An interesting novel by Stephen Hunter. I have always enjoyed his novels and this one was great. The story was interesting and a James Bond (without the gadgets) type of humor. I did not want to put this down till I finished the book. I hope that this character is in more novels in the future.

Thank you to #NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Wow! I have read most of Stephen Hunter’s books from the very beginning, but I have not enjoyed one as much as this one—-the first of what I hope will be a series of books featuring Basil Florian— British adventurer, cad, spy,,and all around cool guy. This book is set during WWll and features cameos by real people including Churchill and Vivian Leigh. Its a short novel-which is a good thing-not bloated like many thrillers. Hunter is historically accurate but dozens teach but shows and the book moves fast leavened with humor and sex. And always intelligent. Read it and Mr. Hunter keep writing these!

Rating: 5 stars

Summary: An aloof British spy more concerned with avoiding the war is asked to jump into France and recover by whatever means a missing code book that will convince the Russians of German plans to invade Kursk. This could add years to the war and millions more dead.

Comments: Hunter writes a comedic spy thriller that will have you chuckling along. As much as we love Hunters Bob the Nailer series, this is a great spy novel and shows exactly how talented and researched Hunter really is. Have fun it’s a great novel.

A rake and a rogue, Basil the spy has his fun as he fights his way through WW II as a British spy. After reading most of the author’s books, I was surprised by the amount of silliness. But that’s probably what helped most people maintain some semblance of sanity.

A silly spoof of the swashbuckling spy tale, this one features Basil St. Florian , a feckless English aristocrat whose James Bond-like exploits during a patch of the second world war are rendered like an extended vaudeville sketch - definitely a different take for Hunter, who tends to offer steely jawed hero soldiers rather than well-bred Brits who when not carrying out missions involving Churchill, Turing, and the Special Operations Executive is bedding Vivien Leigh at Claridge's . This reader didn't quite know what to make of Basil or the novel itself - it feels like it should be a movie.

Stephen Hunter is a successful author with a longtime background in the literary world. His main thrust are books involving the military art of sniping. He is gifted with an almost encyclopedic knowledge of weaponry which he has used to bring his novels several steps above other books about sniping and snipers. His current book is a change in focus and involves the exploits of Basil St Florian in action as a spy during World War II. Basil is in the language of another day a "rake" for his many encounters with women. He is bold, daring and has a great sense of humor. He has traveled several times from his home in England into France, a country conquered by the Nazi war machine and an area that might be used as a springboard for action against Britian. He has successfully completed several missions and we meet him as he begins another.
In certain situations books are used as keys for secret codes. That is the message to be sent is tied to a mutually known book and the words are represented by location designations used by both parties. The difficulty level is very high since the same book must be used by both senders and receivers in order to decode the message. In his latest mission Basil must travel into enemy territory find a scroll written several hundred years ago, photograph certain portions and bring these photos back in order to be used to convince Russian dictator Joseph Stalin to shift a military position in order to avoid a massacre of his soldiers.
In the course of the mission Basil meets Alan Turing, a man that led a group of mathematicians in discovering the key to the Nazi codes used in their transmission of orders. Turing and his group actually lived and worked on breaking codes during WWII. While the codes sought by Basil are not fact, the touch of adding Turing to the plot is a good one and helps validate the action.
The almost blasé approach taken by Mr. Hunter brings down the quality of the action described and I felt leaves the reader with a "hey what happened" feeling. If it is a book by Stephen Hunter I would pick up his next novel, but possibly return to awaiting others featuring the snipping format if Basil does not pick up the pace.