Ring of Spies is the third in a series of spy thrillers set in WW II by Alex Gerlis, featuring policeman turned spy Richard Prince. Having read the first in the series (and totally enjoyed it), I was looking forward to reconnecting with Richard on another adventure.

This time most of the action takes place on home soil, England during the war. There is a high placed spy in the British war effort, providing critical troop deployment information as the Allies push into Germany and try to end the war. There are cut-outs to protect the spy, a whole network working to keep him alive and providing information. A few weaknesses and lucky breaks allow the British to know that he exists but not much else.

Mr. Gerlis once again does a great job of keeping the action moving, while taking the necessary time to flesh out his characters. From the spy masters in Germany, to the supporters in England, to the spy hunters working against them, the characters all come to life in their shades of gray with little black and white. There is backdrop, some chapters go back in time to tell a bit of the story, but it’s never too much or unnecessary – the backstory explains why the action that follows happens.

I’m upset that I haven’t yet read the second book, but it’s not required to appreciate another fine chapter in the Richard Prince saga.

I requested and received a free advanced electronic copy from Canelo via NetGalley. Thank you!

Richard Prince is back in this third installment of his eponymous series. While it is not necessary to have read the first two books, it certainly does help. 

The book opens with an English officer describing the debacle at Arnhem (Operation Market Garden, for those into the European theater of operations during WWII). He's insistent that the Germans knew the plans for the operation.

One of the issues with series characters is giving the reader some backstory so they know enough to agree to go along on the ride the main character is about to take, but aren't overwhelmed to the point that they miss that bus. Generally, it's a good idea to drizzle in the backstory like you're making your own aioli: slowly. Doing infodumps isn't a good way to go, just as dumping all the oil in at once into your aioli isn't: in the case of the latter, it causes the mix to break, and in the case of he former, it breaks the reading experience. Unfortunately, Ring of Spies starts with a lot of infodumping. There are also numerous "As you know, Bob" moments where one character is telling another character something they already know as a way to get that information to the reader.

Once past all this, the story picks up, and we find out the Germans have placed numerous agents in England. Prince is back in Lincolnshire, having recovered his lost son (book two) and basically policing an area that has no huge issues with crime, and almost zero serious crimes. He's approached again, just as he was in the first book, to join the intelligence service to help root our the German moles.

While he resists at first, he also acknowledges that he is a bit restless, having grown accustomed to the action of being a spy, where any misstep could be the last one. He agrees, and we're off into skullduggery within England itself.

There are scenes from the German side of the war, as there have been previously in this series, and we get infodumps on this side as well, but the positioning of the agents in England, how they are insulated from one another (to make them more difficult to detect, and to make it more difficult for them to give up the entire ring), and how they communicate with the Germans was quite interesting.

The ebb and flow of the war - even though we know that in the year of book, 1944, victory in Europe is coming sooner rather than later - and the danger war brings are still very real for the participants. The book continues at a good pace through the machinations of ally and foe alike. The ending, though, feels a bit rushed, even with the buildup of action as the Allies move ever forward to victory.

Even with that, however, it's a worthy entry to the series. I didn't find it as good as the first book in the series, but I did like it more than the second. It's well worth a read for thriller fans and history buffs alike.

A solid four out of five stars.

Thanks to Canelo and NetGalley for the review copy.

Good stuff. I've read the other 2 in the series and this is just as good. Get more details from the many other reviews already out there. Recommended.

Thanks very much for the review copy!!

Spy thriller set during World War II; a lot of fine detail in the plots. Essentially a German 'sleeper' is brought awake to work in British Intelligence at a high level and has to be tracked down before too much more damage is done to the Allied Forces on the front. Richard Prince is the police officer seconded to MI5 to track down said spy. Well researched and a distinct feeling of 1940s Britain.  The cloak and dagger bits also seemed of their time and it was a generally enjoyable, compelling read. Thanks to NetGalley and Canelo for an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

When Len Deighton hung up his quill and retired in 1993 I was bereft, fearing it was a death knoll for the spy thriller genre. Then, along came writers like Phillip Kerr and Charles Cumming and there was a glimmer of hope. 
Now, Alex Gerlis has reignited my love for the genre with a series of well-researched and engrossing spy novels.
In Ring of Spies Gerlis takes us on a cat and mouse chase looking for traitors in England during the closing months of World War Two. It benefits greatly from an unbiased look at perspectives from both sides of the conflict.
Thrilling stuff.

Ring of Spies is the third instalment in the Richard Prince Thrillers series, which are Second World War espionage thrillers and are noted for their detailed research and intricate plots. It is preferable although not a strict necessity to have read the preceding two books before this one as each instalment has a fairly self-contained story and new readers are provided with enough backstory on Prince to bring them up to speed. Richard Prince is back with a bang in his most dangerous mission to date. As World War II’s conclusion inches ever closer, detective and MI5 freelancer Prince is called to covertly investigate when a band of British paratroopers are ambushed in Arnhem. It's 1944, and both the Allies and the Axis Powers are trying all strategies to gain an advantages over the other. When it comes to light that a German intelligence officer had been ’installed’ as a sleeper in the British ranks years earlier, it's up to Prince to identify how many are part of the ring, identify exactly who they are and halt the leak of information. But during the fog of war, nothing is quite as it initially appears...

This is a riveting, action-packed and superbly written tale of espionage and betrayal within the British ranks and the most shocking tale so far in this spectacular fact meets fiction series. The historical detail is impeccable, the plot exciting and full of tension, and Prince is a doggedly determined investigator who is admirably dedicated to the cause. It's a quick, thrilling and highly entertaining read from start to finish with never a dull moment and some rather large shocks along the way. It is also authentic feeling and very much reflects the changing allegiances of war and those who were willing to become traitors to their country for the right price. In my opinion, this is a vastly underrated spy series, which is up there with some of the most accomplished in the genre, and is the most captivating and absorbing so far, despite them all being superb. I look forward with anticipation to what is seemingly the fourth and final instalment, End of Spies, due to be published in April 2021. Highly recommended. Many thanks to Canelo for an ARC.

This is Ring of Spies, the third book about Richard Prince by Alex Gerlis. I can really recommend this series but whatever you do read them in order. This is a good story that covers several parts of the world during the second world war and we get to follow a policeman who gets roped in as a spy. It is very well written and rather entertaining despite all the horrors of war. I have to thank #Canelo and #Netgalley for giving me this book and I hope there will be more adventures with Prince.

Richard Prince returns in Ring of Spies which is the third book in the Alex Gerlis written spy series set in World War 2  

Whilst the storyline of a German agent operating at a high level within British Intelligence was a good one and the book was a nice easy and enjoyable read I felt that this book was the weakest in the series with less focus on Prince and a less driven storyline.

Despite that this was still an enjoyable read and one I would still recommend

I love spy novels and this one didn't disappoint. It is non-stop action fron the start of the book to the end.

This is a great series and it was nice to have Prince on home soil for a change. He was well suited to the role of playing spy hunter and the story kept you gripped as he figured out who the traitors were. Well written as always, it does take you back to the 40s. Thanks NetGalley for the advance copy.