Piety: An Action Espionage Adventure

by Sam Ragnarsson

Kennedy is in the white house and the Berlin wall has just gone up, but even in the face of nuclear war the threat of older, darker powers still looms large. In Britain, a certain nudge-nudge agency fights for Queen and country against the occult, the uncanny and the bloody strange, keeping down the forces of evil in this sceptred isle.

Sent alone on a thankless errand to tackle infernal agriculture in the Shetlands, junior investigator William Fitzwilliam is thrust into the midst of a much larger plot, already under top secret investigation by the notorious Agent Magnus. An investigation so secret that Magnus didn’t even tell the agency about it.

With the locals under mind control, cultists starting gun fights along the docks and the baleful Magnus saying absolutely nothing, Fitz discovers a lot more than he or the agency bargained for. He must untangle the web of deceit to find out why he is really here, and the only person he can trust is a certain young woman called Piety. Enigmatic, beautiful and with a particular passion for stabbing the Queen’s enemies, she just so happens to be his ex-girlfriend and is also working for Magnus.

326 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 20, 2024

Reviews

[Cat Treadwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

There’ve been a lot of ‘supernatural thrillers’ crossing my path in recent months, and it takes something special to make a book stand out. ‘Piety’ is absolutely the best brand of unique action-packed fun.

From the introductory mission narrated by hero Fitz, I was reminded of the grounded wit of ‘Dog Soldiers’, with the British soldiery and special forces just doing their thing, no matter how weird the instructions from the ‘Ruperts’ on high may be. Especially so when dealing with Hammer Horror-style cultists in post-war London. Seriously, I imagined Charles Grey and Ingrid Pitt waiting for their cues somewhere off-camera.

We then move quickly to the extremes of Scotland, with lone islands akin to ‘The Wicker Man’ and insular societies where something dodgy is clearly going on. It’s never quite clear who’s trustworthy or what’s going to rise up around the next corner, and the pace rarely lets up. I’m not surprised that Fitz is exhausted by the final page!

The titular Piety is also a pleasure to journey with. Fitz’s ex-girlfriend, she’s a fiesty Irish heroine but nothing at all like a Bond girl. Independent, smart and somewhat alarmingly eager to get stuck in, she’s more of a warrior in her way than Fitz himself. While still very human (with realistic flaws and traumas associated with past encounters), they make a great team and I was genuinely cheering them on as they race to hit the final battle just in the nick of time.

Skilfully mixing the spy adventures of Ian Fleming, the action of Brendan Fraser’s Mummy and the dry humour of Terry Pratchett, this book is simply brilliant. I’ve referenced a lot of other movies and books here in an attempt to capture the vibe of the tale, but ultimately it’s unique, melding a wonderful pot of familiar tropes into something that feels genuinely fresh.

I sincerely hope that we get more of Fitz and Piety’s adventures, as there’s a whole world of post-war otherworldly shenanigans just waiting to be explored!

I was kindly sent an early copy of this book by the author, but the above opinions are entirely my own.

[KA Vickers · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've had to have a little think about this book because I like the premise, a secret agency working for the Crown and solving magical problems before they become too big, but I struggled at first with getting into the story.

We follow Fitz as he leads a raid and then gets sent out to Shetland to investigate some concerns the agency have about some reported activity. When he gets there he finds his old classmate and girlfriend Piety. Feisty and very religious, she certainly is a memorable character. Together they have to solve what's going on before it spreads to the mainland but the danger may be closer than they think.

The story deals with cults and fanatic behaviour which in turn brings some religious imagery. All of it is relevant and works for the story but as someone who isn't religious I did find it a little hard to follow the idea of true belief and faith that both sides had to some extent. That's more of a personal thing though.

The action is really good and the writing flows well. Descriptions of creatures, events and the people gave me a real picture of what the characters would be going through. It made it easy to dislike some of them and also made the twist really good, part of me went 'oh of course' when it happened.

For me this worked, I'd be happy to read more from the author. After the initial struggle I managed to get really into it and would be interested in looking at other similar types of reads.