Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

The Winter Agent is a truly gripping spy thriller based upon real people and events.

This book delivers on every level; it’s well paced, thoroughly researched, believable, thrilling, and emotionally wrenching like only wartime events can be.

The story is based upon the Physician Circuit (British agents based in France) and Major Francis Suttill (service name Prosper) of the Special Operations Executive. In the novel Prosper is portrayed by Marc Reece who in early 1944 is busy trying to sabotage the Nazi’s stronghold over France. He is also tasked with obtaining a document which names a German double agent who is highly placed within British Intelligence.

Marc and Charlotte (Marc’s housemate and fellow officer) with whom he has fallen in love, together with the rest of their circuit plan an ambush on a prison convoy. The ambush does not go to plan, revealing that there may be a traitor in the circuit who undermines everything they’re risking their lives for. Marc now has two traitors to identify and when Charlotte disappears his suspicions fall on her. Meanwhile the clock is counting down to D-Day, meaning that Marc has a short window in which to expose the traitors and their plans which could change the course of the war.

I found the pace of the novel good, the thrilling action scenes rolled quickly whereas others had me holding my breath in fear and anticipation. The action switches between France and England and this is done with finesse. Towards the end of the novel, things became slightly unclear but this was also the case for the protagonist so there is a bit of explanation from a superior officer. This lack of clarity annoyed me at first, but the fact that agents often operated under such conditions only serves to highlight how difficult and dangerous their missions are, and how much we owe to their fortitude.

A brilliant, historically accurate and creatively reimagined WW2 thriller. Highly recommended!

Reminded me of Ken Follet, interesting and full of twists. Very well written would like to read more from this author.

The Winter Agent is a tense, well researched thriller which seemed very realistic.

I’m a huge fan of books set in the second world war and I always enjoy learning something new about the era. This book was fascinating to me as it’s based on real events and characters which I hadn’t heard of before. I spent many hours happily researching more on the internet. It was especially interesting to learn some new, surprising, facts about Hitler which I wasn’t aware of before and definitely explains a few things about him!

The story unfolds at a nice pace so that everything that happens seems very realistic and is more hard hitting because of it. As you can possibly expect from a book set in this time, some of the things described are quite graphic and heart wrenching which makes the book difficult to read at times. Through them though the reader is able to properly understand what it was like living in France during the war with the constant fear and threat of horror.

Overall I thought this was a fantastic historical thriller which was full of just the right amount of tension and suspense to keep me turning the pages. It did take me a little while to get into the book as I felt the writing style was a little different but I soon got used to it.

Huge thanks to Sriya from Michael St Joseph for inviting me onto the blog tour and for my copy of this book via Netgalley

Based on true events in the lead up to D-Day in June 1944, this novel has everything. Fabulous sense of time and place, a hero with weaknesses and a supporting cast of both real-life characters and others who really add to the suspense and excitement; who amongst them is the "leak"?

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC which I highly recommend.

I enjoyed this story, written around and skilfully woven into historical facts and characters. You get a real feeling for the time and of occupied France during wartime.
I was specially interested in the reference to S.O.E operations and the Operation Jericho raid on Amiens.
A great story, fully enjoyed.

My thanks to Penguin U.K. - Michael Joseph for the invitation to read an eARC via NetGalley of ‘The Winter Agent’ by Gareth Rubin in exchange for an honest review.

February, 1944 as a bitter winter grips occupied France, Marc Reece leads a circuit of British agents risking their lives in order to sabotage the German war effort from within. Reece also has a second mission to secure a document that will identify a German spy at the heart of British intelligence. With D-Day approaching the fate of the Allied forces is in his hands. When the circuit is attacked Reece realises there may be a traitor in their ranks!

‘The Winter Agent’ was inspired by the tragic real life story of the Physician circuit that operated in Paris and Northern France until betrayed. Rubin outlines this in his closing historical notes, including recommendations of nonfiction accounts for those who might wish to learn more.

I found this a well written, engaging wartime spy thriller that provided strong characterisations and realistic action sequences. That it was inspired by real events gave it extra gravitas.

‘Based on real events, this is the gripping story of a man operating in the darkest of circumstances – and the unimaginable sacrifices war demands of those who fight it.'

The Winter Agent by Gareth Rubin was published May 28th 2020 with Michael Joseph. Described as ‘a love story, a war novel, and a twisty thriller' it is a book that will both intrigue and fascinate anyone with an interest in the Second World War and the events surroundings its final days.

The Winter Agent is based on ‘a shocking historical conspiracy that reached the very top of the British establishment.' Its plot is wrapped around real-life events and real-life characters who all played significant roles during this frightening period of history, adding an extra layer of authenticity to the novel.

Marc Reece is an agent with the SOE (Special Operations Executive). This was a secret organisation established by Winston Churchill in 1940 with the purpose of carrying out espionage by assisting local resistance groups in enemy-controlled areas. Theirs was a role of reconnaissance and where possible sabotage to obstruct the forward path of the Nazi regime and all that it stood for. These agents took great risks, many never returning home but their bravery, though secretive, was an important cog in the Allies defence against the evil reign of the Axis powers. The SOE fought a secret war, a vital resource when it was most needed. They parachuted into dangerous territories connecting with local resistance, together forming, at times, formidable alliances working together to collapse the might of the Nazi machine. This machine with its warped sense of righteousness was, and still is, difficult to comprehend, their determination to form a new world, no matter the human cost.

“Warfare was a noble construct prosecuted in dirty circumstances, and it was down to the Gestapo to clean away the dregs. That was something that had to be done once in every generation, he believed. He recalled chaotic times in the previous decade : hungry dogs tearing rubbish apart, grown men and women walking in their wake in search for food. Humans no better than animals. A breakdown not just of society but of natural and racial order. That couldn’t happen again. No, it couldn’t happen. And so he and his brethren would hunt down all those who might bring it about”

The Winter Agent is Marc Reece’s story. An agent who garners great respect, Marc has his own circuit in Paris, all with the same objective in mind. But Marc has not revealed the full truth behind his current orders. The war years proved to many that trust was a very precious attribute but also one that was difficult to judge. With spies among spies, who was truly on your side at any given moment. With D-Day fast approaching Marc is instructed to gather any and all information that would assist the Allies. But following a deadly ambush, Marc and his team fear a spy in their ranks. Marc has access to the ears of Churchill, his orders are top priority but there is a leak, somebody is attempting to sabotage his circuit. Who can he trust? Who is the spy within?

It is clear that in writing this novel Gareth Rubin exhaustively researched his facts. Yes The Winter Agent is a thriller, a fantastic spy novel, but it is also an informative tale, one that will shock and disturb. I was absolutely astounded by certain facts in relation to Hitler and his addiction to opiates and more. I love when a book inspires me to search out information myself, one that inspires and encourages my own sense of wonder and The Winter Agent most definitely did this in spades. It is also, though, a book that requires a certain focus, as there are many, many characters and personalities throughout with the story jumping back and forth between them.

Paris is a wonderful supporting character with some strikingly vivid descriptions of a city under siege but also of a city that has a history like no other.

‘Montmartre….Degas, Matisse and Renoir had lived and worked here. Toulouse-Lautrec had painted the girls in the nightclubs that sprang up clinging to these steep streets and the area retained a subdued air of artistic revolution’

D-Day was a major operation requiring the highest levels of cooperation and secrecy, but also deception. In The Winter Agent, Gareth Rubin wraps Marc Reece’s story around these factual and extraordinary events gripping the attention from the opening chapters. With an incredible cast of characters, my heart was shattered, rebuilt and shattered again on the turn of a page.

Marc Reece is tough, a man ready to follow orders and to aid the war effort in any way he can but with his trust in the powers that be on shaky ground, Marc is struggling. When one of his agents, Charlotte, a woman he had formed a personal relationship with against all his better judgement, goes missing, Marc faces a dilemma. Who is Charlotte? Is she the leak in their circuit?

‘It was hard to say how much of her now was a product of the war and how much was a product of her parentage, her upbringing and all the other influences benign and malign that shape one’s character.’

Marc must dig deep into himself to withstand the onslaught that awaits him and to unearth the truth behind this dangerous mission that he has been assigned. The powerful depictions of Marc’s journey are compelling, exciting and very gripping with the pace of the narrative never dropping.

The Winter Agent is a riveting tale of espionage and of one man’s courage and determination to see good prevail over evil. It is a powerful and dramatic novel with its roots set in the factual events of the most momentous battle of the Second World War. With some profound imagery, the reader witnesses the fear, the horror and the bravery. Gareth Rubin has created a captivating piece of writing that compels and astounds, shocks and angers. An impressive piece of work!

‘The hundred thousand strong military marches along these boulevards had been the dividing line between the world of hedonistic joy and this one of deprivation. Berlin had been born, developed tumors throughout its flesh and was now dying with fluid in its lungs.’

I got The Winter Agent by Gareth Rubin, from Netgalley for a fair and honest review

In occupied Paris during the bitter winter of 1944, Marc Reese leads a group of British agents helping France get ready for the allied invasion to free western Europe from German occupation. At a time of tension who do you trust, when you may be betrayed to the Gestapo at any minute, by people who you think of as your friend.

This war time thriller which takes a story that has been told before of trying to keep the information from the Germans about the location of the D-day invasion. The novel moves from one scene to the next in a natural manor, allowing the plot twists to come in such away that they were a shock but not out of the blue.

In addition the story was full of well rounded people not only Marcus himself but Charlotte and the Gestapo officers none of whom were not 2 dimensional. Which helps in following the story that Twist and turns all the way through.

This was an enjoyable war thriller that was well written and kept me interested as a reader all the way through from beginning to the end. So if you are Interested in well written spy novels with twist and turns with plenty of jeopardy, and action, or World War II spy novels, well written, the Garth Rubin, as written the novel for you in The Winter Agent.

Set in France in 1944 The Winter Agent is an excellent spy novel from Gareth Rubin where, as you would expect, nothing is quite what it seems.

The author recreates the tension and intrigue of the period as the Allies plan for an invasion and the Germans try to prevent it.

This is a very engaging read and a book that I thoroughly recommend

Gareth Rubin blends fact and fiction in this powerful and enthralling historical espionage thriller set in WW2 in the period just before the Allied D-day landings. Naval officer, Captain Marce Reese is a major SOE agent working on a secret mission whilst simultaneously endeavouring to thwart the Nazis in the bitter freezing winter of 1944 in Paris. He is undercover working in a tabac, meeting a local recruited agent at a bar, a local printer and photographer, Luc Carte, producing false travel permits, when the Gestapo burst in and arrest Luc. An effort to free Luc ends up with betrayal and fatal consequences, although Marc learns of a well placed Nazi agent, known as Parade, within the British intelligence services, and that Luc has hidden valuable photographs in his home in a secret place that only Charlotte, Marc's lover and fellow agent, knows about.

Marc returns injured to Paris, desperate to uncover the identity of Parade, and get his hands on the photographs. However, there is a fire at Charlotte's home and Charlotte herself has disappeared, the only feasible conclusion being that it is Charlotte who betrayed them, taken the photographs and is working for the Nazis. SS Colonel Siegfried Klausmann, working with Heinrich Himmler's SD intelligence agency, learns of Marc's existence, and determinedly hunts for him. Admiral Wilhelm Canaris is the Head of the Abwehr, the established German military intelligence service, currently being sidelined by Himmler's SD with it spectacular successes, none more so than Parade and the valuable intel he is leaking of Allied plans. Canaris is troubled about being kept out of the loop on critical decisions made, and being outside Hitler's favoured inner circle, and thinks if he can uncover Parade's identity, he can stop the ambitious Himmler and break his strong hold on Hitler.

Marc's critical role is to ensure that the Germans do not jeopardise the plans and success of the Allied D-day landings and invasion, on which winning the war depends, along with the defeat of the Germans on the Eastern Front. Rubin writes a tense war time story of those who gave up their lives to ensure an Allied victory, of betrayal, deception, and strategic machinations, and a Marc who plays a critical role in the success of the D-day landing, although perhaps not in the way he expects. This is a well written espionage thriller, compulsive and full of tension and suspense, that I thoroughly enjoyed reading. Many thanks to Penguin Michael Joseph for an ARC.

A World War II espionage thriller, partly based on a true story, that blends historical facts and real people in with the tale of Marc Reece, an agent of Britain's SOE (Special Operations Executive), leading a group of British agents carrying out acts of sabotage in occupied France.
Marc's cover is as the owner of a small tobacconist's shop. Upstairs is his radio operator Charlotte, who is also his lover.
It is February 1944 with France in the grip of a freezing winter. In a few months Allied Forces are due to land on the beaches of Normandy. Reece has discovered from Luc, one of his agents, that there is a German spy codenamed "Parade" working undercover in British intelligence. Before he can act, Luc is arrested by the Gestapo. It's vital that Reece recovers the documents which can reveal Parade's identity.
But as he and two of his espionage cell try to rescue Luc from a prison van, they are ambushed by SS troops and Reece realises that one of his fellow agents must be a traitor.
Then, his radio operator Charlotte goes missing and now Reece doesn't know who to trust. He can't believe she is working for the Nazis, but if not then why has she vanished?
An SS Colonel Klaussmann is dogged in his pursuit of Reece, while in the background, Admiral Wilhelm Canaris, head of the Abwehr, (Germany's military intelligence service) and Heinrich Himmler, the man in charge of the the SD (the intelligence agency of the SS) are vying for Hitler's favour. Back in London, Churchill and his top intelligence aides seem to have a scheme of which Reece is completely unaware. All he knows is that he must find out who Parade is before D-Day.
The plot seems a bit confused in places and sometimes there's far too much detail of minor matters which slows the action, but author Gareth Rubin really captures the atmosphere of fear and mistrust felt by the French people whether they are patriots or collaborators and the superior attitude of the German occupiers who regard all enemy agents and members of the Resistance as terrorists.
My thanks to the publisher Penguin UK Michael Joseph and to NetGalley for an advance copy of this book in return for an unbiased review.

I enjoyed Liberation Square, a futuristic dystopian thriller set in the 1950s and was looking forward to Gareth Rubin's next book - and I was not disappointed.

The Winter Agent is a wonderful tale of heroism, duplicity and double-cross mainly set in wartime occupied France. There were times when I even thought I was reading an Alan Furst novel, so accurate and acute were Rubin's descriptions of people and places in Paris on the 40s - that's how good this book is!

I will not provide any spoilers but the end of the book is shattering (in a good way) as everything comes together and the identity and secrecy of the Allied landing location at D Day is maintained - but at what cost.

Life is cheap and dangerous as the SOE and French resistance fight the Nazi invaders and in Marc Reece, who heads up a resistance cell Rubin gas crested a wonderful multifaceted character.

This is an exceptionally good book that deserves a wide audience.

#TheWinterAgent #NetGalley
Best novel I've read so far.
I'm glad that I've requested such a masterpiece.
February, 1944. A bitter winter grips occupied France, where Marc Reece leads a circuit of British agents risking their lives in order to sabotage the German war effort from within.But Reece has a second mission, secret even from his fellow agents - including Charlotte, the woman with whom he has ill-advisedly fallen in love. He must secure a document identifying a German spy at the heart of British intelligence. The fate of the Allied forces on D-Day is in his hands.
I loved the protagonist and looking forward for more such books.
Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin UK Michael Joseph for giving me an advanced copy.