Strawberry Fields

by Patrick D. Joyce

In 1968, Josie arrives in Prague as a rookie reporter for the Toronto Post. She grew up in thrall of her grandmother’s stories about the old country, and now she’s on the brink of a promising career in journalism. It’s a dream come true.But her dream is about to become a nightmare.A shocking invasion thunders into the city. Josie is left with a cryptic message, which she must decipher before the city falls.Alone against powerful forces, she finds common ground with another young reporter. But can she trust him? And will they know friend from foe as they uncover a shadowy conspiracy?Strawberry Fields is a prequel to Back in the USSR in the Sing & Shout series of historical thrillers.

Genres: Historical Fiction

154 pages, Hardcover

Published February 15, 2024

About the author

I write historical thriller novels that combine mystery and suspense with a powerful sense of place. 

As the son of a U.S. Foreign Service officer, I grew up in extraordinary places. After early years in Burma (Myanmar), West Germany, and Washington, D.C., I lived in Nicaragua, Cuba, and three times in the Soviet Union. At embassies staffed by diplomats, Marines, and spies, I was surrounded by secrets. 

In addition to writing books, I’ve been a newspaper reporter, a political science lecturer, and a medical practice manager. I live in Massachusetts, where I can be found haunting coffee shops, taking long walks with my wife, and practicing martial arts.

Visit patrickdjoyce.com to sign up for author updates and receive a free short story.

Reviews

[Nicola Day · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was okay. Though it didn't grip me and make me want to keep reading which seems like a flaw for a thriller. I think if the characters, setting and story had been more fleshed out, I would have really enjoyed it, but it all felt a bit rushed.

I also felt that the hints at romance felt out of place and forced. I can't imagine lingering on a hand hold in the middle of an occupation where my life is at risk, but maybe that's just me.

I enjoyed the Beatles aspect but because the book was so short and there was SO many references, it felt a bit forced.

I appreciated the Historical note because this is not something i have even heard about before.

Won a digital copy in a Storygraph giveaway.

[Carolyn Walsh · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a prequel to the first in the Sing and Shout series. 'Back in the USSR' is a gripping historical thriller set in Moscow. It featured political repression, action, musical references, and the much-desired intrigue to obtain the illegal Beatle's White Album. Rock music was considered decadent, and the Beatle's music symbolized freedom. Both books were well-researched and informative, with appealing characters. There is a vibrant sense of place.

This story is set in Czechoslovakia more than a decade earlier. Josie, a young rookie reporter, arrived in Prague in 1968. She was sent by the Toronto Post because of her ability to speak the language. She learned the Czech language from her grandmother, who now lived in Canada, but told Josie stories about life in the old country. She recounted running through fields of strawberries outside of Prague as a child.

No sooner does Josie arrive in Prague when Russian tanks thunder into the city. This begins a tense, exciting story that is fast-paced and breathtaking.
The Prague Spring began in January 1968, but by August, the Russians and its Soviet allies intended to use military means to crush newfound freedoms. Although still part of the Soviet Block, the Czech people have won the right to read forbidden books, listen to 'decadent' Western rock music, travel, and hear uncensored radio broadcasts. Josie had a source who jumped into the water to escape the authorities. Before he disappeared, he hurriedly gave Josie clues. to 'listen,' and told her, " I am the Walrus.' The Communist leader of the country has vanished after encouraging greater freedom.
Citizens are protesting the suppression of their new liberties with the arrival of Russian troops, and some of those protesters are killed.

Josie meets an Ethiopian reporter who studied in Paris and is now a correspondent for Paris News. The Communist president of their country has disappeared. They hope to work together to report the invasion to the outside world, but is he to be trusted? They know that as reporters, they could be imprisoned or disappear like many others and could be falsely accused of murder. It seems that someone within the country has secretly implored the Russians to enter to destroy gains made during the Prague Spring. However, whoever is undermining the new freedoms remains a mystery.
This male reporter wants to protect Josie and is looking for a source he firmly trusts. They are in severe danger and know they must get out of Czechoslovakia to be able to inform the outside world what has occurred. It seems that someone within the country has secretly implored the Russians to enter and quell protests.
This exciting story involves frantic chases, hiding from the invaders, betrayal, blame, conspiracy, political instability, treachery, and clues concealed in the Beatles' lyrics. The two reporters separate with hopes to meet again. Josie manages to join a convoy out of the country from near to the strawberry fields. This story touched me emotionally.
I wish to thank the author, Patrick D Joyce, for this thrilling historical book. I will look forward to more of his compelling political stories enhanced with references to Beatles music.

[Lori Alden Holuta · Rating 5 out of 5]

In 1968, I was a bookwormish fourteen-year-old whose biggest worry was finishing my math homework. In those insular, pre-internet times in peaceful suburbia, I was oblivious to the events taking place in Czechoslovakia during what would be called The Prague Spring. As I grew older, and the world grew smaller, I learned about those events, but they still felt a bit textbook-dusty. I needed Patrick Joyce's Strawberry Fields to thoroughly brush away the cobwebs of time and drop me smack into the middle of Prague just as the Russian tanks came rolling into the city.

Strawberry Fields is a prequel to the first book in Joyce's 'Sing and Shout' series, Back in the USSR. As with the first book, there's plenty of puzzles to be solved and familiar Beatles songs are our clues.

We see Prague through the eyes of Josie, a rookie reporter for the Toronto Post. She's got a connection to Czechoslovakia, thanks to a beloved grandmother who raised her on stories about her homeland. Grandmother also taught her a valuable skill: Josie can speak Czech. Her fluency in the language is what landed her this assignment. But before she even has time to settle in, her mysterious source has vanished (after informing Josie that "I am the walrus"), and now she needs to decide if teaming up with a reporter from the Paris News is a good idea. Can he be trusted? Can anyone?

Mrož stared at the wall next to him. It shook, pebbles flying off. Then it burst open from floor to ceiling, showering debris. Bricks crumbled down, and the armored front edge of a tank broke through. A long, searching gun poked out and swung side to side, like the antenna of a massive insect.

The pace refuses to let up, start to finish. I felt as if I were witnessing this adventure playing out in real time. I skipped lunch and read till dinnertime. I dove right back into the story after the dishes were washed and read till bedtime. What a pleasure it was to be fully in the thrall of a good story!

I closed the book feeling slightly exhausted and very satisfied. It's a well-told story, written by an author that's no stranger to European countries and their politics. Reading Strawberry Fields not only entertained me, it left me with a heightened empathy for the people who experienced the real-life events that inspired this thrilling adventure.

[R.A. Dines · Rating 5 out of 5]

I listened to the audiobook of Strawberry Fields and LOVED IT. The prose is beautiful, the characters and rich, and the plot is suspenseful. The setting of Prague in the late 1960s was immersive and fascinating. I have to admit I didn't know much about the Prague Spring before reading this book and now I really want to learn more. The book follows two main characters: Josie and Laurent. Josie is a young Canadian journalist on her first real assignment in Prague. She's fiercely independent, ambitious, and eager to prove herself in a way that I found personally very relatable. Laurent is a bit more of an established journalist, but struggles to be taken seriously as a young black man from Ethiopia. The two have instant chemistry in a way that feels very realistic.

Did I cry at the end? Only a little. I can't wait to read Back in the USSR, which is officially the first book in the Sing and Shout series.

[Tim Weed · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very much enjoyed this novel of international historical action and intrigue. I found myself rooting for the two young protagonists as they maneuvered their way through the Soviet invasion of Prague, 1968. The Beatles are only a minor part of the historical backdrop; it’s Prague itself that is really the main setting, and the shocking rapidity in which it fell to treachery. The real history here is well researched and impeccably presented. It adds to the suspense, gives the story texture, and, maybe best of all, gives the reader a chance to relive and learn about this important world-historical turning point in a way that feels as if one actually lived through it along with the characters. Strawberry Fields is a quick, easy, lively read, a well-written and beautifully paced thriller that is a page-turning tour de force.

[Amy Cook · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's 1968, and Josie is a young reporter from Toronto sent to Prague to cover the unsettling events happening behind the Iron Curtain. She receives a cryptic note and meets a shrouded stranger before dawn on a bridge spanning mist-covered water. As he begins to speak, they are interrupted by the arrival of police, and Josie receives only one small, cryptic clue. Soviet tanks are beginning to fill the streets, and Josie is launched into the adventure of a lifetime. She meets Laurent, a young reporter from Paris, and must decide whether or not to trust him as she moves from place to place within Prague, dodging Soviet soldiers, Czech police, and villains who are determined to stop her.

Strawberry Fields is a fast-paced young adult historical fiction with believable characters, pulse-raising chases and page-turning events.

[Melissa Joulwan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Page-turning thriller that captures the spirit and danger of the Prague Spring. If you like breathless chases, cryptic clues, a heroine with grit, and a little romance — and want to explore Prague from your couch — this is a fun way to do it.

[Jenn Puggini · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not too sure what is sing and shout other than the Beatles references..