Lucy

by Paul Pickering

A naked, burning man runs up a hill of rubble on the last day of the Second World War in Berlin. In one hand are fragments of a white flower and he whispers "Ich liebe Sie alle," I love you all. He is saved by a young Irish-American colonel, Kells. Certain the man with no identity or memory will die, Kells gives him the name 'Hyman Kaplan' who Kells, as part of Operation Lucy, has been sent to kill because, absurdly, Hyman is part of Lucy, and Lucy kills her own to remain secure.
Pickering's new novel is a sensationally readable tale of intrigue, sex, horrific killings, and sacrifice.

422 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 15, 2024

Reviews

[Anastasiya M · Rating 4 out of 5]

This wasn't a standard novel about war, as you would find in the historical fiction genre. A very thought-provoking book at its best, with ideas and concepts explored around the what-ifs about the future and the consequences around them. Amid everything going on in the world currently, this was a little terrifying to read, given the conditions some parts of the world are living in. There were some interesting aspects in the book, some of which I have been exploring with research recently surrounding obedience and control. A good look at human nature and how it can be twisted for the wrong reasons. There are a few concepts that have been playing on my mind, just in different situations, so I enjoyed reading this book, but it made me question more things about humanity than I have in recent times.

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[Kevin Cowdall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Paul Pickering is the natural heir to Grahame Green and Evelyn Waugh. In 'Lucy', his latest novel, he sets the scene with a burning man running naked through the rubble of Berlin on the last day of WWII. What follows is a thoroughly engrossing read.

All of the key elements we have come to expect are here to relish once more – bewildered central characters adrift in danger-filled locations, cultural clashes and political scheming, religious discord, brutal murders, dark personal secrets, and mysterious love interests.

This is a tense, complex, darkly humorous, and ultimately thought-provoking story, with a strong sense of both time and place, and an intriguing cast of multi-national characters, who are not all they may seem.

[Kerry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Paul Pickering's complex but highly readable novel is a timely anti-war tome. I often think that those who can write 'dark humour' are the most accomplished of writers, and Pickering's novel is no exception. But this novel is more than that, it is fiction as an exploration of what could (what actually might) happen, and reading it in the wake of wars going on today, to be frank, makes the writing all the more unsettling. Obedience and control; human nature and inhuman nature. It's all here. Thought-provoking, to say the least. Highly recommended. My thanks to the publisher and to NetGalley for the ARC.

[Brian Hanson · Rating 2 out of 5]

A Jew, a gypsy, a Nazi and a US colonel walk into a bar. There is no punchline.