I received this book for free from my own shelves in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Source: my own shelves
Thunder in Europe
by
John Creasey
spy thriller in a Kindle edition that was published by Agora Books on September 24, 2015 and has 258 pages.
Explore it on Goodreads
Other books by this author which I have reviewed include The Unbegotten, The Toff Goes On, Gideon and the Young Toughs and Other Stories, Introducing the Toff, The Peril Ahead, The Death Miser, Redhead, Carriers of Death, First Came a Murder, Death Round the Corner, Death by Night, Sabotage, A Kind of Prisoner, The Mark of the Crescent
Sixth in the Department Z thriller espionage series and revolving around its agents. The focus is on Pat Carris and Jim Burke. While the story appears to start in 1929, it was first published in 1936.
My Take
Whoa, Craigie actually spent a night in his flat. This boy usually sleeps in the office. You’d think he’d definitely have spent the night there when you read on about the number of agents he’s sent out . . . and who haven’t come back.
Ya gotta appreciate Craigie. He knows that mistakes can be made and doesn’t come down hard on those agents.
There is mention of how countries in Europe were broken up and either left independent or “assigned” to other countries. A situation that increases the plots intended to unsettle the world, and it’s Department Z’s job to uncover and thwart them. It’s a rough life and Craigie’s agents appear to be frivolous wastrels, laughing off danger.
The action is hot, but I don’t buy the actions of the Lathian duchess and countess. I can’t imagine women of this status being this friendly.
As you’d expect, Thunder in Europe uses third person global subjective point-of-view what with perspectives coming from a wide range of characters.
Thunder in Europe is primarily action with plenty of undercover work, impersonations, and murder. The characters are colorful but more incidental with the usual discoveries and flat-out misses, ambushes, assassinations, romance, bombings, car crashes, betrayals, and vicious undercover actions.
Talk about red herrings in this twisting tale.
The Story
Department Z is watching Marius Krotz, a one-time revolutionary who appears to have turned respectable in Lathia. Craigie knows it for the lie it is and is desperate for his agent Nick Carris to still be alive.
Discovering what Krotz is up to is fraught with danger — and death with betrayal and murder rampant.
Will Department Z learn Krotz’s plans in time to save Europe?
The Characters
Department Z is . . .
. . . a secret department within a secret department and is led by Gordon Craigie. His agents include the brilliant Nick Carris, a survivor with critical information; Jim Burke with his penchant for violence; Wallace Davidson, Agent 21, is a sports enthusiast; St John “Righteous” Dane; the hunky Timothy and Toby (the ugliest man in London) Arran share a flat with Jeans as their general factotum — they’re also posing as the Hopkins brothers travelling for Brown and Gardner, London; Bob Carruthers, who has no concern for safety in a scrap; and, the homely, wealthy Robert Curtis, who is Agent 17.
Patricia “Pat” Carris is Nick’s sister, who knows what Nick really did.
Scotland Yard
Superintendent Horace Miller is the liaison between Scotland Yard and Department Z. Sir William Fellowes is the chief commissioner. Sergeant Coles.
Longtree House is . . .
. . . owned by Adolf Karen, a Pole who became a naturalized Englishman and is an assistant managing director of Smethwick, Karen and Company Limited, a steel goods firm. Bray is a manager at Smethwick. Nathaniel Smethwick took Karen on as a partner. Other directors include Colonel Arthur Martin Bilton, OBE, CBE, and the Honorable Reginald Palfrey Marcus Cassey, who is the only son of Lord Marcus Cassey. Cuthbertson frequently comes down to Smethwick’s London office. Mr Wooderson could be an American.
Jasper is either a butler or a bodyguard. Gustav Hermann is in charge at the house, under Karen. Hermann’s men include Rogers, a purported private detective specializing in divorces, and Jacob Lister, an ex-officer used for Intelligence in WWI, are men of the same stamp as Department Z. Fat Dowson wears a uniform.
Muriel Day seems to be the owner of the house as well as a relative of Smethwick’s. Brown Shoes, a.k.a. Peter Carter, who just got out of prison, was propositioned.
Castleton is . . .
. . . a house in Hampstead that appears to be owned by the courteous Bart Hemming, who’s living at the American Club and making a play for Pat. He’s the controlling director of Hemming Rolling Mills in New Jersey, a fabric mill. His housekeeper, Marriott, carries an automatic.
The Carilon Club is a men’s club. The Mayday Club is a restaurant-cum-night club. The Krazy Kat club is daring and expensive. Sam is a cabby. Percival G Sutton is Personal Policy Manager of the Enterprise Assurance Company.
Lathia is . . .
. . . one of those countries broken up at the end of World War I. Rikka is its only important port. Its now-deceased king, Ferdo, is but a puppet for his ministers. Frederik and Klaus, strong and fair-minded, are his clamouring brothers. Marius Krotz is a representative in the House. Piet is Krotz’s footman. Matthews and Marx are flunkeys. One of Krotz’s agents, Number 3, is an Englishman.
Hotspots in Rikka include the Ramplo Café, the Place Mikklen, and the Café Dalinka. The duchess and the countess, Dee, are quite sociable. The SS Vissen is a Danish ship that rescues drowning men.
The Cover and Title
The cover has a white gridded background superimposed with a line-drawn map of Europe. The author’s name is in a deep red at the top with the title, in black, immediately beneath it. Underneath this is a testimonial, also in black. In a black-bordered rectangle is the series info in black, a’slant in the upper right corner. The graphic is five red zigzagging lightning bolts. The largest bolt is grasped by the silhouette of a clenched fist.
The title is the threat, the rumblings of Thunder in Europe.
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