worked well in the way that they were written. The public knows only the official faces of governments and the military, but the real power lies with other slippery government officials like Vassily, a Soviet official who manages to travel freely, but nobody knows exactly why.