John Gardner’s Troubled Midnight was a jacket pickup. Meaning, I picked it up in the library after reading the book jacket and finding that one of the blurbs grabbed my attention.
Readers with a taste for intelligent international suspense in the spirit of Frederick Forsyth…should find this an exciting thriller.
Only after I got home did I notice that the blurb was for a different book! 😉
Troubled Midnight combines a murder mystery with an espionage tale from World War II, where the Nazis deep-cover spy is working to ferret out the destination of Overlord (aka, D-Day). I didn’t love the mix. Nor did I find the main character, Suzie Mountford, that compelling… apparently this is the fourth novel Gardner has written with her as the lead. I suppose others enjoyed these more.
Only later did I realize that I’ve read John Gardner before, in a few of his James Bond continuation novels, done at the request of the Fleming estate. I enjoyed those more, and did feel like he found the right rhythm there. (Side note: looking forward to Casino Royale shortly.
Note: from the news on the Gardner website, it’s not clear whether he’ll be writing again (he’s had a stroke).