THE TORCH BETRAYAL

In this debut spy novel, two secret agents attempt to protect the Allies from intelligence leaks.

October 1942. When a document containing the directives of the Allies’ first joint offensive against the Axis powers goes missing from an American air base in England, Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower orders the fledgling OSS—an American intelligence service formed a mere four months prior—to recover it by any means. It falls to agent Conor Thorn, a “reckless cowboy” who was drummed out of the U.S. Navy for reasons he would rather not talk about, to recover the document. The invasion ships are already packed and scheduled to sail, and time is of the utmost importance. “At the outside, you have sixteen days,” Thorn is informed when he receives his instructions. “Don’t use them all.” Assigned to help Thorn is MI6 agent Emily Bright, a former aid to Winston Churchill who proved herself in the service of the War Cabinet during the Blitz. Bright will stop at nothing to put an end to the German war machine, and Thorn will do anything to prove that, despite his checkered past, he is a soldier worth his salt. The two will have to work together to discover what treacherous element within the Allied forces is feeding information to the Nazis in order to save Operation Torch—the British and American invasion of German-held North Africa—from becoming a massacre. Dyer writes in a confident, gripping prose that adeptly summons the formality and intrigue of World War II intelligence. It is apparent how enamored the author is of the milieu, and while the plot moves along at a steady clip, Dyer isn’t afraid to let his scenes marinate at times. With cameos from the likes of Charles de Gaulle, Churchill, Eisenhower, and Hedy Lamarr, the book delivers plenty of fun for fans of historical fiction while managing to present a genuinely entertaining spy mystery. The usual genre beats are present, but Thorn and Bright make a compelling pair, and the reader should be pleased to follow them in future adventures.

A well-crafted espionage tale set during World War II.