The Silence Before Dawn
(WW2 Resistance Series Book 1)
By Amanda Lees
(WW2 Resistance Series Book 1)
By Amanda Lees
Nazi-occupied France, 1944: I tear open the envelope, extracting a sheet of folded paper. I read it, my heart cracking with every word. There is no mistaking the name of the man who betrayed us. Jack. My beloved fiancé – and now, a traitor.
Flames engulf the farmhouse. Nazi soldiers are everywhere, shouting, guns blazing, scarring the night sky with their searchlights. It was supposed to be a safe place to hide after our resistance missions. And now it is gone, and my friends and I must run. For our lives.
But then I gasp as I spot Jack, my fiancé and fellow spy, on the other side of the burning building. Hands up in surrender to the German officer standing at his side. He’s the love of my life, but more than that, he knows everything that keeps our undercover work secret. And if Nazis make him talk, they could find, capture and kill every last one of us.
I have to save him. And there are only a few people I trust to help me – the women fighters I’ve come to rely on as sisters, tougher, more clever, stronger than any man. But when one of them uncovers evidence that Jack may have actually been the person to betray our hiding place, my heart is torn from my body.
I don’t want to believe it. But I realise that either way, I still have to risk everything to stop Jack revealing what he knows – whether that’s under torture, or treacherously smiling, with a glass of whiskey in one hand.
What is the truth? Who can I believe? And how far will I have to go in order to save, or destroy, the one person I trusted with my heart?
Based on true stories of fearless women secret agents – and their tales of bravery, betrayal and love – this is the first book in the heart-pounding, heart-wrenching and totally addictive World War Two Resistance series. Perfect for readers of The Nightingale, All the Light We Cannot See and Ellie Midwood.
Review
An unforgettable book that I could not turn away from, in fact I stayed up half the night to read it!
I thought the author had a clear understanding of this period of history and the characters came across as very real in the telling.
If you enjoy quality historical fiction set during World War 2 then this book must go on your to-read list. I highly recommend it.
Amanda was born in Hong Kong and survived both a convent boarding school and a Jesuit boys’ school before being summarily ejected from the latter.
She gets her thirst for adventure from her parents who met in the jungle in Borneo where her mother had set up a hospital and her father, a former Gurkha Intelligence officer and Oxford-educated spy, was probably up to no good.
She is the author of the bestselling satirical novels Selling Out and Secret Admirer (published by Pan) which have both received critical acclaim and have been translated into several languages.
Her major YA thriller trilogy, Kumari, Goddess of Gotham, was nominated for the Guardian Children’s Book Prize and the Doncaster Book Award. It also featured as Redhouse Book Of The Month and Lovereading4kids Book Of The Month.
Amanda has a degree in drama and her first telly job was as a member of the Communist Resistance in ’Allo ‘Allo. This involved running around with a dachshund tucked under one arm and deploying her best cod French accent. It has all been dramatically downhill since.
A broadcaster as well as an actress and novelist, Amanda appears regularly on BBC radio and LBC and was a contracted writer to the hit series Weekending on Radio 4.
She researched and edited the leading directory for banks, The Banker’s Almanac, for Euromoney publications while also covering stories of shady dealings in the City for them. She has written for, or contributed to, The Evening Standard, The Times, New Woman, US Cosmopolitan, Bulgaria's Vagabond and Company Magazine as well as numerous online publications.
Amanda has conducted a love coaching phone-in from the sofa of Richard & Judy and wooed the viewers on Channel 5 Live. She won an award at the Hungarian Gyor Film Festival for a short film she produced, a psychological thriller called Pros and Cons. She is currently working on a new crime thriller book series.
As well as Eastern European Mafiosi and the ex-head of the KGB, Amanda numbers serving and retired Police Officers, FBI agents, members of the Special Forces and distinguished forensic scientists among her dubious but well-qualified contacts. From Aconite to The Zodiac Killer, The Crime Dictionary is her latest book and made good use of those contacts.
Learn more at: www.amandalees.com
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