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Untitled
She presumed their first meeting had been coincidental, but then discovered that he had already painted her in intimate detail. They agreed not to reveal anything about their previous lives to each other, not even their names. They became lovers and planned to marry, but then he disappeared and she had no means of discovering what might have happened to him. A decade later she received a postcard that enabled her to start the search but, in doing so, she discovered that she could be the most hunted target of the Cold War. She hoped she could survive long enough to find out why. The unseen and unthinkable escalating nuclear arms threat is the dreadful umbrella overshadowing this story, that riddles beneath the ideological standoff that dominated the middle of the last century, but there are other tensions here too, just as dangerous to the individuals involved. National security vies with personal fidelity, integrity with identity and nature with legality in this psychological thriller; and for the protagonist at the heart of it all is the perennial who really is the person that she loves?
- GenresThriller
309 pages, Paperback
Published October 1, 2018
4 people want to read
About the author
Pete Hartley
13 books2 followersPete Hartley is based in northern England where he taught drama for three decades and ran uneasy theatre - a small production company specialising in creating new drama and reworking established classics.
He has written extensively for the stage. Some fifty of his plays have been performed by professionals, amateurs and student companies. Six have won prizes, and one, was broadcast by BBC Radio.
Pete also had short stories published and broadcast long before the digital era dominated the airwaves.
He has written extensively for the stage. Some fifty of his plays have been performed by professionals, amateurs and student companies. Six have won prizes, and one, was broadcast by BBC Radio.
Pete also had short stories published and broadcast long before the digital era dominated the airwaves.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
December 14, 2018
This book grabbed me from the beginning. The writing is solid, maybe even exceptional. The plot was certainly exceptional. Just when I thought I had something figured out or nearly figured out, the author took me down a different path. The descriptions were good, the dialogue sharp, straight to the point, no wasting of words.
I read this in two days, hard to put down. I think this would be a good book club pick. There is so much to discuss. It's set a decade after World War II. War in London changed lives. In this case it brought the main character who was doing work for the war effort into relationships with people she would not ever have met in times of peace. But what happens to these people after the war--especially love interests? That is the quest of the main character, female, nameless to find someone, also nameless, she fell in love with, a decade later.
Things begin to get strange. There are lies, deceit, well everything connected with the spy business. I would love to say a lot, here, but it would be spoilers. At the end the character says she would do it all over again. For myself, I would say, no, give me a house in the suburbs and a man I can believe, or at least know his name. Like I said, there is a lot to discuss, and I feel this book would be great for a book club. I plan on recommending it to my own book club.
I read this in two days, hard to put down. I think this would be a good book club pick. There is so much to discuss. It's set a decade after World War II. War in London changed lives. In this case it brought the main character who was doing work for the war effort into relationships with people she would not ever have met in times of peace. But what happens to these people after the war--especially love interests? That is the quest of the main character, female, nameless to find someone, also nameless, she fell in love with, a decade later.
Things begin to get strange. There are lies, deceit, well everything connected with the spy business. I would love to say a lot, here, but it would be spoilers. At the end the character says she would do it all over again. For myself, I would say, no, give me a house in the suburbs and a man I can believe, or at least know his name. Like I said, there is a lot to discuss, and I feel this book would be great for a book club. I plan on recommending it to my own book club.
November 4, 2018
An exceptional mystery read.
I enjoyed a lot reading this book. The mystery within the whole story kept me reading and wondering what was behind everything. Mrs. A, the poser, the muse or whatever name the main character had is a strong female character on a mission. First, it seemed to be the mission to find her fiance that she lost contact with since almost at the end of the world war two. As events evolved and more mysteries appeared, the story seemed much more complicated and her mission has changed slightly. The more I've read the more intrigued I became. Everyone seemed suspicious and it was hard to assume what stood behind the conspiracy. The author managed to get my full attention and everything made sense in a specific way. Leftovers from the war, secret objects inserted in people’s body that may become dangerous for many influencing people from many nations, espionage, fake and real deaths, disguises, talking with people you may not know their names and many other elements created the suspense effect of this book. There was love too, sometimes only as an appearance, a fantasy, an imagination or simply a different kind of love. All in all, this is a book I truly recommend.
Type of reader: Fans of exceptionally written novels of mystery, thrillers, suspense with psychological touch and flavors of war, espionage, and politics.
Quotes from this book:
“Derek had been a distraction, but the artist was her muse. She thought about him every day and most nights. She had even thought about him when she had been with Derek; especially at the most intense times. She had long admitted that the man she adored had become an icon rather than a reality. Like so many of those who had not been seen since the war, he remained as he was when last she saw him, even though she knew that, in reality, he must be quite different. She frequently feared that if she saw him again she might not recognise him. Even worse, she might have already seen him and not known it. How terrible that would have been, especially if he had recognised her.”
“Dreams and thoughts became intertwined. In light sleep he was her hero, lifting her from the mundane and moribund life of a department store spinster into an idyllic existence amid shared seclusion. In deeper sleep he was a diabolical deceiver, handing her over to Soviet surgeons who removed her hidden appendage without anaesthetic, and then left her to wither from infection. When she was awake he was close and distant, benevolent and menacing, familiar and strange.”
“An oath is the truth; but all truths are temporary. Time sees to that. Time changes everything. It changes you, it changes me, it changes everything that there is. It’s foolish to say I will always be this, because being this is not in one’s control. This belongs to time. When time changes this changes also. My oaths were always true. At the time when they were made.”
More book reviews on: https://www.nicojgenes.com/book-reviews
I enjoyed a lot reading this book. The mystery within the whole story kept me reading and wondering what was behind everything. Mrs. A, the poser, the muse or whatever name the main character had is a strong female character on a mission. First, it seemed to be the mission to find her fiance that she lost contact with since almost at the end of the world war two. As events evolved and more mysteries appeared, the story seemed much more complicated and her mission has changed slightly. The more I've read the more intrigued I became. Everyone seemed suspicious and it was hard to assume what stood behind the conspiracy. The author managed to get my full attention and everything made sense in a specific way. Leftovers from the war, secret objects inserted in people’s body that may become dangerous for many influencing people from many nations, espionage, fake and real deaths, disguises, talking with people you may not know their names and many other elements created the suspense effect of this book. There was love too, sometimes only as an appearance, a fantasy, an imagination or simply a different kind of love. All in all, this is a book I truly recommend.
Type of reader: Fans of exceptionally written novels of mystery, thrillers, suspense with psychological touch and flavors of war, espionage, and politics.
Quotes from this book:
“Derek had been a distraction, but the artist was her muse. She thought about him every day and most nights. She had even thought about him when she had been with Derek; especially at the most intense times. She had long admitted that the man she adored had become an icon rather than a reality. Like so many of those who had not been seen since the war, he remained as he was when last she saw him, even though she knew that, in reality, he must be quite different. She frequently feared that if she saw him again she might not recognise him. Even worse, she might have already seen him and not known it. How terrible that would have been, especially if he had recognised her.”
“Dreams and thoughts became intertwined. In light sleep he was her hero, lifting her from the mundane and moribund life of a department store spinster into an idyllic existence amid shared seclusion. In deeper sleep he was a diabolical deceiver, handing her over to Soviet surgeons who removed her hidden appendage without anaesthetic, and then left her to wither from infection. When she was awake he was close and distant, benevolent and menacing, familiar and strange.”
“An oath is the truth; but all truths are temporary. Time sees to that. Time changes everything. It changes you, it changes me, it changes everything that there is. It’s foolish to say I will always be this, because being this is not in one’s control. This belongs to time. When time changes this changes also. My oaths were always true. At the time when they were made.”
More book reviews on: https://www.nicojgenes.com/book-reviews
April 20, 2019
There is something for everyone in Untitled: lovers of spy thrillers will indulge in this chilling Cold War drama; fans of psychological thrillers will be blackmailed into every next chapter as they try to untangle the thickening web and hoarders of literary fiction will delight in its engaging prose. I was gripped from the very first to the last page, and will be reading more from Hartley.
January 30, 2019
It’s an old cliché to say don’t judge a book by its cover. With the picture of a dark haired woman and untitled across the top, it looks a bit unfinished and could be the cover for anything. Nothing alludes to the rather clever and well worked out cold war thriller you will find inside. The reader is swept along by the mystery of an unnamed woman trying to trace her war time lover. But she knows virtually nothing about him. We learn of a rather sweet romance that could probably only have happened in war time, where fleeting moments were all important and couples rushed into engagements and marriage before the war would claim one of them. Gradually the plot turns more sinister as the woman now finds herself caught up in the dangerous world of cold war espionage.
The book is quite unusual both in its style and story line. The writer likes playing with various shades of grey and nothing is ever clear cut or seems as it appears. I enjoyed this and would recommend it to all lovers of spy thrillers, crime and something with a well thought out complex plot.
The book is quite unusual both in its style and story line. The writer likes playing with various shades of grey and nothing is ever clear cut or seems as it appears. I enjoyed this and would recommend it to all lovers of spy thrillers, crime and something with a well thought out complex plot.
July 11, 2019
An Unputdownable Mystery!
Pete Hartley's style reminds me of Dan Brown's and Dashiell Hammett's. Untitled is a tense, whirlwind, post WWII puzzle. The author slowly peels the onion layers, letting the reader work through and digest the various details along with the heroine. She's pretty lost at the beginning, but slowly learns more and more, which is terrifying at times (but nothing too gory happens, if you're not a fan of stuff like that - which I'm not). All in all it was a very satisfying mystery.
Pete Hartley's style reminds me of Dan Brown's and Dashiell Hammett's. Untitled is a tense, whirlwind, post WWII puzzle. The author slowly peels the onion layers, letting the reader work through and digest the various details along with the heroine. She's pretty lost at the beginning, but slowly learns more and more, which is terrifying at times (but nothing too gory happens, if you're not a fan of stuff like that - which I'm not). All in all it was a very satisfying mystery.
April 22, 2020
An extraordinary story that deserves to be better known. I was intrigued by the two main characters whose names were withheld, and the deepening mystery over the artist’s reason for choosing his muse. What starts as apparently a romantic encounter soon takes a sinister turn and there are plenty of twists to come. Although you have to be prepared to suspend some disbelief it’s very well written and held my interest to the end. A beautifully-written, compulsive read.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews