An Unlikely Spy by Rebecca Starford

 

An Unlikely Spy

by Rebecca Starford

Kindle Edition, 172 pages

Published February 10th 2021

Synopsis: 

A twisting, sophisticated World War II novel following a spy who goes undercover as a part of MI5—in chasing the secrets of others, how much will she lose of herself?

Evelyn Varley has always been ambitious and clever. As a girl, she earned a scholarship to a prestigious academy well above her parents’ means, gaining her a best friend from one of England’s wealthiest families. In 1939, with an Oxford degree in hand and war looming, Evelyn finds herself recruited into an elite MI5 counterintelligence unit.

A ruthless secret society seeks an alliance with Germany and, posing as a Nazi sympathizer, Evelyn must build a case to expose their treachery. But as she is drawn deeper into layers of duplicity—perhaps of her own making—some of those closest to her become embroiled in her investigation. With Evelyn’s loyalties placed under extraordinary pressure, she’ll face an impossible choice: save her country or the people who love her. Her decision echoes for years after the war, impacting everyone who thought they knew the real Evelyn Varley.

Beguiling and dark, An Unlikely Spy is a fascinating story of deception and sacrifice, based on the history of real people within the British intelligence community.

***

3 stars This book had a bit of a climb uphill with me to start with since it was set in World War II. I have always struggled with reading about this time period. Not sure why. Maybe I had a past life here I disliked. I felt like this was hard to get into. I didn’t really resonate with the main character and felt like other characters appearing in the beginning would be better people to follow around. But as the story moves forward and you get to know her better, you get an understanding of what she has to bring to a novel like this. Evelyn was recruited into the infamous MI5 to infiltrate an underground group of Nazi sympathizers. It shows a balance of a woman caught between two lives. This book is really deep as it shows how the life of a spy could completely change the balance of who you are. The story was indeed interesting since I love everything about the spy game but I kept wanting to put this down and reach for another book that had grabbed my attention. The writing here is good, the story well-plotted but it just missed that It Factor for me.

I received this as an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) in return for an honest review. I thank NetGalley, the publisher and the author for allowing me to read this title. Opinions are completely my own.