The author of Roses returns with a story of espionage during World War II: Five idealistic young Americans, in a group code-named Dragonfly, spy on the Third Reich in Nazi-occupied Paris—until a fatal misstep leads to the capture and the firing-squad execution of one of their team.
... an audacious plot twist ... Meacham ratchets the suspense ever tighter, while providing fascinating backstory on the intrepid five as well as delivering a detail-rich portrait of Paris during the Occupation.
Most people in America—and for that matter, most people in Paris by this point—have never lived in an occupied city. Meacham’s impeccable pacing and razor-wire tension evoke the daily drama of life under a Reich whose French reign might have lasted little more than four years but felt like the thousand years that it threatened to endure.
Meacham has previously specialized in romance novels, and this story has that same sweep and atmosphere. The thrills are tingly rather than electrifying, the leads are superficially satisfying, and the enemies meet their appropriate ends ... A long and leisurely spy novel, reminiscent of a 1950s movie. Recommended where there is voracious genre readership.
