Part of the Spoils of War series, loosely connected novels set during WW2 and before, this is the latest in the series and rather different from its predecessors. This tale is set almost entirely in the USA around the Pearl Harbour period, and America's entry into the war, almost by default as Japan and Germany declared war on the USA first. As in the other novels historical figures mix with fictional, in this case the Roosevelts, and the only recurring character from earlier novels, Winston Churchill has a brief cameo.

The central character is an American agent, a bodyguard of the president, Quincy Kane. Agent Kane is tasked with overseeing an operation involving 'perfect' counterfeit bank notes, part of a plan to win French forces over to the allied side in Europe. This plotline, however, becomes submerged beneath a parallel narrative which links Kane's journalist girlfriend with organised crime in Los Angeles.

The story reads well, as is usual with this series of novels, but is not among the best, in my opinion, as plot lines rise up, are set to one side, or are too easily resolved. There is also a rather cryptic and depressing epilogue to finish the book, which highlights the pointlessness of much of what precedes. Perhaps that was the point.

Yet another wonderful addition to the exceptional Spoils of War series. Quincy Kane is a brilliantly depicted character and flawed hero and Hurley paints a vivid picture of an America caught with its pants down by the Japanese attack on Peal Harbour and the panic, plotting and reorganisation that followed.

I am in awe of Graham Hurley and how he manages to come up with such quality so frequently and cover so broad a range of subjects.

A part of me still mourns the end of his magnificent police procedurals featuring Faraday, Winter and Suttle but times move on and we should just be grateful that Graham Hurley is still writing such exciting, well researched and high quality novels.