What do you think?
Rate this book
Monika Ritter #9
The Pursuit
Monika’s cousin, Sarah Graf, is alone in Salzburg, where Julius Prester, the Gestapo officer who arrested her, interrogates her one last time before sending her to Mauthausen concentration camp. Once there, she will face the infamous stairs of death and have to summon every ounce of her inner strength to survive. But Sarah isn't Prester’s only target. Monika, or the Dark Angel as the Gestapo calls her, is his obsession. With the help of an SS deserter, Prester sets a trap to lure out his prey, then forms a team to cross into Switzerland in search of her.
After her escape from Austria, Monika is in Bern, when Sarah’s fiancé, Oliver, receives a tip about an informant who might know her location within the extensive system of concentration camps. After meeting the source, Monika is skeptical, but Oliver rushes in headfirst, leaving her vulnerable. Soon, Monika will find herself in a race against time to save herself from the same fate as her beloved cousin.
The Pursuit is the ninth novel in a new series by the #1 Amazon bestselling author of WHITE ROSE, BLACK FOREST, and THE MAUREEN RITTER SERIES. Download it and discover Eoin Dempsey’s books today.
After her escape from Austria, Monika is in Bern, when Sarah’s fiancé, Oliver, receives a tip about an informant who might know her location within the extensive system of concentration camps. After meeting the source, Monika is skeptical, but Oliver rushes in headfirst, leaving her vulnerable. Soon, Monika will find herself in a race against time to save herself from the same fate as her beloved cousin.
The Pursuit is the ninth novel in a new series by the #1 Amazon bestselling author of WHITE ROSE, BLACK FOREST, and THE MAUREEN RITTER SERIES. Download it and discover Eoin Dempsey’s books today.
- GenresHistorical Fiction
256 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 30, 2025
227 people are currently reading
24 people want to read
About the author
Eoin Dempsey
37 books1,047 followersEoin Dempsey was born in Dublin, Ireland in 1977. He grew up in the beautiful Dublin suburb of Dalkey, where he and his friends would jump into the icy waters of the Irish Sea (during summertime) to prove their manliness. Eoin had a fantastic time attending Blackrock College, where he played rugby (poorly) and did his best to coast his way through. Eoin’s first ambition was to play rugby for Ireland. Due to a lack of talent, he soon abandoned that goal for the more reasoned path of the rock star. He played in bands through his teens and well into his twenties before harsh reality came calling, and his dreams of being the next Keith Moon faded.
Eoin made the ill-reasoned decision to study business in university and was accepted into University College Dublin to study Commerce in 1995. While Eoin did attend college, studying wasn’t his priority there.
He met his beautiful wife, Jill, while traveling to the USA in 1997, though it would be several years before he managed to break her down and they got together as a couple. It was during Eoin’s second stint in the USA, which he spent with his brother in New York City, that he decided to start writing a novel, for the express purpose of impressing women. This effort was met with mixed success. Eoin finished his first novel a year later. The over hundred and fifty rejections he received from publishers didn’t discourage him. He pinned them to his wall. After spending a year in Australia, where he was fired from many jobs, including picking red and green peppers and toiling for scallops miles out to sea on a fishing trawler, he returned home and decided to write again. Another novel followed while he phoned it in at a number of jobs in financial services in Dublin.
By this time Eoin had managed to convince Jill, the girl he’d met in the USA years before to move over to Dublin. She did so in 2004. It was the best negotiation he ever undertook. They were married in 2007. Jill’s more brilliant negotiating skills led Eoin to move to her hometown of Philadelphia in 2008, just in time for the economy to collapse. The plan to live with her parents for a few weeks turned into eighteen months, as Eoin struggled to retain employment in a fractured economy. It was during this time that he wrote FINDING REBECCA, which would go on to be his first published novel and be translated into fourteen different languages.
Eoin and Jill have three beautiful sons, Robbie, who was born in 2015, Sam, born in 2017, and Jack who came in 2019. Eoin enjoys playing with them and marveling at how much more talented they are at the sports that he loves, particularly golf.
Eoin made the ill-reasoned decision to study business in university and was accepted into University College Dublin to study Commerce in 1995. While Eoin did attend college, studying wasn’t his priority there.
He met his beautiful wife, Jill, while traveling to the USA in 1997, though it would be several years before he managed to break her down and they got together as a couple. It was during Eoin’s second stint in the USA, which he spent with his brother in New York City, that he decided to start writing a novel, for the express purpose of impressing women. This effort was met with mixed success. Eoin finished his first novel a year later. The over hundred and fifty rejections he received from publishers didn’t discourage him. He pinned them to his wall. After spending a year in Australia, where he was fired from many jobs, including picking red and green peppers and toiling for scallops miles out to sea on a fishing trawler, he returned home and decided to write again. Another novel followed while he phoned it in at a number of jobs in financial services in Dublin.
By this time Eoin had managed to convince Jill, the girl he’d met in the USA years before to move over to Dublin. She did so in 2004. It was the best negotiation he ever undertook. They were married in 2007. Jill’s more brilliant negotiating skills led Eoin to move to her hometown of Philadelphia in 2008, just in time for the economy to collapse. The plan to live with her parents for a few weeks turned into eighteen months, as Eoin struggled to retain employment in a fractured economy. It was during this time that he wrote FINDING REBECCA, which would go on to be his first published novel and be translated into fourteen different languages.
Eoin and Jill have three beautiful sons, Robbie, who was born in 2015, Sam, born in 2017, and Jack who came in 2019. Eoin enjoys playing with them and marveling at how much more talented they are at the sports that he loves, particularly golf.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
December 31, 2025
The Pursuit is book #9 in the Monika Ritter Series. Our dual protagonists are in a fight for freedom and justice as they continue on their dangerous undertakings throughout Europe during WW2. The author paints scenes flying by at a fast pace. The reader becomes instantly engaged, witnessing the gruesome behaviors of the Gestapo as well as the contrasting, patriotic behaviors of the characters who are the heroines and heroes.
Dempsey reaches out to actual historical events to assemble his plot. Most noteworthy were insights regarding Hitler’s “Night and Fog” edict. Those who attempted to undermine German troops, such as resistance fighters and activists, were arrested, sent to prison camps, or executed. All was done clouded in secret, which elevated fear for those whose friends and family members simply disappeared.
I did enjoy this novel and benefited from new historical learnings, but I feel it lacked the thrilling impact easily noted in earlier books of this series. If you’re a real historical fiction fan, do read this series from the beginning!
Dempsey reaches out to actual historical events to assemble his plot. Most noteworthy were insights regarding Hitler’s “Night and Fog” edict. Those who attempted to undermine German troops, such as resistance fighters and activists, were arrested, sent to prison camps, or executed. All was done clouded in secret, which elevated fear for those whose friends and family members simply disappeared.
I did enjoy this novel and benefited from new historical learnings, but I feel it lacked the thrilling impact easily noted in earlier books of this series. If you’re a real historical fiction fan, do read this series from the beginning!
January 4, 2026
"Due process was whatever whim the Gestapo agents adhered to, and the beatings and other forms of torture replaced cross-examination. Healthy societies didn't operate this way."
The Pursuit tells Sarah's story after Monika Ritter escaped Austria, just ahead of the Gestapo. This is not an easy book to read. It's not filled with close escapes or daring raids, but rather the hard reality of what happened to those arrested by the Gestapo. The details of torture aren't glossed over and were especially sadistic when the prisoner was a woman. Sarah is sent to Mauthausen, one of the most barbaric of all the concentration camps. Again, the author doesn't shy away from the cruelty endured by the prisoners. Sarah must endure, hoping to survive until the end of the war. Being separated from Monika and Oliver makes her life almost unbearable, and her pain seeps through every page. The Pursuit is set in October 1944, so there is at least one more book in this series. I hope my heart has healed before it is released.
The Pursuit tells Sarah's story after Monika Ritter escaped Austria, just ahead of the Gestapo. This is not an easy book to read. It's not filled with close escapes or daring raids, but rather the hard reality of what happened to those arrested by the Gestapo. The details of torture aren't glossed over and were especially sadistic when the prisoner was a woman. Sarah is sent to Mauthausen, one of the most barbaric of all the concentration camps. Again, the author doesn't shy away from the cruelty endured by the prisoners. Sarah must endure, hoping to survive until the end of the war. Being separated from Monika and Oliver makes her life almost unbearable, and her pain seeps through every page. The Pursuit is set in October 1944, so there is at least one more book in this series. I hope my heart has healed before it is released.
January 1, 2026
This series is so fabulous and I read the latest book in just one day - hard to put it down! Monika has escaped the Reich and is back in Bern with the OSS. But her cousin, Sarah was captured and sent to Mauthausen, the notorious Austrian concentration camp. Monica, and Sarah’s boyfriend, Oliver, and desperate to rescue her, but their plans fall awry when the Nazi Prester gets into Switzerland and kidnaps Monika. A rip roaring ride from start to finish - it will be hard to wait for the next book to come out!
January 5, 2026
The pursuit
I live this series! I'm so looking forward to the final episode, but at the same time, I don't want the series to end.
I feel like I have travelled every step with Monika, from when she first signed up with the OSS, through every assignment she had. When she ended up at her uncles farm to, finding Sarah and Oliver. Every episode has had me on tenterhooks. I love the characters and feel like I know them personally. This has been an amazing series, and one that will stay with me for a long time.
I live this series! I'm so looking forward to the final episode, but at the same time, I don't want the series to end.
I feel like I have travelled every step with Monika, from when she first signed up with the OSS, through every assignment she had. When she ended up at her uncles farm to, finding Sarah and Oliver. Every episode has had me on tenterhooks. I love the characters and feel like I know them personally. This has been an amazing series, and one that will stay with me for a long time.
Review of advance copy received from Author
Sarah is in one of the Nazi camps. The descriptions of the horrendous violence in these camps are upsetting and depressing. It is a reminder of the horror of Hitler’s vision. Monika and Oliver want to rescue Sarah, but this seems impossible until an SS prisoner tells them where she is. Only Monika is concerned that it is a trap, which it is. Monica’s situation is resolved, but not Sarah’s.
Thank you to the author for the Advanced Reader Copy. All opinions are my own.
Thank you to the author for the Advanced Reader Copy. All opinions are my own.
January 16, 2026
Pursuit pursued me!
Couldn’t get away from it. Every spare minute I read this next adventure of my all time favorite spy Monika Ritter, her cousin Sarah and men. I lost at several hands of cards as I tried to both play and read. Anxiously awaiting the next book which will determine the fate of Sarah and her new friend Heidi. The amazing grit and tenacity of those who survived the nazis’ horror is truly amazing and inspiring.
Couldn’t get away from it. Every spare minute I read this next adventure of my all time favorite spy Monika Ritter, her cousin Sarah and men. I lost at several hands of cards as I tried to both play and read. Anxiously awaiting the next book which will determine the fate of Sarah and her new friend Heidi. The amazing grit and tenacity of those who survived the nazis’ horror is truly amazing and inspiring.
January 7, 2026
Book nine.
The book in this series is like the rest. Always an edge of your seat page turner. You don’t need to read all the other books. You just will know less about what the characters have endured. Purchase the rest and start with book one. You won’t regret it.
The book in this series is like the rest. Always an edge of your seat page turner. You don’t need to read all the other books. You just will know less about what the characters have endured. Purchase the rest and start with book one. You won’t regret it.
January 17, 2026
The Pursuit
Was much better than the previous books in the series. And I am saying this as someone who has read all of his books. I think he is an excellent author and am anxiously awaiting his next book in the series!
Was much better than the previous books in the series. And I am saying this as someone who has read all of his books. I think he is an excellent author and am anxiously awaiting his next book in the series!
December 31, 2025
Awesome!
Great series and this book does not disappoint! Engaging and riveting with superb character development! The series is definitely worth reading!
Great series and this book does not disappoint! Engaging and riveting with superb character development! The series is definitely worth reading!
January 3, 2026
It was too short and too much repetition. Every time the final is announced there’s another coming out. I have enjoyed the series and loved many of Epin’s books but it’s time to end this Series.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews