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London Underground: A Thriller
A chilling adventure beneath the streets of London where WWII-era bombs, government conspiracies, and science—gone very very wrong—collide.
Beneath the streets of London lie many secrets. Subterranean rivers carve channels through darkened caverns. Hidden laboratories and government offices from WWII offer a maze of corridors and abandoned medical experiments. Lost in the depths are the contents of a looted Spanish galleon from the days of Henry VIII. And even deeper lies a Nazi V-2 rocket that contains the most horrible secret of all.
Carmen Kingsley, in charge of London projects for the British Museum, and Scotland Yard Inspector Sherwood Peets race to unravel the mysteries before the great city succumbs to the English Sweat, a frightening disease from the age of the Henrys.
Unknown to them, their partners in tracing the disease began their own efforts more than sixty years earlier during WWII when a top secret British mission is sent to the far northern regions of Norway to stop the Nazis from developing a biological weapon that was to be airmailed to London via the V-2 rocket.
It all comes to a climax beneath the city with the discovery of a horrifying species of genetically altered “super rats” that threaten to invade London and the British Isles in a manner more horrifying than anything ever envisioned by the Germans.
Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Arcade, Yucca, and Good Books imprints, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in fiction—novels, novellas, political and medical thrillers, comedy, satire, historical fiction, romance, erotic and love stories, mystery, classic literature, folklore and mythology, literary classics including Shakespeare, Dumas, Wilde, Cather, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.
Beneath the streets of London lie many secrets. Subterranean rivers carve channels through darkened caverns. Hidden laboratories and government offices from WWII offer a maze of corridors and abandoned medical experiments. Lost in the depths are the contents of a looted Spanish galleon from the days of Henry VIII. And even deeper lies a Nazi V-2 rocket that contains the most horrible secret of all.
Carmen Kingsley, in charge of London projects for the British Museum, and Scotland Yard Inspector Sherwood Peets race to unravel the mysteries before the great city succumbs to the English Sweat, a frightening disease from the age of the Henrys.
Unknown to them, their partners in tracing the disease began their own efforts more than sixty years earlier during WWII when a top secret British mission is sent to the far northern regions of Norway to stop the Nazis from developing a biological weapon that was to be airmailed to London via the V-2 rocket.
It all comes to a climax beneath the city with the discovery of a horrifying species of genetically altered “super rats” that threaten to invade London and the British Isles in a manner more horrifying than anything ever envisioned by the Germans.
Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Arcade, Yucca, and Good Books imprints, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in fiction—novels, novellas, political and medical thrillers, comedy, satire, historical fiction, romance, erotic and love stories, mystery, classic literature, folklore and mythology, literary classics including Shakespeare, Dumas, Wilde, Cather, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.
398 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 1, 2012
195 people are currently reading
655 people want to read
About the author
Chris Angus
19 books48 followersChris Angus comes from a literary family consisting of seven published writers
He is the author of a series of historical thrillers including FLYPAPER, WINSTON CHURCHILL AND THE TREASURE OF MAPUNGUBWE HILL, THE LAST TITANIC STORY, LONDON UNDERGROUND, THE GODS OF LAKI and more.
He is also the award-winning author of several works of nonfiction and of more than 400 essays, articles, book introductions, columns and reviews in a wide variety of publications, including THE NEW YORK TIMES and WORDSWORTH AMERICAN CLASSICS.
He is the author of a series of historical thrillers including FLYPAPER, WINSTON CHURCHILL AND THE TREASURE OF MAPUNGUBWE HILL, THE LAST TITANIC STORY, LONDON UNDERGROUND, THE GODS OF LAKI and more.
He is also the award-winning author of several works of nonfiction and of more than 400 essays, articles, book introductions, columns and reviews in a wide variety of publications, including THE NEW YORK TIMES and WORDSWORTH AMERICAN CLASSICS.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 53 reviews
March 20, 2024
The title London Underground and the short description with its historical pointers conjured up Dickens and a sinister Droodian flavor of hidden opium dens, lost people, detritus of society living out their lives underneath London. I was hoping to learn more about the London Underground and it’s denizens from past to present, a fascinating topic all by itself. I was, however, left disappointed. This is first and foremost a horror thriller with a bit of a historical flavor that merely serves to explain the setting of contemporary London. On the positive side, it does so with the benefit of a fast moving plot. It begins in medieval London but it’s main characters, one bunch of them commandos during WW2, another policemen and archaeologists from current times, do their bit independently. There isn’t much historical accuracy to find but names like Churchill, Quisling, etc get to be minor characters which are done quite well by the author.
Altogether an acceptable read. 🥴
Altogether an acceptable read. 🥴
Read
May 20, 2016London Underground by Chris Angus
This is a novel of suspense, a thriller. It is also a work of history that evokes many of the unsolved, catastrophic events of the past. These go back to the Middle Ages and earlier still, to Roman times, to archaeology. Many of our “historical” events were mysterious and still are. In 1507, during the reign of Henry VI, a disease broke out, then again in 1517, and again in 1551. Originally it was called “the sweating sickness.” Was it the “plague”? There were no skin lesions symptomatic of the plague, according to “London Underground,” perhaps it was an unclear hereditary or Darwinian mechanism. An outbreak occurred during World War II. But records were destroyed during the bombing, and it remains largely unexplained until today. This book is a work of suspense and also a vision of history: its many uncharted catastrophes and sicknesses, its wars and loss of life--these continue to the present moment.
A man named Sherwood enters the underground tube: “Riding London’s tube lifts always felt like a thirty-second fall from grace. The ancient machines issued forth a continuous series of ominous sounds, inevitably coming to a halt with a loud clank, as though Lucifer himself were rattling his chains in anticipation of their arrival.” This is the setting for what is to follow.
Two young women, Julia and Carmen, work at an archaeological site or “dig” not far from the British Museum. Later they walk toward the underground. After five minutes, it is clear they are going lower than they had been before. They hear the sound of a distant subway, probably headed for Victoria Station: “The silence grew heavy. They were beneath a city of more than eight million people. There was not a sound, except for the distant tinkling of water falling somewhere, and the occasional scurrying of rats. They quickly passed the section of Great Conduit Julia had showed her earlier, bypassed the cistern and continued through a bewildering array of tunnels. ‘You sure you can find your way out of here?’ asked Carmen.”
New discoveries are made underground. Bones and whole bodies are found, they are analyzed to find out when they died and, if possible, the causes of death. A new burial ground is discovered. In addition, strange sucking sounds are reported in the underground passageways; a worker hears the sound of something heavy that is moving above them somewhere. At one point singing is heard. A mad woman wanders through, she is not carrying a flashlight.
Scurrying rats that produce feelings of revulsion or queasiness. A young colleague, Norman, is asked to explain to Julia the “rat facts”: “There are an estimated three rats for every human in London. There are tens of millions of rats. You are probably never more than three feet from a rat at any time. There are 4000 rats born in London every hour. They are incredibly prolific.” Later, Carmen falls through a crumbling floor that is the ceiling to another tunnel below. There are piles of dead rats and filth, it is a scene of unrelieved horror. Not much later the two young women make a gruesome discovery in an unexplored passageway: it is the body of the dead Norman.
This is a thriller, a novel of suspense, but it is also a work of historical fiction with a broad background. Several men investigate the underground tunnels searching for clues to the recent mysterious deaths and disappearances. Near a cistern they find a metal “protrusion” that is black in color, rough, and considerably aged. One of them bangs his flashlight against the metal, and hears a metallic echo; there is a worn but still legible series of numbers on the side of the object. A sudden chill grips his insides. Looking at the distant opening above him he shouts, “It’s the V-2!”
An earlier subchapter described events during World War II and Hitler’s obsession with biological warfare. A German outpost was established in a village in the north of occupied Norway, intended to develop biological weapons. These weapons with their “payload” were so lethal that the outpost was constructed far from the German homeland. A group from the Norwegian underground tries to blow up the outpost, or at least steal the weaponized bio-missile. But they are too late. It has been put on a railroad flat-car and bound to the south and Germany.
These vignettes are deftly done. The narration of “London Underground” uses a broad range of sub-plots or “slants” in different times and places, some far from London, that involve the unfinished business of World War II. They contribute to the intense suspense of the novel.
In the present-- in London-- deaths and disappearances continue. The mysterious infections are increasing. The group that works on archaeological sites tries to alert the British government, but their concerns are met with denial. The Prime Minister asserts there is absolutely no danger of a bio-missile, he brushes them off. However he has already collected his own information attested in London. He is lying.
The reader might recall the poisonings that took place in London with radioactive Polonium-210, administered by a hostile government in a pot of tea. The novel also recalls the fast-paced plotting of Dan Brown’s DaVinci code novels or Stieg Larsen’s “Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest.” The episodes with British politicians and modern technology are quite modern. Unfortunately they are entirely plausible.
This is a novel of suspense, a thriller. It is also a work of history that evokes many of the unsolved, catastrophic events of the past. These go back to the Middle Ages and earlier still, to Roman times, to archaeology. Many of our “historical” events were mysterious and still are. In 1507, during the reign of Henry VI, a disease broke out, then again in 1517, and again in 1551. Originally it was called “the sweating sickness.” Was it the “plague”? There were no skin lesions symptomatic of the plague, according to “London Underground,” perhaps it was an unclear hereditary or Darwinian mechanism. An outbreak occurred during World War II. But records were destroyed during the bombing, and it remains largely unexplained until today. This book is a work of suspense and also a vision of history: its many uncharted catastrophes and sicknesses, its wars and loss of life--these continue to the present moment.
A man named Sherwood enters the underground tube: “Riding London’s tube lifts always felt like a thirty-second fall from grace. The ancient machines issued forth a continuous series of ominous sounds, inevitably coming to a halt with a loud clank, as though Lucifer himself were rattling his chains in anticipation of their arrival.” This is the setting for what is to follow.
Two young women, Julia and Carmen, work at an archaeological site or “dig” not far from the British Museum. Later they walk toward the underground. After five minutes, it is clear they are going lower than they had been before. They hear the sound of a distant subway, probably headed for Victoria Station: “The silence grew heavy. They were beneath a city of more than eight million people. There was not a sound, except for the distant tinkling of water falling somewhere, and the occasional scurrying of rats. They quickly passed the section of Great Conduit Julia had showed her earlier, bypassed the cistern and continued through a bewildering array of tunnels. ‘You sure you can find your way out of here?’ asked Carmen.”
New discoveries are made underground. Bones and whole bodies are found, they are analyzed to find out when they died and, if possible, the causes of death. A new burial ground is discovered. In addition, strange sucking sounds are reported in the underground passageways; a worker hears the sound of something heavy that is moving above them somewhere. At one point singing is heard. A mad woman wanders through, she is not carrying a flashlight.
Scurrying rats that produce feelings of revulsion or queasiness. A young colleague, Norman, is asked to explain to Julia the “rat facts”: “There are an estimated three rats for every human in London. There are tens of millions of rats. You are probably never more than three feet from a rat at any time. There are 4000 rats born in London every hour. They are incredibly prolific.” Later, Carmen falls through a crumbling floor that is the ceiling to another tunnel below. There are piles of dead rats and filth, it is a scene of unrelieved horror. Not much later the two young women make a gruesome discovery in an unexplored passageway: it is the body of the dead Norman.
This is a thriller, a novel of suspense, but it is also a work of historical fiction with a broad background. Several men investigate the underground tunnels searching for clues to the recent mysterious deaths and disappearances. Near a cistern they find a metal “protrusion” that is black in color, rough, and considerably aged. One of them bangs his flashlight against the metal, and hears a metallic echo; there is a worn but still legible series of numbers on the side of the object. A sudden chill grips his insides. Looking at the distant opening above him he shouts, “It’s the V-2!”
An earlier subchapter described events during World War II and Hitler’s obsession with biological warfare. A German outpost was established in a village in the north of occupied Norway, intended to develop biological weapons. These weapons with their “payload” were so lethal that the outpost was constructed far from the German homeland. A group from the Norwegian underground tries to blow up the outpost, or at least steal the weaponized bio-missile. But they are too late. It has been put on a railroad flat-car and bound to the south and Germany.
These vignettes are deftly done. The narration of “London Underground” uses a broad range of sub-plots or “slants” in different times and places, some far from London, that involve the unfinished business of World War II. They contribute to the intense suspense of the novel.
In the present-- in London-- deaths and disappearances continue. The mysterious infections are increasing. The group that works on archaeological sites tries to alert the British government, but their concerns are met with denial. The Prime Minister asserts there is absolutely no danger of a bio-missile, he brushes them off. However he has already collected his own information attested in London. He is lying.
The reader might recall the poisonings that took place in London with radioactive Polonium-210, administered by a hostile government in a pot of tea. The novel also recalls the fast-paced plotting of Dan Brown’s DaVinci code novels or Stieg Larsen’s “Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest.” The episodes with British politicians and modern technology are quite modern. Unfortunately they are entirely plausible.
February 16, 2013
I think, in the hands of Dan Brown, the use of geography, history, and conspiracy would have come together in a more thrilling package. This story of a terrible biological weapon and the abuses of power of countries and regimes kept my attention, but also had me rolling my eyes and sighing from predictability. I wanted more connection to the actual underground lines, the specific locals in London, and a tighter link to the possible (ala Michael Creighton) than this book presented. I just plain wanted to like it more than I did.
April 27, 2019
I listened to this audiobook because it was narrated by John Lee, who is fantastic. Sadly, the book is deeply mediocre. Even though this novel is set in London and relies a lot on geographical “details,” Angus is clearly not British. In fact his writing makes evident that he is American (I can even place him to the Adirondack region) and has little to no firsthand knowledge of London (all his geographical “details” seem like he’s taken them from a 2D map). He’s likely not even watched any British TV or his mistakes wouldn’t be so evident; his police officers carry guns, he has an English character say “cockamamie” and he has three English characters refer to their trousers as “pants” (a woeful mistake anyone remotely familiar with British idiom would be aware of).
Aside from this, characters who have doctorates in history and who are doing an archeological dig in London awkwardly dumb-splain basic history to each other, while still being able to historically pinpoint the certain weave of an unidentified piece of fabric.
But most heinous is that his portrayals of every female character is deeply misogynistic: he even has one female character think that her actions make her seem like a “harridan.” Barf.
Aside from this, characters who have doctorates in history and who are doing an archeological dig in London awkwardly dumb-splain basic history to each other, while still being able to historically pinpoint the certain weave of an unidentified piece of fabric.
But most heinous is that his portrayals of every female character is deeply misogynistic: he even has one female character think that her actions make her seem like a “harridan.” Barf.
February 11, 2013
The book starts off in the age of Henry VIII when London is in the grip of the English Sweat (Um, Ewww)- a disease that can kill within hours. The book then switches back and forth between WWII era Norway and present day London when bones are found during an archaeological dig. I found the the switching back and forth between eras to be a little abrupt at first but I got used to it quickly and I thought the plot was a little too busy. However that didn't distract with from an action packed story where Carmen and Inspector Peets race to stop an epidemic and giant killer rats ( Ewww again). I also liked the fact that one of the main characters had Asperger's. I found myself on the edge of my seat at times when reading it.
I was given a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.
I was given a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.
January 6, 2020
all I have to say it is odd at the beginning but it starts to layout
May 7, 2017
Amazing story of an archeology dig in modern day London that has historical ties to World War II, pirate treasure, overgrown rats that eat people and other creatures-an experiment gone wrong. Even includes a modern day plague of the Sweat disease from the time of King Henry VIII. You will enjoy this book.
October 7, 2020
Interesting Story
This was interesting to read especially in a time of COVID. Makes you wonder what governments thought about when they were doing some underhanded science experiments.
The story kept this reader on the edge of her seat. I would love to know what happened to the Germans.
This was interesting to read especially in a time of COVID. Makes you wonder what governments thought about when they were doing some underhanded science experiments.
The story kept this reader on the edge of her seat. I would love to know what happened to the Germans.
May 19, 2018
The author's description of women is crude and sexist.
May 3, 2020
Secret biological weapon from WW II buried deep beneath London, deadly diseases from Tudor times... Delve deep under this historical city with this intriguing thriller, London Underground!
June 5, 2023
As a tourist in London you may have visited Churchill’s War Rooms seventy-three feet below Whitehall. There, Winston Churchill and as many as five hundred other people worked for six years directing Britain’s effort to defeat Nazi Germany. It’s one of London’s most popular attractions. And you’re even more likely to have traveled on the London Underground, the world’s oldest and second biggest subway system. But what you would not have seen are the many other facilities, WWII bomb shelters, tunnels linking government buildings, utility lines, discontinued subway stations, sewers, and the extensive network of underground rivers that undergird the British capital. Centuries of history are buried there. And that history comes back to haunt the people of the city in London Underground, a clever science fiction thriller about biological warfare by American writer Chris Angus.
THE STORY BEGINS WITH HENRY VIII
London Underground opens five hundred years before the present day. It’s 1528, the twentieth year in the reign of Henry VIII. A lethal disease called “the Sweat” has struck London, and the king and his mistress, Anne Boleyn, have fled the city. Along the way Henry confides in her that he knows the Treasury will be plundered in the absence of the court, all of whom have surely fled. But he has hidden enormous wealth that will ensure his continuing control over the realm once they return to the capital. And we readers would be fools not to realize that both the Sweat and the treasure will figure in the story to follow.
A SPRAWLING CAST OF CHARACTERS
As the complexities of the plot work themselves out, we encounter a long list of characters. Some surface in August 1944 as World War II continues to rage in the skies of London. Others appear in the present.
DURING WORLD WAR II
It’s late in 1944. Churchill has learned that the Nazis are researching biological weapons, which they threaten to catapult into London with V-2 rockets. He quickly assembles a commando team to attack and destroy the research facility the Germans have established north of Narvik in Norway. Three individuals lead the team:
** “Norwegian born RAF Flight Commander Gunnar Hansen,” who knows the territory and speaks the language
** Major Duncan Osborne, “one of Britain’s most intensely trained special operations soldiers”
** Natasha Newman, “a nurse who has worked in the infectious disease unit of the Foreign Office”
** The notorious Norwegian traitor Vidkun Quisling also plays a central role in the story. So too, though he never appears in person, does surgeon and biologist Dr. Alexis Carrel, a Nobel Prize-winner for pioneering vascular suturing techniques. Later in life, he gained prominence collaborating with Charles Lindbergh in the eugenics movement.
IN THE PRESENT
The present-day events rocket between the caverns and sewers underground London and the offices of Whitehall and 10 Downing Street. Half a dozen characters are the principals among the many who emerge in these settings:
** Carmen Kingsley, an archaeologist with the British Museum. A specialist in the Tudor era, she is in charge of all the archaeological digs in the city. Carmen is on the Asperger’s spectrum but is high-functioning.
** Carmen’s resourceful best friend, Julia, a young archaeologist working in one of the underground sites
** Philip Trimm, the archaeologist who is managing a major dig at a park called Coram’s Fields. He’s thoroughly unlikable and detests Carmen.
** Sherwood Peets, a promising detective newly promoted to the rank of Inspector at New Scotland Yard
** Prime Minister Nevil Harris, who appears to be none too bright
** Marcus Hopkinton, the scheming director of the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6)
Now add to these human actors a population of thousands and thousands of rats . . . and an untold number of other animals living underground. And if you can imagine how all these people and animals will interact without reading the novel, your imagination is far greater than mine.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
On his author website, Chris Angus notes that he “comes from a literary family consisting of seven published writers. His father and mother, both professors of English Literature and authors of numerous works of fiction, were the best-selling collaborators of a series of anthologies published by Random House.
“For ten years, Book Review Editor for Adirondac magazine, he has also been a newspaper columnist and has published more than 400 essays, articles, book introductions, columns and reviews in a wide variety of publications.”
Angus has fifteen books listed on Goodreads, including several works of nonfiction as well as a series of thrillers. He lives in upstate New York in the Adirondack Mountains.
THE STORY BEGINS WITH HENRY VIII
London Underground opens five hundred years before the present day. It’s 1528, the twentieth year in the reign of Henry VIII. A lethal disease called “the Sweat” has struck London, and the king and his mistress, Anne Boleyn, have fled the city. Along the way Henry confides in her that he knows the Treasury will be plundered in the absence of the court, all of whom have surely fled. But he has hidden enormous wealth that will ensure his continuing control over the realm once they return to the capital. And we readers would be fools not to realize that both the Sweat and the treasure will figure in the story to follow.
A SPRAWLING CAST OF CHARACTERS
As the complexities of the plot work themselves out, we encounter a long list of characters. Some surface in August 1944 as World War II continues to rage in the skies of London. Others appear in the present.
DURING WORLD WAR II
It’s late in 1944. Churchill has learned that the Nazis are researching biological weapons, which they threaten to catapult into London with V-2 rockets. He quickly assembles a commando team to attack and destroy the research facility the Germans have established north of Narvik in Norway. Three individuals lead the team:
** “Norwegian born RAF Flight Commander Gunnar Hansen,” who knows the territory and speaks the language
** Major Duncan Osborne, “one of Britain’s most intensely trained special operations soldiers”
** Natasha Newman, “a nurse who has worked in the infectious disease unit of the Foreign Office”
** The notorious Norwegian traitor Vidkun Quisling also plays a central role in the story. So too, though he never appears in person, does surgeon and biologist Dr. Alexis Carrel, a Nobel Prize-winner for pioneering vascular suturing techniques. Later in life, he gained prominence collaborating with Charles Lindbergh in the eugenics movement.
IN THE PRESENT
The present-day events rocket between the caverns and sewers underground London and the offices of Whitehall and 10 Downing Street. Half a dozen characters are the principals among the many who emerge in these settings:
** Carmen Kingsley, an archaeologist with the British Museum. A specialist in the Tudor era, she is in charge of all the archaeological digs in the city. Carmen is on the Asperger’s spectrum but is high-functioning.
** Carmen’s resourceful best friend, Julia, a young archaeologist working in one of the underground sites
** Philip Trimm, the archaeologist who is managing a major dig at a park called Coram’s Fields. He’s thoroughly unlikable and detests Carmen.
** Sherwood Peets, a promising detective newly promoted to the rank of Inspector at New Scotland Yard
** Prime Minister Nevil Harris, who appears to be none too bright
** Marcus Hopkinton, the scheming director of the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6)
Now add to these human actors a population of thousands and thousands of rats . . . and an untold number of other animals living underground. And if you can imagine how all these people and animals will interact without reading the novel, your imagination is far greater than mine.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
On his author website, Chris Angus notes that he “comes from a literary family consisting of seven published writers. His father and mother, both professors of English Literature and authors of numerous works of fiction, were the best-selling collaborators of a series of anthologies published by Random House.
“For ten years, Book Review Editor for Adirondac magazine, he has also been a newspaper columnist and has published more than 400 essays, articles, book introductions, columns and reviews in a wide variety of publications.”
Angus has fifteen books listed on Goodreads, including several works of nonfiction as well as a series of thrillers. He lives in upstate New York in the Adirondack Mountains.
May 22, 2018
In the thrilling and gripping adventure “London Underground” Chris Angus blends a disease called “The Sweat’ that gripped the city of London in the late 1400’s, King Henry VIII’s hidden treasure, a Nazi V-2 rocket armed with a terrifying biological weapon during the war years, and the discovery of a maze of underground tunnels and abandoned laboratories that after WWII spawned a nightmarish creation.
The plot opens in present day London where Inspector Sherwood Peets and his partner not only uncover the remains of two women in a maintenance tunnel but are given a warning by a homeless and dirty young woman who vanishes in the darkness as Carmen Kingsley in charge of London projects at the British Museum and her friend Julia stumble on piles of dead and dying rats, discovering the remains of a rat Exterminator. Joining forces to unearth the truth behind their mysterious discoveries as the rodents escape from their underground haven into the city spreading the age- old disease, Sherwood and Carmen uncover government secrets and a coverup as well as evidence of a genetically enhanced species that threatens not just London but the British Isles.
In a parallel plot RAF pilot Gunnar Hansen and Natasha Neuman are partnered to follow-up on a German laboratory in Norway where V-2 rockets are being designed to carry biological weapons to Britain. In a race to destroy the lab with Commander Osborne and his men, they discover that one of the V-2 rockets is on route by train to Germany. Chased by Norwegian fighters in their stolen aircraft, facing hostile weather and the scheming of a Norwegian collaborator, they embark on a mission to find and destroy the missile before it’s released.
In a fast-paced, action-packed story that keeps you on the edge of your seat, intensity and suspense continually build with a wild underground raft ride, cave-ins and the attacks of “super rats” in the present, and the hunt for a Nazi research lab experimenting with infectious agents in WWII. Twisting and turning the plot thickens further with the collusion of a scholar and politician looking for the treasure lost in an underground cavern and a Prime Minister unwilling to warn the people of a terrifying danger that’s been unleashed. Skillfully Chris Angus diffuses the terror, death and violence with Sherwood’s witty humor and his developing romance with Carmen.
Bringing the story to life are intriguing and compelling characters like Inspector Sherwood Peets, the quiet thinker who’s lonely after an unsavory divorce and the independent Carmen Kingsley a stubborn, compulsive and intense academic who’s sensitive to stimuli because of Asperger’s. These characters and others infuse the story with excitement, depth and energy.
I thoroughly enjoyed “London Underground” and will look for other books by Chris Angus in future.
The plot opens in present day London where Inspector Sherwood Peets and his partner not only uncover the remains of two women in a maintenance tunnel but are given a warning by a homeless and dirty young woman who vanishes in the darkness as Carmen Kingsley in charge of London projects at the British Museum and her friend Julia stumble on piles of dead and dying rats, discovering the remains of a rat Exterminator. Joining forces to unearth the truth behind their mysterious discoveries as the rodents escape from their underground haven into the city spreading the age- old disease, Sherwood and Carmen uncover government secrets and a coverup as well as evidence of a genetically enhanced species that threatens not just London but the British Isles.
In a parallel plot RAF pilot Gunnar Hansen and Natasha Neuman are partnered to follow-up on a German laboratory in Norway where V-2 rockets are being designed to carry biological weapons to Britain. In a race to destroy the lab with Commander Osborne and his men, they discover that one of the V-2 rockets is on route by train to Germany. Chased by Norwegian fighters in their stolen aircraft, facing hostile weather and the scheming of a Norwegian collaborator, they embark on a mission to find and destroy the missile before it’s released.
In a fast-paced, action-packed story that keeps you on the edge of your seat, intensity and suspense continually build with a wild underground raft ride, cave-ins and the attacks of “super rats” in the present, and the hunt for a Nazi research lab experimenting with infectious agents in WWII. Twisting and turning the plot thickens further with the collusion of a scholar and politician looking for the treasure lost in an underground cavern and a Prime Minister unwilling to warn the people of a terrifying danger that’s been unleashed. Skillfully Chris Angus diffuses the terror, death and violence with Sherwood’s witty humor and his developing romance with Carmen.
Bringing the story to life are intriguing and compelling characters like Inspector Sherwood Peets, the quiet thinker who’s lonely after an unsavory divorce and the independent Carmen Kingsley a stubborn, compulsive and intense academic who’s sensitive to stimuli because of Asperger’s. These characters and others infuse the story with excitement, depth and energy.
I thoroughly enjoyed “London Underground” and will look for other books by Chris Angus in future.
April 20, 2020
3.5ish Like the Dog show I judge each story by what it is. I don't compare metaphorical Basset hounds agianst poodles. if it weren't for the ending this might have been ranked higher.
“Beneath the streets of London lie many secrets. Subterranean rivers carve channels through darkened caverns. Hidden laboratories and government offices from WWII offer a maze of corridors and abandoned medical experiments. Lost in the depths of this underground are the contents of a looted Spanish galleon from the days of Henry VIII and a Nazi V-2 rocket that contains the most horrible secret of all. Carmen Kingsley, in charge of London projects for the British Museum, and Scotland Yard Inspector Sherwood Peets race to unravel the mysteries behind these contents before the great city succumbs to a frightening disease not seen since the age of the Henrys - the English Sweat. It all comes to a climax beneath London with the discovery of a horrifying species of genetically altered "super rats" that threaten to invade London and the British Isles.”
What can I say, I love me a good mutant rat story. This is also the second book which discusses the underground rivers underneath London, the other being a series by Ben Aaronvitch, and I’m sort of fascinated by this whole concept of a vast world lying underneath on of the larger cities in the world. So let’s get to it. The story goes back and forth between World War II and what we presume is present day London. In present day Inspector Peets discovers a body underground and in a parallel story we learn that Carmen is monitoring a dig elsewhere in the city. Suddenly SIS sweeps in and takes all Inspector Peet’s notes and Carmen is told she is no longer in charge of the dig. Hmmm, could the two be related? You betcha. In the meanwhile the WWII story follows and ex pat Norwegian who just happens to be a pilot as he is put in charge of retreiving some confidential research going on in remote Norway. Could the research be biologically based? You’ll have to read and see.
So this is pure escapist fiction and for most of the book I enjoyed the heck out of the various shenanigans everyone got up to. Could the plot have been a little more original? Sure. Could the author have done a much better job at ending the story, most decidely. I think he wrote himself into a corner and let the WWII story end very abruptly with a coda at the end. As for the rats, well they are still dragging people off and eating them at the end of the book. Still I had fun with it.
“Beneath the streets of London lie many secrets. Subterranean rivers carve channels through darkened caverns. Hidden laboratories and government offices from WWII offer a maze of corridors and abandoned medical experiments. Lost in the depths of this underground are the contents of a looted Spanish galleon from the days of Henry VIII and a Nazi V-2 rocket that contains the most horrible secret of all. Carmen Kingsley, in charge of London projects for the British Museum, and Scotland Yard Inspector Sherwood Peets race to unravel the mysteries behind these contents before the great city succumbs to a frightening disease not seen since the age of the Henrys - the English Sweat. It all comes to a climax beneath London with the discovery of a horrifying species of genetically altered "super rats" that threaten to invade London and the British Isles.”
What can I say, I love me a good mutant rat story. This is also the second book which discusses the underground rivers underneath London, the other being a series by Ben Aaronvitch, and I’m sort of fascinated by this whole concept of a vast world lying underneath on of the larger cities in the world. So let’s get to it. The story goes back and forth between World War II and what we presume is present day London. In present day Inspector Peets discovers a body underground and in a parallel story we learn that Carmen is monitoring a dig elsewhere in the city. Suddenly SIS sweeps in and takes all Inspector Peet’s notes and Carmen is told she is no longer in charge of the dig. Hmmm, could the two be related? You betcha. In the meanwhile the WWII story follows and ex pat Norwegian who just happens to be a pilot as he is put in charge of retreiving some confidential research going on in remote Norway. Could the research be biologically based? You’ll have to read and see.
So this is pure escapist fiction and for most of the book I enjoyed the heck out of the various shenanigans everyone got up to. Could the plot have been a little more original? Sure. Could the author have done a much better job at ending the story, most decidely. I think he wrote himself into a corner and let the WWII story end very abruptly with a coda at the end. As for the rats, well they are still dragging people off and eating them at the end of the book. Still I had fun with it.
November 17, 2023
I thought this was an ambitious novel that packed so much into a little less than 400 pages. I don’t like long books that add extraneous description, or content for no purpose that doesn’t add to the plot or character development. In this book there is a lot going on but the author deftly wove a lot of plot points into the novel but didn’t waste time with info that wasn’t adding to the story. It’s a suspense thriller and a historical story of political, medical and war events over different centuries. It’s also a good read that can pull the reader in and keep them there until the end of the book.
August 15, 2018
Ripping historical thriller
Wow! I'm a sucker for secret underground stuff. This book had everything - heroes, villains, treasure, a dreadful disease and terrifying mutant creatures. The action kicked along at breakneck speed with the World War II plot as a background to the current story. The greedy got their just deserves and the problem was not entirely resolved. I looked up a few of the historical characters and they were real, as was a plague from the 15th century called the Sweat.
Wow! I'm a sucker for secret underground stuff. This book had everything - heroes, villains, treasure, a dreadful disease and terrifying mutant creatures. The action kicked along at breakneck speed with the World War II plot as a background to the current story. The greedy got their just deserves and the problem was not entirely resolved. I looked up a few of the historical characters and they were real, as was a plague from the 15th century called the Sweat.
February 1, 2025
Wow. If you are squeamish about rats, this book is not for you. In fact, if you are not strong minded on any level, proceed with caution. Even though this is fiction, the idea of it can get into your head and become very upsetting. The plot lines, however, are very strong. All the details get tied up with pretty bows. I find the ending seemed a bit rushed but I was stuck between not wanting the story to end but needing to know what happened. If you think you can handle it, this is honestly a great read.
September 14, 2017
A Good Story
The writing was crisp and efficient. No unnecessary side notes. The story, chronologically, jumped around but it was easy to follow. There were not so many characters that made it difficult for the reader to keep up. The storyline was interesting and gave the reader some perspective on the London Underground. The ending did a good job tying together the several subplots. Will look for more books by this author.
The writing was crisp and efficient. No unnecessary side notes. The story, chronologically, jumped around but it was easy to follow. There were not so many characters that made it difficult for the reader to keep up. The storyline was interesting and gave the reader some perspective on the London Underground. The ending did a good job tying together the several subplots. Will look for more books by this author.
April 17, 2023
I don't think it's so much that this book wasn't well written, as that it just didn't suit my taste. I wanted to keep trying, but I'd find myself reading a few pages and drifting off to do something else. Ultimately, I decided life is too short to read books that don't interest you and move on. But if you're a bigger fan of historical fiction blended with sci-fi than I am, it might be worth a try for you.
October 21, 2024
This made me want to research more about the tunnels underneath London. POV bounces back and forth between present day London and 1944. The Germans are making secret bombs that have deadly diseases in them during the war and in modern day London, a deadly disease is spreading from the underground and giant rats are taking over the city. The super rats were too far-fetched for me, but I was interested enough to keep reading to see what happened.
September 23, 2017
Great story
This is certainly an unusual but well written story. There are several individual story lines that merge to complete the book but unlike other books I've read, the characters are each unique so the stories are not confusing. I will read other books by this author.
This is certainly an unusual but well written story. There are several individual story lines that merge to complete the book but unlike other books I've read, the characters are each unique so the stories are not confusing. I will read other books by this author.
September 14, 2017
A creepy awful book about giant slobbering man eating rats, Henry viii treasure and the Second World War all drawn together. I may never do the London Underground again without thinking of this book.
September 23, 2017
Well this was certainly a new take on the London Underground I was totally captivated from the start. However, at times it seemed a bit too good to be true but a good read nevertheless. Thoroughly recommend this book for an quiet day's read.
August 4, 2018
Well-written book
Really like the diverse plot both in time periods, characters, and the use of horror, mystery, and war history. The characters were all interesting and not trite or one dimensional. Would definitely read more books by this author!
Really like the diverse plot both in time periods, characters, and the use of horror, mystery, and war history. The characters were all interesting and not trite or one dimensional. Would definitely read more books by this author!
February 21, 2019
A very different read for me. The author ties a few different stories to one common theme, a 1500’s disease ‘the Sweat’. A thriller/horror with coverups, conspiracies, treasure, German V-2 rockets, treasure, the disease and big, big mutant rats. It was a quick fun read....
July 7, 2019
Well I’m a sucker for London tube’s stories, and this one is very entertaining. It has all the elements: the academic girl, the inspector boy, their friends, WWII spies, nasty politicians, a treasure, a disease, conspiracies and lots of vicious rats.
October 26, 2019
A great read!
Well organized, excellent characters and an interesting and believable story. I was shocked and pleased to see Ms. Natasha return at the end, she was a definite hero of the story. A superb story.
Well organized, excellent characters and an interesting and believable story. I was shocked and pleased to see Ms. Natasha return at the end, she was a definite hero of the story. A superb story.
November 13, 2019
Whew! What a story!
The narrative "sucks" you in. History, politics, crime, greed, love, and integrity, all intertwine into an unbelievable yet believable tale. I
Suggestion I had to make a list of the main characters to assist me as the story unfolded.
The narrative "sucks" you in. History, politics, crime, greed, love, and integrity, all intertwine into an unbelievable yet believable tale. I
Suggestion I had to make a list of the main characters to assist me as the story unfolded.
May 6, 2020
Old secrets of state die hard
A visiting story of heroism, old war secrets, modern archeological digs, fabulous jewels, and monstrous animals who live to eat- anything and everything, especially living beings! A real thriller!
A visiting story of heroism, old war secrets, modern archeological digs, fabulous jewels, and monstrous animals who live to eat- anything and everything, especially living beings! A real thriller!
August 19, 2020
This is a fantastic book.
A thriller set in 3 different times that converge at the end under the streets of London.
Amazing characters and thankfully evil gets its just deserts in the end.
Make the time and read this.
A thriller set in 3 different times that converge at the end under the streets of London.
Amazing characters and thankfully evil gets its just deserts in the end.
Make the time and read this.
April 8, 2023
Sorry, not for me.
It started quite well but after the first chapter it got worse and worse. One dimensional characters, unbelievable premises and british people talking straight out of Hollywood.
It started quite well but after the first chapter it got worse and worse. One dimensional characters, unbelievable premises and british people talking straight out of Hollywood.
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