This series never disappoints.
Likeable hero, thrilling story and sensible plot.
Always like a series that the character changes over time and this one has developed in my opinion.

Summer 1939. Germany has invaded Czechoslovakia. Jews desperate to flee Nazi persecution queue outside embassies in Berlin in the hope of getting a visa, while sending their children on Kindertransport to Britain. In the UK, the IRA’s bombing campaign continues. Scientists in Europe and America are researching atomic fission, and also at the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge. It is a vulnerable, combustible time. This is the setting for ‘Nucleus’ by Rory Clements, second in his trilogy of history professor and amateur spy, Tom Wilde.
In the first book in the series, ‘Corpus’, Tom Wilde was more an amateur detective. In ‘Nucleus’, the stakes are higher, war is imminent, spies are everywhere and so are traitors. The problem is, they look like friends. Asked by none other than the US president Franklin D Roosevelt to be a ‘clear and unbiased voice’ for him on research at the Cavendish, Wilde is drawn into a world of American millionaires, a Hollywood actress, champagne, tennis parties and horseracing. And then one of the Cavendish physicists, a withdrawn, complicated genius due to move to the USA to work with Oppenheimer, is found drowned in the River Cam. Was he killed because he had unlocked the answer to converting atomic fission into a bomb capable of destroying a city? Meanwhile, Wilde’s girlfriend and neighbour, Lydia Morris, goes to Berlin on a mercy mission to search for the disappeared eight-year old son of Jewish scientist, Eva Haas, now in England. Could Albert have been kidnapped by the Gestapo to put pressure on his mother? And who is the mysterious German, Baumgarten, who helps Eva and her uncle, physicist Arnold Lindberg, escape to Austria. Tom Wilde, a specialist on Francis Walsingham, spymaster to Queen Elizabeth I, is an interesting protagonist; at times reckless but capable of analysis and leaps of faith.
‘Corpus’ was a slow read, at times lightly plotted, but ‘Nucleus’ an emotional rollercoaster that continues until the last page. Clements avidly recreates the atmosphere of Britain on the brink of war; a summer where parties abound, people approach life with a reckless abandonment, where fear and paranoia combine with a ‘let’s get on with it’ attitude. I enjoyed ‘Corpus’ but ‘Nucleus’ is better. The plot twists and turns with all disparate elements connected together by the end. This is a compelling read which I devoured on a plane, sitting up to read it while others slept around me. The third in the series, as yet without title, is to be set in September 1939 as Germany invades Poland.
Read more of my book reviews at http://www.sandradanby.com/book-reviews-a-z/

On vacation in the US Professor Tom Wilde is surprised to be summoned to the White House for a discussion with FDR. Although american, Wilde has been involved with the British secret services and, as Europe teeters on the edge of war, he is now asked to be the eyes and ears of his homeland in his adopted Cambridge. Meanwhile as German physicists escape from Germany, the Nazis are concerned about the development of nuclear weapons and target the Cavendish Laboratory in a link with the IRA.

I am a huge fan of Clements work, both in his earlier Tudor series and now with the Tom Wilde books. Clements has a knack of putting together a suitably complex plot line that ties in with known historical fact and a set of flawed protagonists that the reader engages with. I love the knowing links between the two sets of stories - Wilde is an expert on Walsingham, the Tudor spymaster - and I find this era of history fascinating. The involvement of the IRA in Nazi plotting was new to me but felt right in this book.

Hi Karen,
My next review is as follows:-

On the 25th January 2018. 384 pages. ISBN-13: 978-1785763717
"Nucleus (Tom Wilde 2)" written by Rory Clements and published in hardback by Zaffre.

June 1939. England is partying like there is no tomorrow, gas masks at the ready. In Cambridge the May Balls are played out with a frantic intensity - but the good times won't last... In Europe, the Nazis have invaded Czechoslovakia, and in Germany the persecution of the Jews is now so widespread that desperate Jewish parents send their children to safety in Britain aboard the Kindertransport. Closer to home, the IRA's S-Plan bombing campaign has resulted in more than 100 terrorist outrages around England.

But perhaps the most far-reaching event of all goes largely unreported: in Germany, Otto Hahn has produced the first man-made fission and an atomic device is now a very real possibility. The Nazis set up the Uranverein group of physicists: its task is to build a super bomb. The German High Command is aware that British and U.S. scientists are working on similar line. Cambridge's Cavendish Laboratory is where the atom was split in 1932. Might the Cambridge men now win the race for a nuclear bomb? Hitler's generals need to be sure they know all the Cavendish's secrets.

When one of the Cavendish's finest brains is murdered, Professor Tom Wilde is once more drawn into an intrigue from which there seems no escape. In a conspiracy that stretches from Cambridge to Berlin and from Washington D.C. to the west coast of Ireland, he faces deadly forces that threaten the fate of the world.
This book has a very well thought out, dramatic but complex plot, with many twists and turns which make for a very vivid and fast moving story line. He does not allow you to get too settled in reading the story before it moves off in a complete new direction. It was a very absorbing read with a real quality, similar in style but perhaps faster moving, than books by John Lawton or Peter May.
The story is very well researched, the author evokes the setting with reference to retail products that were available in the 1940’s. As a former newspaper journalist, the author is very experienced at researching his stories out before committing them to paper and this very detailed research proves to be the key to his success as an author.
As a reader I was completely gripped whilst reading it and did not want it to end. I consider it one of the best books I've read this year. I will certainly look out for more stories by this very talented writer. Very strongly recommended.

Best wishes,

Terry
(To be published on eurocrime.co.uk in due course)

Books set in the 1930's are particular favourites of mine and there is no more fascinating period than the years just before the outbreak of the Second World War. This is the second in the Tom Wilde series of books but can be read as a standalone. With spy intrigue, competing political ideology and even a touch of class warfare, it captures the melting pot that was society at that time. On the surface, Cambridge may appear serene and focused on learning but in actual fact, there are desperate dealings under the surface. The race for the atom bomb is all the more poignant for modern readers who know how it all turned out.

Tom Wilde is a well-drawn central character, with strengths and weaknesses like anyone. There are several red herrings laid in his path and I must admit that I found the story quite a complex one and certain characters kept me guessing. Cambridge in the late 1930's shone like a jewel in the story and a glance at Rory's website has some interesting information about the period. It really does feel like another world. You can feel the fear in the inhabitants of Berlin where everyone and everything seems to be the subject of surveillance.

In short: well written, detailed and substantial, the suspense builds throughout.

Thanks to the Author for a copy of the book.

I enjoyed Corpus and its sequel is just as good as it explores the themes of the first novel in the series. It is an excellent, thought provoking and evocative period piece with a credible, exciting and well researched plot that draws you in.

Absolutely brilliant. Very believable tale set in Cambridge - and Berlin - just before World War Two. The race for the atom bomb; characters who are heroes, or villains?? Kept me gripped right to the end. Would highly recommend it, and already looking forward to the promised sequel!!

Nucleus by Rory Clements

It is the summer of 1939 and, although nobody leaves home without their gas mask, England is carrying on as normal. A more immediate threat comes from the IRA which has begun a bombing terror campaign. But events in Europe cannot be ignored indefinitely and world powers – especially America, Germany and Britain – are well aware that in the war that is to come the atom bomb, if such a thing can be created, will be critical for victory. Cambridge’s Cavendish Laboratory in England has been a centre for scientific discovery and innovation and it is close to a breakthrough. America knows this and so too does Germany. When one of its scientists is murdered and another one disappears, Tom Wilde (a Cambridge professor but an American citizen) becomes caught up in the investigations.

Tom has been instructed by the American government to spy on the inhabitants of a local grand house, Hawksmere Old Hall, including a scientist (and an old friend of Tom’s) Geoff Lancing and Geoff’s sister Clarissa, one of Hollywood’s most beautiful and famous film actresses. Meanwhile Tom’s love Lydia has gone into the lion’s den itself – Berlin. A German Jewish scientist and his family has been smuggled out of Germany but a child has been stolen, presumably for blackmail to make the scientist return. Lydia is determined to find him. But this is a conspiracy that stretches across continents and oceans and both Lydia and Tom are soon out of their depth. As Europe hurtles ever closer to war, the stakes couldn’t be higher, the danger to Tom and Lydia more certain.

Nucleus follows on from Corpus, the first novel to feature Tom Wilde. Before this, author Rory Clements was better known for his Elizabethan spy series but Corpus and now Nucleus demonstrate that he is a master of the spy novel whatever the period in which it’s set. Pleasingly, Tom Wilde is a professor of history, especially of the Elizabethan spymaster Walsingham and I love the way in which these two periods of history 350 years apart are shown to share similarities. Tom has his own spymaster to deal with as well as serious issues of who he can trust – it’s difficult to see the truth when you can only glimpse a small part of the bigger picture.

The plotting is superb and deliciously intricate. You do need to keep your wits about you and keep alert and the rewards are enormous. I was thoroughly immersed in the plot and caught up in the tension. The scenes in Germany are especially intense and I found them terrifying. There is one moment in this novel when I actually gasped and had to put the book down. I even flicked through a few pages to find resolution, I couldn’t deal with what I’d ‘heard’.

I love the portrayal of England during 1939. The Old House is a symbol of decadence and the old way of living, one that will shortly be made irrelevant. Lydia is arguably the most appealing and interesting of all of the characters in the novel. It’s good to read a spy novel in which women play an equal role, although if you’re after glamour you’ll certainly find it in Clarissa.

Rory Clements has created two fine characters with Tom and Lydia and he deploys them with cleverness and skill. There’s an air of intellectualism about these novels – as there would be with a professor for the central character – but there are no ivory towers here. The world is waking up to a second world war and Tom will have to get his hands dirty. I loved Corpus. Published in January 2017, it opened up the year’s reading in fine fashion and Nucleus has done exactly the same in 2018. With no doubt at all, this is one of the best historical and spy series being written today. I can’t wait for more.

Other review
Corpus
Holy Spy

Super espionage style thriller basically set in Cambridge in the early months of 1939. With dastardly Germans,dodgy Americans and a smattering of IRA terrorists the action surrounding an academic/hero twists hither and thither with the plot centred on research for the atomic bomb and attempts to steal said research. Cambridge beautifully described this atmospheric thriller is a beauty!

This is the second in the history professor Tom Wilde series, and it is much better than the first novel. It is a rollicking historical adventure set in the febrile atmosphere of pre-war 1939 located in Germany, USA and Ireland. However, it is primarily based in Cambridge, where American Tom Wilde returns after a meeting with President Roosevelt, looking forward to connecting with his next door neighbour and his love, Lydia Morris. The Germans are concerned about the latest developments in particle physics with the possibility of wiping out entire cities with an atom bomb. They want to be the first in using such a devastating weapon, and want to know how far the British have got and get their hands on the latest research emanating from the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge. A German Jewish physicist Eva Haas arrives with Arnold Lindberg, a scientist rescued from Dachau. Albert, Eva's son is supposed to arrive on kinder transport, but is missing, assumed to be taken by the Gestapo from the train. Eva is a friend of Lydia's, and Lydia, feeling responsible, goes to Berlin to find Albert.

Philip Eaton, The Times reporter is MI6, returns as he attempts to counter German plans. Tom finds himself in the thick of it after being tasked to keep close to Milt Hardiman, living in Old Hall in Cambridgeshire. Staying with Hardiman is Geoff Lancing's sister, notorious Hollywood actress, Clarissa, a woman with her eyes firmly set on seducing and getting close to Tom. The IRA are becoming active and have connected with the Nazis to get at the British. One of the brightest brains at Cavendish, Professor Paul Birbach, is discovered murdered. In Berlin, Lydia finds herself in danger amidst the menacing presence of the SS and the Gestapo, she is being observed whilst she tries to find out what happened to Albert. Upon acquiring information that indicates the boy is in Britain, she has to be smuggled out of the country. In the meantime, Tom finds a hotbed of intrigue and conspiracy amidst a number of sinister events whilst at the same time becoming reacquainted with an Irish cousin. Will Tom and Lydia survive and prevent the horrors planned?

Rory Clements knows how to write an exciting and adventurous tale set amidst the turbulent and paranoia ridden pre-war period. He does take some historical liberties, but in this well plotted book, he lures the reader into his tense, gripping and compelling narrative of the fight to be first to get hold of the scientific knowledge to build the atom bomb. Tom makes an ideal protagonist, a history academic with all his vital contacts and a courageous personality that has him wanting to foil German plans. Lydia is no shrinking violet, she too wants to do her bit, despite all the danger and terror of the time. This is a cracking historical yarn that I recommend highly! Many thanks to Bonnier Zaffre for an ARC.

As spy thrillers go, it doesn't get much better than Nucleus!

It's June 1939 and Thomas Wilde, history professor at Cambridge University, finds himself caught up in the middle of conspiracies and espionage as Europe hovers on the brink of war. In England, the man in the street may have his gas mask at the ready, but in Cambridge the tradition of the May Balls goes ahead in much the same way they always have, but there is a feeling in the air that this is a last fling before the fear of war becomes a reality. England has already been experiencing the IRA's S- plan bombing campaign, with over 100 attempts at sabotage, but much worse is on the horizon as the Nazis have produced man made fission, the precursor to the nuclear bomb. The German High Command is aware that British and US scientists are also working on fission, with Cambridge being the focus of research in England, so they're desperate to infiltrate the centre to discover just how close their enemies are to creating the nuclear bomb.

What a cracking spy thriller this was, from England to Berlin, Washington DC, to the west coast of Ireland, Nucleus takes us on a journey, not just in geographical terms but in terms of the precarious journey we undertake alongside Tom Wilde - these were very dangerous times. There was plenty of misdirection employed, which of course raised the tension, making it impossible to decide who to trust. As for our protagonist Tom, well, let's just say he goes down like strawberries and cream at Wimbledon - just the job!

* Thank you to Netgalley and Bonnier Zaffre for my ARC in exchange for an honest review*

This feels like a romp of an adventure rather than anything more serious: there are multiple storylines of a murdered physicist, an IRA bomber and a kidnapped Jewish child, with quick-switch scenes, often of just a page or less, which makes this feel like a film treatment. Characters are pretty standard: the heroic history professor, the glamorous Hollywood actress, the traitors and conspirators - and, of course, everyone hates and fears the Nazis with a historical hindsight that doesn't necessarily fit with the realities of pre-war 1939.

If your standard for spy thrillers is le Carre, then this falls well short: everything is on the surface, lacking subtlety of emotion or writing. Ok if you're looking for some page-turning escapism.