Vanguard: A thriller set in the aftermath of WWII

by Michael Lockhart

308 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 27, 2026

Reviews

[Tracy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well-written, interesting post-war story
I am 64 and I have never heard of these events that happened in Lienz at the end of WW2. When I read the line in the book — Lienz was a blot on the honour of the British Army — I had to find out more, so I researched it. What I read about the event both shocked and upset me. But it also made me more impressed by the author’s writing. He has taken actual events and created a mystery to weave between the facts.
I really enjoyed the first-person narrative by Joe Mallory, he was instantly recognisable as a stiff-upper-lip ex-soldier, who would rather bury his distressing memories than face up to them. Luckily for us, another ex-soldier is determined to find out what happened to one of the prisoners who he had a crush on. George Tremayne boldly declares he must face his demons, and then promptly drags our realistic and steady man, Joe, into his search.
The mystery deepens when someone finds the body of a young woman who supposedly jumped from Blackfriars Bridge. From there, everything starts to unravel.
I really enjoyed the author’s way of describing both people and places with a few choice words that instantly brought them to life. For example, ‘The hotel may have been cheap but it certainly wasn’t cheerful. The furniture was lumpy; the wallpaper brown with age.’ The descriptions of themselves are simple, however, they enabled me to instantly ‘see’ everything, and he writes like this all the way through.
They say that love is blind and for me, the more the story went on, the more I considered George to be naïve, believing he could save Klara against all odds.
On the other hand, the slow-burn, low-key romance between Joe and Connie provided a silver lining to the distressing events, it felt so realistic in its simplicity that I really warmed to it… I quote: One day we found ourselves holding hands. It’s such an understated comment which made the whole thing believable.
The ending isn’t really a happy ever after, it is more grounded and realistic than that. Overall, I found the story interesting, and I loved the writing style.

[Sandi Jerome · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a lifelong World War 2 buff who lost my uncle at the Battle of the Bulge on Christmas Day, I thought I knew the war's darkest chapters. I did not know this one. The forced handover of tens of thousands of Cossack men, women, and children to the Soviet Red Army at Lienz, Austria in 1945 is historically real, and the betrayal was staggering: British officers lured Cossack leaders to a supposed conference, promising they would return by evening, then handed them directly to Soviet custody. Most were sent to the gulags; many never came home. The author builds his thriller on this largely forgotten atrocity and does it brilliantly. I connected deeply with Connie, the female writer character, because I also write, and her instinct to dig for truth when official stories don't add up felt deeply personal to me. George Tremayne's desperate quest to find the woman he loves through a shattered, morally compromised postwar Europe is both a page-turning adventure and a gut punch of conscience - but who doesn't love a little romance? This novel illuminates history that was kept secret until the 1970s and deserves to be far better known. Extraordinary, important, unforgettable. I will be presenting at our book club next month - as a Thriller!

[Carolyn Valdez · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love reading stories where they blend facts and fiction. And this was an excellent story, which also had historical events in it, and I love reading about history. The story pulls you in and doesn’t let you go till the end. I would recommend this story to anyone who enjoys these aspects in a story.


I received a copy, from Get Books Reviewed and I’m leaving and honest and voluntary review.