The Partisan: The explosive debut thriller for fans of Robert Harris and Charles Cumming

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And he was right. As their story continues from one tournament to another, the activities of their parents is central to the theme. The political intrigue moves around Europe, and nobody is safe from the powerful figures managing the spies and assassins. Overall, The Partisan is a very impressive debut that bodes well for Worrall future career as a spy novelist. Meanwhile, there is also tenderness and youthful romance in the chess sections of the story where English boy Michael meets Russian girl Yulia at a tournament in London. She is the daughter of Sergei (mentioned in the opening quotation), whom she knows to be somebody important, something to do with military secrets. He writes about chess in the newspapers. She and her father pretty much communicate through chess. The Russians sadly lost over twenty million people during The Great Patriotic War, so justly cannot in reality be considered anything other than victims!

In 2004, ‘Greta’ is relating aspects of her life during World War II to Indrė Žukauskienė. Now elderly, Greta had been a resistance fighter. She, and two Jewish girls Riva and Vita, had hidden in the Lithuanian forests. Greta sought to avenge their deaths at the hands of German Nazis and has pursued and eliminated Nazis ever since. But Greta is also hunting an influential, elusive Russian she failed to kill during the war. Maxim Karpov, now holding a senior position in the Kremlin, was responsible for killing an entire village of Lithuanians whom he suspected of aiding the partisans. If I were to have any slight criticisms against this book they would be that sometimes the chapters jump around time periods and locations slightly too frequently (and that some may find it hard to keep up) however it does not detract from the main story. Additionally, I wish that Michael and Yulia were given slightly more time to develop as characters however this is not a major criticism as they still worked well in the way that they were written. Her mother, Anna, was the first woman to join the Politburo, so Yulia is carefully guarded at all times. When she attends the chess tournament, she is constantly escorted by two menacing men, who actually sleep in her suite at the hotel. Greta, the Partisan of the title, is a merciless killer who learnt her trade in the forests of Lithuania during the Second World War. She is on a mission to avenge the atrocities carried out during and after the war, hunting down Nazi and Soviet war criminals, and a British traitor. Her search is deeply personal in nature and it is her need for revenge that is at the heart of the narrative.Men who are also on the radar of Vassily, perhaps the Soviet Union's greatest spymaster. A man of cunning and influence, Vassily was Yulia's minder during her visit to the West, but even he could not foresee the consequences of her meeting Michael. There’s money in there. The same as last time. You’ll recognise my uncle’s handwriting. His memory failed him when it came to Lithuanians who joined the SS, but he was good on other nationalities. I want you to confirm all the names he wrote down and add as many others as you can…every name you add helps keep yours off the list.” There are some interesting passages especially the chess tournaments and the ongoing shenanigans! Michael (British) and Yulia (Russian / Lithuanian) fall in love at the Chess tournament and tensions between East and West build as they try to arrange assignations in Berlin. Yulia has minders for the tournament so Michael needs to tread carefully. Vassily her friendly minder manipulates the situation so they meet surreptitiously! At some points this story can be difficult to read, it references torture and the cruel nature of war. This however, is important to the plot and is extremely compelling. Een andere verwijzing naar het schaken is de naam van een van de slechteriken. Karpov was ooit een beroemde schaker, maar er gingen ook geruchten over zijn betrekkingen met de Russische geheime dienst. Of dat waar is, is onbekend.

The author highlights Russian atrocity after Russian atrocity, like the British and Yanks never committed any atrocities?! Gies peace!! De flaptekst ( die ik normaal nooit lees) deed me uitkijken naar een spannend verhaal. Het liefdesverhaal van Yulia en Michael, twee tieners elk aan een andere zijde van het IJzeren Gordijn, die elkaar leren kennen via een schaaktornooi in Londen. Vasili, de grootste spion van de Sovjet-Unie blijkt één van hun trouwe bon In 2004, one such partisan, Greta, a member of the formidable team known as the three sisters is relating the story of her time as a partisan to a member of the Lithuanian ministry responsible for memorials. Since the war she has become a skilled Nazi hunter, tracing and killing war criminals. Her biggest hunt however was in 1961 for a Russian called Maxim Karpov, now high up in the Kremlin and known as the Chief Administrator who was responsible for killing a whole village of Lithuanians, suspected of aiding the partisans. Ik laat me niet meer zoveel sturen door een cover en een titel of wat er omheen geschreven staat. Maar bij deze heb ik me er wel door laten leiden. Ook al weet ik dat niet steeds de juiste keuze is.

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The public knows only the official faces of governments and the military, but the real power lies with other slippery government officials like Vassily, a Soviet official who manages to travel freely, but nobody knows exactly why. Ik had het niet zo gemakkelijk om in het verhaal te komen. Reden hiervoor was dat ik van in het begin overstelpt werd door verschillende namen en hun achtergrond, plaatsen, settings waardoor ik precies mijn plaats in het boek niet kon vinden. Shadowing them is Greta, a ruthless resistance fighter who grew up the hard way in the forests of Lithuania, but who is now hunting down some of the most dangerous men in the world.

After a moment, he crossed the street and thought: This morning, I was a schoolboy. Now I’m following a group of Russian spies into a hotel. When I go through these doors, nothing will ever be the same again.” I am Lithuanian. I grew up with the stories about partisans. I watched the documentaries and fictional movies about that part of the history. As a rule, they're written and produced locally and they always have a tragic ending. The real history was brutally tragic. In de proloog maken we kennis met een vrouw die in opdracht van de Israëlische geheime dienst Nazi oorlogsmisdadigers om het leven brengt. Het is dan 1960. In het hoofdstuk dat volgt, kijkt diezelfde vrouw vanuit het jaar 2004 - terug op haar leven. Ze moordt niet alleen omdat het haar vak is, maar ook omdat ze nog wat appeltjes heeft te schillen met de mannen die haar Joodse vriendinnen in 1944 om het leven brachten. Daarnaast worden, tijdens het hoogtepunt van de Koude Oorlog twee jongelui verliefd op elkaar. Zijn vader heeft een topfunctie bij de Britse Geheime dienst. Haar moeder gooit hoge ogen bij het Russische Politburo. De twee ontmoeten elkaar tijdens een Europees schaaktoernooi; het is liefde op het eerste gezicht. De twee hebben alles over voor hun liefde. Maar zullen zij slagen bij elkaar te komen in deze gevaarlijke tijden? Hun liefde en leven is inzet in een complex spionagespel dat zijn wortels heeft in de Tweede Wereldoorlog.Maar door de spanning in het verhaal bleef het me wel steeds prikkelen om terug verder te willen lezen. Tijd zal ook wel tegen gewerkt hebben, zodat ik het verhaal niet snel genoeg kon verwerken. Daarom maakte ik de keuze om hem verder te beluisteren, in plaats van het boek verder te lezen. Hierdoor kon ik andere huishoudelijke taken wat aangenamer maken en kon ik gelijktijdig wat binnenkwam ook beter opnemen. Set in the summer of 1961, around the time of the Cold War. The story revolves around the four main characters, Yulia, Michael, Greta and Vassily. The timeframes continually moving and the various characters make this book a little confusing until you get in to it. The plotline is complex, so it needs all your attention to keep you focused. It can be hard to read as there's some scenes of torture and violence. It covers the years: 1940s, 1960s and 2004. This is a really good debut novel.

The Cold War as a game of chess. You don’t need to know anything about how chess is played or how players sacrifice pieces to gain an advantage. That’s because you will see in real time how the Cold War players sacrifice their real players when necessary. The powers-that-be may even say Sorry, but you know why you have to go. You play the game, you take your chances.I don't know how the author was able to pull it off, but I'm glad he wrote this book and kindled the imagination with a fictional Lithuanian post-war freedom fight on an international arena. Of course I'm buzzing about Lithuania, but there's everything else you'd expect from a cold war story: Moscow, London, Austria, Spain; KGB, MGB, MI6, Mossad, etc. First thing that caught my attention was the name. Partisans were the freedom fighters of Lithuania, during German and Soviet occupation.