Into the Fire

Rosie Ewing #1

by Alexander Fullerton

Summer 1943; an undercover mission to occupied France…Rosie Ewing is an agent of SOE – Special Operations Executive – and a ‘pianist’: Resistance slang for radio operator. Their average life expectancy is six weeks.

But Rosie is brighter than most, well-aware of the consequences of a second’s carelessness, or bad luck, or treachery. Or a fellow agent crumbling under torture, naming names.

Her brief is to set up a new network in Rouen, where the old one has been blown and an agent is suspected of betrayal. If she gets there, that is. Landing from a gunboat on the Brittany coast, she must to travel to Paris – carrying forged papers, a radio transceiver and more than a million francs in cash…

Frighteningly realistic, unbearably exciting, the Rosie Ewing Spy Thrillers are perfect for fans of Philip Kerr, Ian Fleming and John Le Carré.

Genres: Historical Fiction, World War II, Fiction

366 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

Alexander Fullerton (1924–2008) was a British author of naval and other fiction. Born in 1924 in Suffolk and brought up in France, he was a cadet during the years 1938-1941 at the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth from the age of thirteen. He went to sea serving first in the battleship Queen Elizabeth in the Mediterranean, and spent the rest of the war at sea - mostly under it, in submarines.

Fullerton's first novel SURFACE! sold over 500,000 copies. Then he worked on the 9-volume Nicholas Everard series that made his reputation.

Series:
* Nicholas Everard Saga
* Rosie Ewing

Source: Wikipedia

Reviews

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

In 1943 occupied France, life expectancy for a radio operator on the ground is six weeks. SOE agent Rosie Ewing is willing to brave the danger nevertheless. Equipped with forged papers, a transmission set and over a million francs in cash, she is sent to set up a new network in Rouen and identify a potential traitor.

With this set-up, it's no wonder this turned out to be a gripping read that easily sucked me in. However, I did find the protagonist a little too naive. How she didn't catch on to César is absolutely beyond me, he was hardly subtle in pumping her for information... for a supposedly smart and well-trained agent, Rosie was astonishingly blind in that regard.

[Nicki · Rating 3 out of 5]

Newly-widowed Rosie offers her services to SOE as a field agent and finds herself in Northern France, helping to set up a new network after the collapse of the previous one.

I like Rosie as a character, but she seems far too trusting to me as a secret agent in an occupied country. She takes precautions in lots of instances and then completely trusts the wrong person, despite the strange questions and requests to put everything in writing. This isn't her first mission in the field either, which makes it even stranger that she doesn't smell a rat sooner. Or perhaps I'd have been a lot more paranoid in her situation!

The book has exciting moments and a sub-plot involving Rosie's love interest, an Australian in the Royal Navy. It's the first in a series and I'll definitely pick up the next one at some point.

[Djb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just re-read this after 5 years. It's better than I remembered ! From the final book in the series I think Mr Fullerton was half in love with Rosie, just like Dorothy L Sayers feel for her character Lord Peter Wimsey. I can see why...

[Mike Whitehouse · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good start to a series.

Certainly a good start to a series which can only get better as Rosie Learns her craft as an agent of British Intelligence.

[Karen Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting but it didn't grab me.

If this is you genre it is worth a try, but I won't be reading the rest of the series.

[Lorraine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was drawn to the promise of a strong female spy story. All the parts are there, but since the story is mostly told and not shown, the reader misses out on the full effect. I loved Angel and all of the resistance operatives.
I loved the settings ~ the author excelled in describing some places, especially aboard ship. But I was constantly being brought out of the story because of the uneven writing style.

I am intrigued and care enough about the characters to read the next book, but am not dying to get my hands on it right away. It took me a long time to finish this book because I was going through a lot in my own life. It's great escapism and would make a good beach read..