The Seventh of December

The Seventh of December #1

by Garrick Jones

As bombs rain down over London during the Blitz, Major Tommy Haupner negotiates the rubble-filled streets of Bloomsbury on his way to perform at a socialite party. The explosive event of the evening is not his virtuosic violin playing, but the 'almost-blond' American who not only insults him, but then steals his heart.


The Seventh of December follows a few months in the lives of two Intelligence agents in the early part of World War Two. Set against the backdrop of war-torn occupied Europe, Tommy and his American lover, Henry Reiter, forge a committed relationship that is intertwined with intrigues that threaten the integrity of the British Royal Family and the stability of a Nation at war.


Neither bombs nor bullets manage to break the bond that these men form in their struggle against Nazism and the powers of evil.

Genres: Historical, Historical Fiction, Mystery, Queer, M M Historical Romance, Gay, Fiction

344 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 14, 2019

About the author

From the outback to the opera.

After a thirty year career as a professional opera singer, performing as a soloist in opera houses and in concert halls all over the world, I took up a position as lecturer in music in Australia in 1999, at the Central Queensland Conservatorium of Music, which is now part of CQUniversity.

Brought up in Australia, between the bush and the beaches of the Eastern suburbs, I retired in 2015 and now live in the tropics, writing, gardening, and finally finding time to enjoy life and to re-establish a connection with who I am after a very busy career on the stage and as an academic.

I write mostly historical gay fiction. The stories are always about relationships and the inner workings of men; sometimes my fellas get down to the nitty-gritty, sometimes it's up to you, the reader, to fill in the blanks.

Every book is story driven; spies, detectives, murders, epic dramas, there's something for everyone. I also love to write about my country and the things that make us Aussies and our history different from the rest of the world.

I'm research driven. I always try to do my best to give the reader a sense of what life was like for my main characters in the world they live in.

Reviews

[Pam]

DNF @ 43%

I liked the story, but I didn't like the way it was being told.

1. The dialogue was at odds with my brain. (Unrealistic? Just weird? Not sure)

2. The writing was both choppy and meandering, all at the same time. It often jumped in and out of scenes way too quickly to settle into them, sometimes scene after scene after scene. And yet it seemed to meander through each scene in a really inefficient way. This was frustrating in the longer scenes, but in the shorter ones, it was utterly confounding.

I could have handled either of these things on their own. Together, they seemed to be tag-teaming in order to constantly yank me out of the story. I conceded defeat when I found myself offering constructive criticism *out loud* to my iPad :)

[BevS · Rating 5 out of 5]

***This is a much more polished second edition of the original story. Typos/missing words have been fixed. New editing, a prologue and an Author's note giving details of the real hero that character Tommy Haupner [my over-achiever] was actually based upon, are included. edit 6/9/21. Book 2 of the series X for Extortion is now out!! 🎉🎉🎉***

5 stars 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 Garrick Jones...well done!!

Well-written character driven wartime novel, set during London's Blitz in the early 1940's when what could be bombed by the Germans was bombed without mercy. The main character of the story, Australian Tommy Haupner, was somewhat of an over-achiever I have to say 😉, being fluent in several languages, an accomplished musician, a Spanish Civil War hero and the leader of several groups of men who frequently went behind enemy lines in France, Germany and all over Europe to disrupt the German and Italian war machines. He was also a very lonely man, and although not one to turn down an opportunity when it arose, knew that he wanted to meet that one special person who would make his heart beat faster...and I'm happy to say he did 😍.

Loved the Royal Family threads, the start of US involvement in Intelligence gathering, and the blackmail/traitor storyline. Of course, as this was wartime, there were character deaths too...both good and bad, and I particularly liked young 15 year old Luc, the Resistance fighter. There were a few typos and missed words, but suspect that was the fault of Manifold Press. Have to say I'm very happy that I didn't live in those times...everyone seemed to smoke a helluva lot, and I hate that habit 😕.

[PaperMoon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved, loved this book. The author does not draw back from depicting the insane brutality of war and the evil machinations of men. I cannot wait for the next book to continue engaging with Tommy, Henry and all their (surviving!) family and friends.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

"What, you think every Tom, Dick and Harry in the Armed Forces who is an accomplished musician, and who has a doctorate, and who was a hero in the Spanish Civil War, can work as an intelligence agent for Britain without anyone taking notice?" So says the Duke of Kent, as he casually promotes our hero to Lieutenant Colonel then whisks him onto the dance floor - as well as being a world-class violinist, speaking five languages and being a crack shot who can as easily kill a man instantly with his bare hands, Tommy is a super dancer. He also has a lot of love to give. Along with his band of trusty sidekicks (all the men look like Tom of Finland illustrations and the one woman is a waspish Dorothy Parker), he ricochets through society parties and wartime Europe, taking on a world where Nazis and scheming jewel thieves are rampant but homophobia doesn't exist. And *SPOILERS* he wins!

Listen, sometimes a book comes into your life exactly when you need it. If you're looking for the queer Charlotte Gray, this isn't the one - and it could have done with one more edit to catch some distracting typos - but I honestly haven't out-and-out enjoyed a read this much for ages. It's like a WWII Boy's Adventure comic meets a pulpy gay romance and the perfect antidote to the worrying times we're living in. With nationalism on the rise and cowards in charge, I relished escaping into a world where everyone knows the fascists are evil and they stand up to them - and then snog their 6'3" Yankee boyfriend in triumph!

This is an old-fashioned romp with new-fashioned morals. I gleefully devoured the whole thing with a grin on my face and, if you're in the right mood, you will too.

[George · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 Stars

The Seventh of December by Garrick Jones, a ‘new-to-me’ author, is an amazing historical gay romance novel set in England and France early in World War II. This is the first book written by Mr. Jones that I’ve read - it definitely won’t be the last.

Jones himself, as readers will discover in his Author Bio at the conclusion of the novel, had lead a fascinating and highly accomplished life before he even began to write.

Of course, there are things about The Seventh of December: The Czarina’s Necklace, the first book in a series, that can be faulted - for instance, the large number of secondary characters that are often difficult to track. Still, the protagonists, Australian violin virtuoso Tommy Haupner and his American lover, Henry Reiter - both working as intelligence agents; Tommy’s twin brother, Michael; Henry’s uncle Steve; and many male members of the British Royal Family, combine to provide a thoroughly intriguing and thought-provoking narrative.

With wars raging today in both Europe and the Middle East, and a critical Presidential election on the horizon in the US, there are lessons learned from this period of history as the free world fought against the evil of Nazism, that need to be guiding us again today.

[Joyfully Jay · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Joyfully Jay review.

4 stars

Let me start by saying that if you like spies and wartime intrigue, then The Seventh of December is the book for you. This is very much the driving force of the novel and it results in a complex web of political lies and private interests. Henry and Thomas feel like the pawns of more powerful people, as all soldiers often are during times of war. The broader storytelling is good here and the author obviously has a real passion for the topic, which comes through in a positive way. Additionally, there is an excellent sense of place and time. Jones has done a wonderful job of portraying the uncertainty of life during the Blitz and about the importance of life going forward despite being under threat.

Read Sue’s review in its entirety here.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was great fun. A romantic story of full of intrigue and suspense set in wartime Britain and France. The author’s ability to capture the atmosphere of a setting really stands out, as does his way of conveying the characters’ motivations and feelings by showing rather than telling. It feels carefully plotted and written with skill and an admirable attention to detail. It’s a book I found myself wanting to ration out in small parcels to make it last just a little bit longer.

[Erik · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful, delightful, emotional read with emotions evoked with just one word or turn of phrase. A love story paired with adventure. The novel starts slowly but once you are inside, you never want to leave.

[R E · Rating 5 out of 5]

A passionate novel of tenderness, heartbreak, moral dilemmas, and love

The Seventh Of December in the novel's title isn't THAT seventh of December - the one in 1941 that will live in infamy, when Emperor Hirihito's Imperial Navy attacked Pearl Harbor. This seventh of December happens a year earlier, before America enters the war, when London is being mercilessly pulverized by the blitz and desperately hoping for American (or any other) help to fend off Hitler's war machine. It's on the seventh of December, 1940, that Major Tommy Haupner, of the British secret service, meets the love of his life, American Captain Henry Reiter. Henry is a 6'3" muscular mass of a man with red-blonde hair. Tommy promptly dubs Henry "Shorty", in true Aussie style, since he himself, also a tall muscular dude, is originally from Australia.

I really liked this novel. It's full of historical detail, tenderness, heartbreaking action, and an almost too good cast of characters. It's this last quality that some readers might find hard to swallow - but hang in there! This novel pays off, hitting all kinds of emotions, ethical conundrums, loss, beauty, wonder, action and moments when I was shocked into silence.

First, let's deal with the "too good to be true" main characters. Tommy, in a nutshell, is the 1940's version of a super spy: not only is he beautiful, muscular, and hot, he's a martial arts expert, a brilliant military strategist, a musical genius whose violin playing reduces people to tears of joy (music being a significant theme throughout the book), and Tommy has an almost equally amazing twin. But wait! There's more. Tommy's also a linguistics and language genius, able to discern regional dialects and place people geographically by how they speak, a great leader able to inspire and command both English, French, and (in disguise) German troops, an astute psychologist of human nature, and, along with Shorty, a father figure. Tommy knows how to read people's thoughts and emotions and exactly what they need at any given moment, whether they are feeling duress, desperation, or love. Tommy is also a trained killer whose tender, empathetic soul can be turned off in a heartbeat to put a bullet in someone's brain. Shorty, Tommy's soon to be American lover, is nearly as talented - but has not yet been placed in a situation where he needs to kill.

It's this last quality, the ability of an artist, genius and lover to become a killer, that forms much of the moral dilemma for readers. Tommy offers his own thoughts on this dilemma, but it's really left to us to decide how we feel. There's at least one death that doesn't seem strictly necessary, and it's an uncomfortable position for a reader to be in when a novel doesn't offer moral clarity.

While I wasn't sure where the novel was headed till it got there, it's the horror of the blitz, the terror of war, and the moral impossibilities that compensates for the cast of characters seemingly bordering on the superhuman. There are a couple of other things in the story that might elicit an eye-roll from readers, for instance, Tommy's best friend turns out to Shorty's uncle. But in the end I forgave all of these contrivances because of the book's overall strength.

The dialogue between the two main lovers, Tommy and Shorty (there are other couples, with one set of lovers affecting the fortunes of the Royal Family), is funny, sweet and heartwarming. Again, if, at times, it seems a little too much of a fantasy relationship, it's also true that Tommy and Shorty are only months into loving each other and, additionally, in a horrible war where either could perish without warning. It makes sense that they'd want to make their time together as good as possible - although it's clear from their behavior and interactions, their words and silent, physical caresses, that they are supremely compatible and supremely at ease with one another, and almost always on the same page - sharing a mutual, reciprocal, unspoken understanding of how the other person thinks, feels and sees.

The author also manages a neat trick by integrating a slew of cultures into the storyline, including Australian, English, Welsh, Spanish, Portuguese, Alsace, Parisian, rural French, and German, astutely describing attitudes, details, traditions, and linguistic/dialect idiosyncrasies (and this is just a partial list). Music, as I said, also plays a prominent role, from Gershwin and Jerome Kern to Paganini, Beethoven and more (I looked up a few of these musical references which have become favorite tracks).

In the end, The Seventh of December is a rewarding, enjoyable read that is well worth setting aside any quibbles over this or that contrivance. I'm kind of hoping for a sequel.....

[A.L. Lester · Rating 5 out of 5]

An astonishingly detailed and historically accurate love story between two men in WW2.

SOE, MI6, the Blitz, parachuting in to France, unarmed combat, virtuoso violin playing, blackmail involving Princes of the Realm, sexy Yanks and chaps dancing together in evening dress.

I understand it's the first in a series and I am now biting my nails waiting for more.

[Garrett Hutson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This enjoyable book is one part WW2 spy thriller, one part mystery, and one part M/M romance, and it manages to meld these three elements into a coherent whole. It has a very complex plot, but it all comes together nicely. The characters are believably and intimately drawn, and there are wonderful historical details that make the settings come alive. The author has a lot of fun contrasting Australian, British, and American speech patterns in such a way that we can imagine the characters poking fun at each other's speech; but there are a handful of instances when an American character says something that sounds more British than American.

The author has clearly done a lot of research, vividly portraying life in London during the blitz, and clandestine SOE operations in France--though there were a couple of historical errors that fans of historical spy fic will catch. There is a dinner meeting with Bill Donovan at Clardige's the 2nd week of December 1940, during which he's described as the head of the OSS, the new American intelligence organization; Claridge's was Donovan's favorite dinner spot in London, and he was there the 3rd week of December 1940--however, at the time he was an individual "unofficial envoy" of President Roosevelt, and had no organization. In reality, Donovan started putting together an intelligence organization in July 1941, and that organization was subsequently renamed the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) in June 1942. Also, it's stated a couple of times (Feb-March 1941 in the story) that the American embassy had been moved to Vichy, and therefore the American characters wouldn't have a diplomatic resource in Paris; but in reality only the ambassador went to Vichy in 1940, and the embassy in Paris remained open until May 1941.

Aside from that, the story feels authentic. Although the author has taken liberties with the actual timeline of American involvement in WW2 clandestine operations, it feels realistic, and is mostly done in a believable way that serves the story well. I enjoyed this book, and look forward to the sequels.

[Danielle Apple · Rating 5 out of 5]

This needs to be a movie

I simply could not put this book down. It was like a movie being played out right in front of me. Internal and external conflict abound. The storyline and character arch is intriguing. The combination of suspense, adventure, and mystery is just right. I also have some specific observations:

1. I absolutely love languages. It was a real treat to see how the author expertly intertwined the meaning and subtleties behind every language and dialect encountered (there are many). Yet, I still didn’t feel especially lost, because the main character would either speak or think in response to whatever was said.

2. I did get a little lost in the host of characters, but it seemed the ones I should remember stuck with me.

3. The women characters were given agency and worked within their sphere of influence quiet well. Some were enterprising, quick on their feet. Some made mistakes as did the male characters. Some saved the day. Some just wanted to live in peace. Each had a background, goals, and a different personality.

4. I thought the first two things I read from this author were nuanced and deep about the effects of war on individuals and communities, but this one takes the cake.

I’d recommend this book, absolutely.

[Rochon Sylvie · Rating 5 out of 5]

English Spies during WWII organising the Resistance in France … just that is an interesting plot. Garrick Jones brings it to another level with the Crown and the aristocracy being weaved into the story! He makes his characters come alive in their dealings through the war in London and on the Continent. A gripping story brings in perspective important participants (gays and women) that are often forgotten in the telling of the “official” history. This was a page-turner!! I am so looking forward to the next book in the series!!!!

[Ken Cook · Rating 5 out of 5]

Early WWII Britain

Third person POV relates less than 6 months of experiences involving men and women dealing with the intrigue behind the scenes of the early European phase of the War. Jones incorporates significant research into this tale as the MCs slip around the enemy on the continent, and military and social circles in London. Fascinating reveals of behind the scenes aspects of the blitz, the Spanish Civil War, German and British high society. An educational read filled with fast track action and cultural insights.

[Kobie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, so good.

[Ulysses Dietz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Seventh of December: The Czarina’s Necklace (Seventh of December, book 1)
By Garrick Jones
MoshPit Publishing, 2020
Five stars

How lucky we are to have such a writer as Garrick Jones. “The Seventh of December: The Czarina’s Necklace” is the first of a series that I missed when it first appeared. I have all four book now and if the rest live up to the first, I’ve got good times ahead.

I hate to call this a spy novel, but that’s really what it is, set in my least favorite historical moment, the year of the Blitz in London, 1941. Jones has done remarkable research to ground this political thriller in the harrowing reality of the day. Lucky for me, I’ve recently read Erik Larson’s fascinating “The Splendid and the Vile,” which is a documentary about Winston Church, his family, and life in the first years of World War II. Some of the most astonishing realities of Larson’s history support equally hard-to-imagine moments in Jones’s fiction.

But Jones has also given us a romance, a love story, however unlikely. We have Thomas Haupner, who is Australian, but born of German and French parents. Haupner is cooler than James Bond, because he is not only multi-lingual, but a celebrated concert violinist, able to move discreetly through the Europe of the 1930s as he gets his PhD. His public persona screens his professional role as an information gatherer for the British government after he leaves Germany in 1938 in the wake of Kristallnacht.

At a rather louche soirée in London in late 1940, Haupner is introduced to a tall, handsome American, with the very German name of Heinrich Reiter. Tommy and Henry hit it off immediately, and soon it becomes clear that the American is not only linguistically as skilled as the Australian, but he is in London with a similar purpose: to anticipate the U.S.A.’s entry into Hitler’s war and offer his services.

In a plot as complicated as you could ever want, Tommy and Henry begin to build a relationship, even as they are drawn into undercover operations in occupied France as well as into a potential scandal involving the Royal Family that could undermine the war effort. It is fascinating, unnerving, and hair-raising, even as we grow to like both young men and their circle of friends and colleagues. Jones has created a plausible setting for a same-sex friendship to blossom without imposing 21st-century ideas onto the reality of the early 1940s. We not only like Tommy and Henry, but we believe them.

There is a good bit of death in this story—after all, these are spies and it is wartime. Jones keeps a running conversation in his narrative that constantly reminds us of the unavoidable moral darkness of war and what it forces good people to do in the name of peace.

All in all, a remarkable, enthralling novel. Boy, it would make an incredible movie, if Hollywood weren’t so generally spineless. I can’t wait to start the next books in the series.

[Leni · Rating 2 out of 5]

I tried, really hard, to push through, but I was so >not looking forward< to my reading time I had to throw in the towel at about 20%.
The characters were too naive for their age and profession, the insta-love felt fabricated and unreal, the story too boring (despite the eventful time period), though admittedly, I didn't get far there, and the writing was way too immature for a grown-up (to either produce or read). I see the many great reviews, and so perhaps this is one of those "me" things...

[Misty · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've never been a fan of wartime novels and least of all while it takes place during WW2 but Garrick Jones is one of my favorite authors so I bought the first edition of the book. It was still 'unread' on my reader when the second edition was published, I bought it too but it took me months after that to read it!

Despite any misgivings I had, I really liked it! It's rich in historical details, twits and turns and the storytelling is as always perfect. The ugly side of war is portrayed with great accuracy. The author has a very special way to make his characters come alive whether you root for them or not! Without doubt, I enjoyed this book!

[Dewi · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good story of love, espionage and adventure set during the second world war. The characters were believable and the relationship of Tommy and Shorty a delight to follow. The reality of espionage with clandestine activities, murder is all thrown in. One gets drawn into the story its very enjoyable.

[Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have read numerous books by GJ and have throughly been engaged with them all.
This book is no exception...I relish being transported wherever GW takes me.
Await more by this skilled storyteller who just happens to like men !!!

[Tess · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 stars

Bonus points for the m/m love story in the WW2 setting!! I enjoyed this more in the beginning (setting up the love story) but then it felt like it got too long and convoluted.