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Wars Within #6
Kyiv
A blockbuster thriller set against one of the most horrific scenes in the Second World War. "A searing portrait of the Nazi elite as the war turns against them. Raw, shocking and meticulously researched." TIM SEBASTIAN On Sunday 22nd June, 1941, at 03.05, three and a half million Axis troops burst into the Soviet Union along a 1,800 mile front to launch Operation Barbarossa. The southern thrust of the attack was aimed at the Caucuses and the oil fields beyond. Kyiv was the biggest city to stand in their way. Within six weeks, the city was under siege. Surrounded by Panzers, bombed and shelled day and night, Soviet Commissar Nikita Krushchev was amongst the senior Soviet officials co-ordinating the defence. Amid his cadre of trusted personnel is British defector Bella Menzies, once with MI5, now with the NKVD. With the fall of the city inevitable, the Soviets plan a bloody war of terror that will extort a higher toll on the city's inhabitants than the invaders. As the noose tightens, Bella finds herself trapped, hunted by both the Russians and the Germans. As the local saying has life is dangerous – no one survives it.
416 pages, Hardcover
Published July 1, 2021
39 people are currently reading
400 people want to read
About the author
Graham Hurley
69 books151 followersGraham Hurley was born November, 1946 in Clacton-on-Sea, Essex. His seaside childhood was punctuated by football, swimming, afternoons on the dodgems, run-ins with the police, multiple raids on the local library - plus near-total immersion in English post-war movies.
Directed and produced documentaries for ITV through two decades, winning a number of national and international awards. Launched a writing career on the back of a six-part drama commission for ITV: "Rules of Engagement". Left TV and became full time writer in 1991.
Authored nine stand-alone thrillers plus "Airshow", a fly-on-the-wall novel-length piece of reportage, before accepting Orion invitation to become a crime writer. Drew gleefully on home-town Portsmouth (“Pompey”) as the basis for an on-going series featuring D/I Joe Faraday and D/C Paul Winter.
Contributed five years of personal columns to the Portsmouth News, penned a number of plays and dramatic monologues for local production (including the city’s millenium celebration, "Willoughby and Son"), then decamped to Devon for a more considered take on Pompey low-life.
The Faraday series came to an end after 12 books. Healthy sales at home and abroad, plus mega-successful French TV adaptations, tempted Orion to commission a spin-off series, set in the West Country, featuring D/S Jimmy Suttle.
Launch title - "Western Approaches" - published 2012. "Touching Distance" to hit the bookstores next month (21st November).
Has recently self-published a number of titles on Kindle including "Strictly No Flowers" (a dark take on crime fiction), "Estuary" (a deeply personal memoir) and "Backstory" (how and why he came to write the Faraday series).
Married to the delectable Lin. Three grown-up sons (Tom, Jack and Woody). Plus corking grandson Dylan.
You're very welcome to contact Graham through his website: www.grahamhurley.co.uk
Or direct on seasidepictures@btinternet.com.
Series:
* D.I. Joe Faraday
Directed and produced documentaries for ITV through two decades, winning a number of national and international awards. Launched a writing career on the back of a six-part drama commission for ITV: "Rules of Engagement". Left TV and became full time writer in 1991.
Authored nine stand-alone thrillers plus "Airshow", a fly-on-the-wall novel-length piece of reportage, before accepting Orion invitation to become a crime writer. Drew gleefully on home-town Portsmouth (“Pompey”) as the basis for an on-going series featuring D/I Joe Faraday and D/C Paul Winter.
Contributed five years of personal columns to the Portsmouth News, penned a number of plays and dramatic monologues for local production (including the city’s millenium celebration, "Willoughby and Son"), then decamped to Devon for a more considered take on Pompey low-life.
The Faraday series came to an end after 12 books. Healthy sales at home and abroad, plus mega-successful French TV adaptations, tempted Orion to commission a spin-off series, set in the West Country, featuring D/S Jimmy Suttle.
Launch title - "Western Approaches" - published 2012. "Touching Distance" to hit the bookstores next month (21st November).
Has recently self-published a number of titles on Kindle including "Strictly No Flowers" (a dark take on crime fiction), "Estuary" (a deeply personal memoir) and "Backstory" (how and why he came to write the Faraday series).
Married to the delectable Lin. Three grown-up sons (Tom, Jack and Woody). Plus corking grandson Dylan.
You're very welcome to contact Graham through his website: www.grahamhurley.co.uk
Or direct on seasidepictures@btinternet.com.
Series:
* D.I. Joe Faraday
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
July 16, 2021
I really enjoyed Last Flight to Stalingrad, the first book in Graham Hurley’s Spoils of War series. Although part of the same series, Kyiv can definitely be read as a standalone.
The setting is the city we today know as Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, and once again the author blends historical fact and fiction into the storyline. For example, Kim Philby, who it’s clear knows how to bowl a googly, makes an early appearance and Guy Burgess turns up soon afterwards. However, the two main characters, Isobel (Bella) Menzies and Tam Moncrieff are fictional.
In alternating chapters, the book charts events over the course of several weeks starting in September 1941. We follow Bella as she travels to Kiev alongside Ilya Glivenko (known as The Pianist) who is overseeing the transport of a mysterious cargo to that city from Britain. And we witness the attempts by Bella’s lover, intelligence officer Tam, to unearth more information about Bella. In the process, he uncovers evidence, in true John le Carré style, about possible moles at the heart of the British intelligence operation.
With the benefit of hindsight, the reader won’t find it hard to identify likely individuals, but for Tam it means following his instincts. There’s a terrific scene that put me in mind of the exploits of Richard Hannay, the hero of John Buchan’s adventure novels, in which Tam attempts to surreptitiously follow a man he suspects may be a traitor through the streets of London. ‘Moncrieff had spent many years stalking deer in the mountains… the subtle arts of staying upwind, of moving carefully from cover to cover, of closing on the prey’. Despite this experience, Tam finds himself outfoxed and, it becomes apparent, in danger. Indeed, as Bella observes at one point, “The world is always more complicated than you think”.
For Bella, her time in Kyiv is one of new experiences including being hustled from one safe place to another in order to escape the attentions of Stalin’s secret police, and adopting a new identity courtesy of the enigmatic Larissa. Unfortunately, once Russian forces quit the city and are replaced by a German army of occupation, Bella experiences first-hand what the SS are capable of although, to provide balance, the author demonstrates that not every German supported the extreme acts of violence perpetrated by the Nazi regime. There is one scene in particular that, as a woman, I found hard to read and another that is shocking because of its sheer scale. It’s as Yuri, one of Bella’s Ukranian contacts, had warned: “…everything will change. Everything. Here. In the city. Everywhere. We love the Russians going, but we should be careful what we wish for.”
It’s clear the depth of research that has gone into the book, whether that’s recreating the club-like atmosphere of MI5’s Central Registry in St. Albans, the discomfort of an overnight flight aboard a Halifax, or the streets of the besieged Kyiv as German bombs rain down.
In Kyiv, the author has created an unflinching picture of the chaos, confusion and horror of war, and its long legacy – physical, emotional and psychological – for those who live through it.
The setting is the city we today know as Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, and once again the author blends historical fact and fiction into the storyline. For example, Kim Philby, who it’s clear knows how to bowl a googly, makes an early appearance and Guy Burgess turns up soon afterwards. However, the two main characters, Isobel (Bella) Menzies and Tam Moncrieff are fictional.
In alternating chapters, the book charts events over the course of several weeks starting in September 1941. We follow Bella as she travels to Kiev alongside Ilya Glivenko (known as The Pianist) who is overseeing the transport of a mysterious cargo to that city from Britain. And we witness the attempts by Bella’s lover, intelligence officer Tam, to unearth more information about Bella. In the process, he uncovers evidence, in true John le Carré style, about possible moles at the heart of the British intelligence operation.
With the benefit of hindsight, the reader won’t find it hard to identify likely individuals, but for Tam it means following his instincts. There’s a terrific scene that put me in mind of the exploits of Richard Hannay, the hero of John Buchan’s adventure novels, in which Tam attempts to surreptitiously follow a man he suspects may be a traitor through the streets of London. ‘Moncrieff had spent many years stalking deer in the mountains… the subtle arts of staying upwind, of moving carefully from cover to cover, of closing on the prey’. Despite this experience, Tam finds himself outfoxed and, it becomes apparent, in danger. Indeed, as Bella observes at one point, “The world is always more complicated than you think”.
For Bella, her time in Kyiv is one of new experiences including being hustled from one safe place to another in order to escape the attentions of Stalin’s secret police, and adopting a new identity courtesy of the enigmatic Larissa. Unfortunately, once Russian forces quit the city and are replaced by a German army of occupation, Bella experiences first-hand what the SS are capable of although, to provide balance, the author demonstrates that not every German supported the extreme acts of violence perpetrated by the Nazi regime. There is one scene in particular that, as a woman, I found hard to read and another that is shocking because of its sheer scale. It’s as Yuri, one of Bella’s Ukranian contacts, had warned: “…everything will change. Everything. Here. In the city. Everywhere. We love the Russians going, but we should be careful what we wish for.”
It’s clear the depth of research that has gone into the book, whether that’s recreating the club-like atmosphere of MI5’s Central Registry in St. Albans, the discomfort of an overnight flight aboard a Halifax, or the streets of the besieged Kyiv as German bombs rain down.
In Kyiv, the author has created an unflinching picture of the chaos, confusion and horror of war, and its long legacy – physical, emotional and psychological – for those who live through it.
June 17, 2021
Graham Hurley is such a prolific author and manages to maintain such a high standard too.
This is another in his “Spoils of War” series this time dealing with Barbarossa, the German invasion of Russia and what happened in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine after it was captured.
The descriptions of life under occupation are beautifully done and the tension abounds as nobody is quite sure who is working for whom as the Russians plan to sabotage and blow up the city now in Nazi hands.
There is much derring do with M15 and M16 heavily involved as well as the deceptive Kim Philby.
This was a treat to read.
This is another in his “Spoils of War” series this time dealing with Barbarossa, the German invasion of Russia and what happened in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine after it was captured.
The descriptions of life under occupation are beautifully done and the tension abounds as nobody is quite sure who is working for whom as the Russians plan to sabotage and blow up the city now in Nazi hands.
There is much derring do with M15 and M16 heavily involved as well as the deceptive Kim Philby.
This was a treat to read.
August 12, 2021
Plot unravels to disappointing conclusion.
Kiev setting and historical details provide some interest. But plot is farcical with loose ends everywhere - the Philby plot-line simply evaporates.
Kiev setting and historical details provide some interest. But plot is farcical with loose ends everywhere - the Philby plot-line simply evaporates.
August 10, 2021
An explosive tale
Here is another fine novel in Graham Hurley’s Spoils of War series. These novels can all be read as standalone, but if you are able, you should read this one before Last Flight to Stalingrad, because it is in the latter that some of the protagonists of Kyiv meet their fate.
The story is set in 1941 during the German advance into the Soviet Union. The capture of Ukrainian Kyiv gives the Germans an opportunity to treat the conquered population with restraint, until the Soviets launch a very nasty surprise on the occupying force.
Meanwhile in Britain there is another more secret conflict taking place, one between MI5 and MI6, one featuring the known Russian spy, Kim Philby, and the fictional Tam Moncrieff, who despite his abilities is fooled and thwarted at every turn by Philby. Moncrieff’s lover, Bella Menzies, has mysteriously been sent to Russia, has found herself in Kyiv, betrayed by the Russian secret service, hunted by the evil SS commander Kalb, and by the relatively decent intelligence officer, Strauss.
This is a headlong, violent and brutal tale, but intelligent and full of twists and turns. It features one of the worst Nazi atrocities of the war, the massacre of the Jews of Kyiv. There are some horrific scenes, and the ending is downbeat, but as a feat of historical imagination and drama it is a tour de force. There are those who compare Hurley with Philip Kerr and John Lawton. I think he may be better than both.
Here is another fine novel in Graham Hurley’s Spoils of War series. These novels can all be read as standalone, but if you are able, you should read this one before Last Flight to Stalingrad, because it is in the latter that some of the protagonists of Kyiv meet their fate.
The story is set in 1941 during the German advance into the Soviet Union. The capture of Ukrainian Kyiv gives the Germans an opportunity to treat the conquered population with restraint, until the Soviets launch a very nasty surprise on the occupying force.
Meanwhile in Britain there is another more secret conflict taking place, one between MI5 and MI6, one featuring the known Russian spy, Kim Philby, and the fictional Tam Moncrieff, who despite his abilities is fooled and thwarted at every turn by Philby. Moncrieff’s lover, Bella Menzies, has mysteriously been sent to Russia, has found herself in Kyiv, betrayed by the Russian secret service, hunted by the evil SS commander Kalb, and by the relatively decent intelligence officer, Strauss.
This is a headlong, violent and brutal tale, but intelligent and full of twists and turns. It features one of the worst Nazi atrocities of the war, the massacre of the Jews of Kyiv. There are some horrific scenes, and the ending is downbeat, but as a feat of historical imagination and drama it is a tour de force. There are those who compare Hurley with Philip Kerr and John Lawton. I think he may be better than both.
August 3, 2021
A tense, absorbing tale set in 1941 Kiev when for 6 weeks the city was under siege by Axis troops. The city fell and the story focuses on the war of terror that the Soviets led. The continuity to the novel is in the characters of Bella and Moncrieff; lovers who are separated with Bella in Kiev and Moncrieff in the UK. All the characters are beautifully drawn and the plotting is faultless. A book you cannot put down; the ending is realistic with all the plotlines skilfully woven together. historical fiction of a high order.
June 27, 2021
Graham Hurley is, for me, one of the outstanding crime writers of this generation. His Joe Faraday series was simply wonderful, and the Jimmy Suttle spin-off books were just as good. His Enora Andresson series is very different, but equally compelling. It is only relatively recently, though, that I became aware of Hurley's fascination with military history, and so I jumped at the chance to read and review Kyiv. We know the city as Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, and in this novel Hurley starts with the fateful day, 22nd June 1941 when Adolf Hitler, desperate for Ukraine's agricultural riches, but with an eye on the oil fields of the Caucuses beyond, launched Operation Barbarossa.
Knowing, as we do now, that the invasion of Russia was a disastrous strategic mistake which eventually brought the downfall of the Third Reich, shouldn't diminish our appreciation of this book. In some ways, we are in John Lawton and Philip Kerr territory here, with the complex mixture of real life characters and fictional creations. The novel focuses on two (fictional) people, Isobel 'Bella' Menzies and Tam Moncrieff. Both work for British intelligence. Moncrieff is loyal to Britain, but Bella's allegiance is more ambiguous. She works for both Russia and Britain, and both states seem to be well aware of this. Naturally, before the launch of Barbarossa, Stalin was - on paper, at least - an ally of Hitler, so what now?
Bella is sent on a mysterious mission to Moscow but, with the fearsome NKVD (Narodny Komissariat Vnutrennikh Del, People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs) on her case, she diverts to Kyiv, with the German Army Group Centre just days away from capturing the city. Soon, the shattered remains of the Red Army (and party officials like Nikita Kruschev) are scrambling eastwards over the River Dnieper and the bemused Ukranians, most of them no fans of the departing Soviets, look on as the Germans arrive and start what seems to be a fairly peaceful Nazification of Kyiv. This soon changes, however. Pro-Soviet agents have planted huge bombs in many of the city's major buildings, and in particular those they knew that the new German administration would appropriate as accommodation for their army of bureaucrats. These bombs are detonated, one by one, by radio signal, and all hell breaks loose.
Back in Britain, Tam Moncrieff has been made a fool of by fellow intelligence officer Kim Philby, and is then abducted and drugged. When he finally finds himself free, much of his memory has gone. Someone has used him to send a mocking message to the British intelligence agencies, but who?
Bella, meanwhile has met Larissa, a Ukranian journalist, and they have become lovers. As the SS attempt to end the bombings Bella falls foul of sadistic Standartenführer Kalb, but with the help of Wilhelm Strauss, a sympathetic Abwehr officer she knew from her days in Berlin before the war, she and Larissa play a dangerous cat and mouse game with Kalb.
Hurley depicts Strauss as a "good German' in a similar way that Philip Kerr treated Bernie Gunther, but for all his disgust at the tactics of the SS, Strauss is unable to prevent one of the most horrific and bestial acts of the war being visited on the Jews of Kyiv.
William Tecumseh Sherman famously stated, "There is many a boy here today who looks on war as all glory, but, boys, it is all Hell." Graham Hurley paints as hellish a picture of war as you could wish to read, and spares neither the Germans or the Soviets as he describes their predilection for barbarity. Onto this grim background, he paints a haunting picture of human love and suffering. Kyiv is published by Head of Zeus and is out on 8th July.
Knowing, as we do now, that the invasion of Russia was a disastrous strategic mistake which eventually brought the downfall of the Third Reich, shouldn't diminish our appreciation of this book. In some ways, we are in John Lawton and Philip Kerr territory here, with the complex mixture of real life characters and fictional creations. The novel focuses on two (fictional) people, Isobel 'Bella' Menzies and Tam Moncrieff. Both work for British intelligence. Moncrieff is loyal to Britain, but Bella's allegiance is more ambiguous. She works for both Russia and Britain, and both states seem to be well aware of this. Naturally, before the launch of Barbarossa, Stalin was - on paper, at least - an ally of Hitler, so what now?
Bella is sent on a mysterious mission to Moscow but, with the fearsome NKVD (Narodny Komissariat Vnutrennikh Del, People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs) on her case, she diverts to Kyiv, with the German Army Group Centre just days away from capturing the city. Soon, the shattered remains of the Red Army (and party officials like Nikita Kruschev) are scrambling eastwards over the River Dnieper and the bemused Ukranians, most of them no fans of the departing Soviets, look on as the Germans arrive and start what seems to be a fairly peaceful Nazification of Kyiv. This soon changes, however. Pro-Soviet agents have planted huge bombs in many of the city's major buildings, and in particular those they knew that the new German administration would appropriate as accommodation for their army of bureaucrats. These bombs are detonated, one by one, by radio signal, and all hell breaks loose.
Back in Britain, Tam Moncrieff has been made a fool of by fellow intelligence officer Kim Philby, and is then abducted and drugged. When he finally finds himself free, much of his memory has gone. Someone has used him to send a mocking message to the British intelligence agencies, but who?
Bella, meanwhile has met Larissa, a Ukranian journalist, and they have become lovers. As the SS attempt to end the bombings Bella falls foul of sadistic Standartenführer Kalb, but with the help of Wilhelm Strauss, a sympathetic Abwehr officer she knew from her days in Berlin before the war, she and Larissa play a dangerous cat and mouse game with Kalb.
Hurley depicts Strauss as a "good German' in a similar way that Philip Kerr treated Bernie Gunther, but for all his disgust at the tactics of the SS, Strauss is unable to prevent one of the most horrific and bestial acts of the war being visited on the Jews of Kyiv.
William Tecumseh Sherman famously stated, "There is many a boy here today who looks on war as all glory, but, boys, it is all Hell." Graham Hurley paints as hellish a picture of war as you could wish to read, and spares neither the Germans or the Soviets as he describes their predilection for barbarity. Onto this grim background, he paints a haunting picture of human love and suffering. Kyiv is published by Head of Zeus and is out on 8th July.
August 25, 2021
Okay, maybe 2.5 stars.
I found this book interesting, frustrating, realistic but just a bit underwhelming overall. It promised so much and was well-written. The twin strands of events in Britain and Kiev (whoops Kyiv) worked reasonably well but the sub-plot involving Kim Philby just withered away. The ending was authentic and reflective of the storyline but by then the book had rather lost its way. Somehow I was left feeling that there was an even better book struggling to break through.
I found this book interesting, frustrating, realistic but just a bit underwhelming overall. It promised so much and was well-written. The twin strands of events in Britain and Kiev (whoops Kyiv) worked reasonably well but the sub-plot involving Kim Philby just withered away. The ending was authentic and reflective of the storyline but by then the book had rather lost its way. Somehow I was left feeling that there was an even better book struggling to break through.
July 17, 2021
It's 22nd June 1941 and the Germans have launched Operation Barbarossa, the action that opens up the Eastern Front of World War II, in an attempt to occupy western Russia and exploit the rich farmland and oil fields of the Caucuses. Unable to hold back their former allies, Russian soldiers under the command of such future guiding lights as Stalin's sidekick Nikita Krushchev are unable to hold back the onslaught, and within six weeks Kiev is under siege.
Into the foray, former MI5 agent Bella Menzies, now a Russian defector working for the NKVD, finds herself ostensibly back on the same side as her former paymasters. Sent back into Russian territory, after a brief passionate sojourn with her lover, MI5 agent Tam Moncrieff, her mission is to accompany a cargo of mysterious crates headed for Kiev in the company of a Ukrainian called Ilya Glivenko known as 'The Pianist'. Although Bella has been ordered to Moscow, she decides to take a detour to Kiev with her new friend Glivenko instead, after becoming suspicious that her NKVD bosses intend her harm.
Bella finds herself caught up in the surreal world of a city under constant German bombardment. Forced to disguise herself as a local, there is no escape from the fact that the city will soon be under occupation, and her position as a double agent puts her in great danger. Kiev becomes a city of explosions, interrogation and dark deeds - and Bella finally finds out what was being transported in the mysterious crates that shared her journey back to Soviet lands.
Meanwhile, Tam Moncrieff has some adventures of his own back in Blighty. Sent to examine the contents of some sensitive files being held at the MI5 Central Registry in St Albans he discovers something of the background about his lover Bella, and becomes embroiled in at attempt to track down the identities of double agents within the British intelligence agencies. It seems it can be just as dangerous on home soil, as it can being sent to foreign climes...
Graham Hurley has conjured up one heck of a thriller in the pages of this wartime novel. Cleverly mixing fact and fiction, he runs two storylines throughout this book from the points of view of Bella and Tam, which are connected by the delicious espionage theme of double agents - and he also manages to shine the light on the terrible events that took place in Kiev, when Hitler decided to attack his former allies and provoked a return to the Russian scorched earth policy that was so effective against Napoleon Bonaparte.
There is lots to learn about what happened in Kiev in these pages, with Bella's side of the tale. Amid the well imagined scenes that have her and her new comrades trying to escape detection, there are vivid descriptions of bloody carnage and bombings that bring home the full horror of war. There are also many episodes that are very hard to read in terms of the treatment dolled out to the inhabitants of Kiev by the Nazi's, especially to our brave Bella, and of course, to anyone who happened to be Jewish.
From Tam's side of the story we are treated to a full on spy yarn of the Le Carré kind, with very enjoyable flashes of John Buchan's The 39 Steps. It's all games within games, where the Old Boy Network holds enormous sway and can keep you above suspicion, and there are some very interesting characters that appear among our shady cast, which will be of great interest to anyone with knowledge of how events played out after the war - darling of the security services Kim Philby plays a central role here, and here is a lovely little cameo from his colleague Guy Burgess too (I recommend some Googling about The Cambridge Five if you don't know who these fellows are)!
Although this is part of the Spoils of War series, this thriller can be read as a standalone, but I really think it does help if you have some sort of handle on some of the events of this period of WWII, the years running up to it - and for full impact, the post war revelations about double agents within the British security services.
This is a cracking novel that kept me turning the pages well into the night. It is my first Graham Hurley, but will definitely not be my last - in fact, I already have a copy of Last Flight to Stalingrad lined up for my reading pleasure. Highly recommended if you love a hard-edged wartime thriller with a big slice of old-school espionage fun.
Into the foray, former MI5 agent Bella Menzies, now a Russian defector working for the NKVD, finds herself ostensibly back on the same side as her former paymasters. Sent back into Russian territory, after a brief passionate sojourn with her lover, MI5 agent Tam Moncrieff, her mission is to accompany a cargo of mysterious crates headed for Kiev in the company of a Ukrainian called Ilya Glivenko known as 'The Pianist'. Although Bella has been ordered to Moscow, she decides to take a detour to Kiev with her new friend Glivenko instead, after becoming suspicious that her NKVD bosses intend her harm.
Bella finds herself caught up in the surreal world of a city under constant German bombardment. Forced to disguise herself as a local, there is no escape from the fact that the city will soon be under occupation, and her position as a double agent puts her in great danger. Kiev becomes a city of explosions, interrogation and dark deeds - and Bella finally finds out what was being transported in the mysterious crates that shared her journey back to Soviet lands.
Meanwhile, Tam Moncrieff has some adventures of his own back in Blighty. Sent to examine the contents of some sensitive files being held at the MI5 Central Registry in St Albans he discovers something of the background about his lover Bella, and becomes embroiled in at attempt to track down the identities of double agents within the British intelligence agencies. It seems it can be just as dangerous on home soil, as it can being sent to foreign climes...
Graham Hurley has conjured up one heck of a thriller in the pages of this wartime novel. Cleverly mixing fact and fiction, he runs two storylines throughout this book from the points of view of Bella and Tam, which are connected by the delicious espionage theme of double agents - and he also manages to shine the light on the terrible events that took place in Kiev, when Hitler decided to attack his former allies and provoked a return to the Russian scorched earth policy that was so effective against Napoleon Bonaparte.
There is lots to learn about what happened in Kiev in these pages, with Bella's side of the tale. Amid the well imagined scenes that have her and her new comrades trying to escape detection, there are vivid descriptions of bloody carnage and bombings that bring home the full horror of war. There are also many episodes that are very hard to read in terms of the treatment dolled out to the inhabitants of Kiev by the Nazi's, especially to our brave Bella, and of course, to anyone who happened to be Jewish.
From Tam's side of the story we are treated to a full on spy yarn of the Le Carré kind, with very enjoyable flashes of John Buchan's The 39 Steps. It's all games within games, where the Old Boy Network holds enormous sway and can keep you above suspicion, and there are some very interesting characters that appear among our shady cast, which will be of great interest to anyone with knowledge of how events played out after the war - darling of the security services Kim Philby plays a central role here, and here is a lovely little cameo from his colleague Guy Burgess too (I recommend some Googling about The Cambridge Five if you don't know who these fellows are)!
Although this is part of the Spoils of War series, this thriller can be read as a standalone, but I really think it does help if you have some sort of handle on some of the events of this period of WWII, the years running up to it - and for full impact, the post war revelations about double agents within the British security services.
This is a cracking novel that kept me turning the pages well into the night. It is my first Graham Hurley, but will definitely not be my last - in fact, I already have a copy of Last Flight to Stalingrad lined up for my reading pleasure. Highly recommended if you love a hard-edged wartime thriller with a big slice of old-school espionage fun.
July 15, 2025
On Sunday 22nd June 1941, three-and-a-half million Axis troops burst into the Soviet Union along a 1,800-mile front to launch Operation Barbarossa. The southern thrust of the attack was aimed at the Caucasus and the oil fields beyond. Kyiv was the biggest city to stand in their way.
Within six weeks, the city was under siege. Surrounded by Panzers, bombed, and shelled day and night, Soviet Commissar Nikita Khrushchev was amongst the senior Soviet officials co-ordinating the defence. Amid his cadre of trusted personnel is British defector Bella Menzies, once with MI5, now with the NKVD, the Soviet secret police.
With the fall of the city inevitable, the Soviets plan a bloody war of terror that will extort a higher toll on the city's inhabitants than the invaders.
As the noose tightens, Bella finds herself trapped, hunted by both the Russians and the Germans.
ilya Glivenko, aka the pianist, coordinates and plans the installation of booby trap bombs in the basements of key buildings likely to be used by the Germans.
The fictional side of the story tells of a fleeting romance between Bella and Tam Moncrieff, a soldier in British intelligence.
Other notable characters are Kim Philby, a suspected double agent.
For Bella, her time in Kyiv is one of new experiences including being hustled from one safe place to another in order to escape the attentions of Stalin’s secret police, and adopting a new identity courtesy of the enigmatic Larissa. Unfortunately, once Russian forces quit the city and are replaced by a German army of occupation, Bella experiences first-hand what the SS are capable of although, to provide balance, not every German is supportive of the acts of violence perpetrated by the Nazi regime.
Bella and Larissa become lovers.
As the SS attempt to end the bombings Bella falls foul of sadistic Standartenführer Kalb, but with the help of Wilhelm Strauss, a sympathetic Abwehr officer she knew from her days in Berlin before the war, she and Larissa play a dangerous cat and mouse game with Kalb.
Yuri, one of Bella’s Ukranian contacts, had warned: “…everything will change. Everything. Here. In the city. Everywhere. We love the Russians going, but we should be careful what we wish for.”
It features one of the worst Nazi atrocities of the war, the massacre of the Jews of Kyiv. There are some horrific scenes.
Within six weeks, the city was under siege. Surrounded by Panzers, bombed, and shelled day and night, Soviet Commissar Nikita Khrushchev was amongst the senior Soviet officials co-ordinating the defence. Amid his cadre of trusted personnel is British defector Bella Menzies, once with MI5, now with the NKVD, the Soviet secret police.
With the fall of the city inevitable, the Soviets plan a bloody war of terror that will extort a higher toll on the city's inhabitants than the invaders.
As the noose tightens, Bella finds herself trapped, hunted by both the Russians and the Germans.
ilya Glivenko, aka the pianist, coordinates and plans the installation of booby trap bombs in the basements of key buildings likely to be used by the Germans.
The fictional side of the story tells of a fleeting romance between Bella and Tam Moncrieff, a soldier in British intelligence.
Other notable characters are Kim Philby, a suspected double agent.
For Bella, her time in Kyiv is one of new experiences including being hustled from one safe place to another in order to escape the attentions of Stalin’s secret police, and adopting a new identity courtesy of the enigmatic Larissa. Unfortunately, once Russian forces quit the city and are replaced by a German army of occupation, Bella experiences first-hand what the SS are capable of although, to provide balance, not every German is supportive of the acts of violence perpetrated by the Nazi regime.
Bella and Larissa become lovers.
As the SS attempt to end the bombings Bella falls foul of sadistic Standartenführer Kalb, but with the help of Wilhelm Strauss, a sympathetic Abwehr officer she knew from her days in Berlin before the war, she and Larissa play a dangerous cat and mouse game with Kalb.
Yuri, one of Bella’s Ukranian contacts, had warned: “…everything will change. Everything. Here. In the city. Everywhere. We love the Russians going, but we should be careful what we wish for.”
It features one of the worst Nazi atrocities of the war, the massacre of the Jews of Kyiv. There are some horrific scenes.
November 17, 2025
An interesting story wrapped around the Nazi invasion of Ukraine and the impact this had on Kyiv and a cast list of MI5, NKVD, SD, and SS players. Unfortunately the potential was not realised for me as there were too many unresolved plot issues. However, that may be partly my fault for reading this series in reverse order. Would some of the decisions and motivations make more sense if the preceding book had been read first?
January 9, 2022
A fleeting thought...
Very thorough and thrilling as usual. Just one complaint,one character speaks in dialogue the word "Xmas". Really? Surely "Christmas" is what he said. Keep up the good work!
Very thorough and thrilling as usual. Just one complaint,one character speaks in dialogue the word "Xmas". Really? Surely "Christmas" is what he said. Keep up the good work!
May 14, 2022
I have enjoyed and appreciated this series. As an American, it’s quite worthwhile to view these events through the eyes of those in other countries. Especially when the writing and storytelling are this good.
March 6, 2023
Fascinating tale about Kyiv when the Russian Occupation was displaced by the German one. in WWII. Especially insightful as background in understanding the Ukrainian attitude toward the February 2023 invasion by Russia. The characters come alive to make this personal, thrilling, and evocative.
April 10, 2023
It is not what I expected but that is my fault. I thought the book would be more about the battle for Kyiv but it ended up being more about the stories about certain people. It was kind of boring to me but I gave it a three just because it wasn't all the books fault.
May 28, 2023
Readable, but spoiled by plot holes & errors (Geraldine's 'gelding' transforms into a 'mare' - overnight!)
A very interesting, tragic, period, historically. Particularly given events since February 2022.
Reading this reinforces my preference for non-fiction over historical fiction.
A very interesting, tragic, period, historically. Particularly given events since February 2022.
Reading this reinforces my preference for non-fiction over historical fiction.
July 25, 2021
A huge mistake
l obviously misread the blurb for this book. Kim Philby, other communist fellow traveller...no thanks. Not for me, I will read something else.
l obviously misread the blurb for this book. Kim Philby, other communist fellow traveller...no thanks. Not for me, I will read something else.
October 19, 2021
This is an excellent World War II series. The characters leap off the page and there I was - in Kyiv and
England.
England.
February 24, 2023
Excellent and intense Spy thiller.
January 11, 2024
Nice easy read
July 13, 2021
Graham Hurley writes captivating tales that satisfy fans of historical fiction and thrillers alike and in his latest novel, Kyiv, he has penned a gripping, atmospheric and adrenaline-fueled page-turner sure to keep readers on the edge of their seats.
Operation Barbarossa was launched on Sunday 22nd June 1941 when three and a half million troops began their mission in the Soviet Union, aimed at attacking the Caucuses and the oil fields beyond. There was just one impediment standing in their way: the city of Kyiv. However, the troops were not going to let anyone stand in their way and within six weeks, the city was under siege and under constant attack. Soviet Commissar Nikita Khrushchev was one of the senior Soviet officials coordinating the defence. With the danger being constant and the stakes having never been higher. Nikita does not trust anyone easily – especially in these delicate and fragile times – other than a select group of people he works with constantly, including British defector Bella Menzies.
Formerly of MI5, Bella now works with the Soviet police. Her job is tough, challenging and dangerous yet Bella will not be easily cowed. With Kyiv’s fall imminent, the Soviets are planning a bloody war of terror that will have serious repercussions – even for the citizens themselves. As Bella finds herself caught and hunted by both the Russians and the Germans, can she possibly find a way to stay alive when all the odds are stacked against her?
Bella needs to watch her back because one false move and she could lose everything – including her life.
Graham Hurley is a master at heightening the tension and suspense and in Kyiv, he has penned a vivid historical novel where readers will find themselves immersed in a world of espionage, chicanery, deception and skullduggery.
A deftly plotted and immensely absorbing thriller, Graham Hurley’s Kyiv will keep readers engrossed and entertained till the very last page.
Operation Barbarossa was launched on Sunday 22nd June 1941 when three and a half million troops began their mission in the Soviet Union, aimed at attacking the Caucuses and the oil fields beyond. There was just one impediment standing in their way: the city of Kyiv. However, the troops were not going to let anyone stand in their way and within six weeks, the city was under siege and under constant attack. Soviet Commissar Nikita Khrushchev was one of the senior Soviet officials coordinating the defence. With the danger being constant and the stakes having never been higher. Nikita does not trust anyone easily – especially in these delicate and fragile times – other than a select group of people he works with constantly, including British defector Bella Menzies.
Formerly of MI5, Bella now works with the Soviet police. Her job is tough, challenging and dangerous yet Bella will not be easily cowed. With Kyiv’s fall imminent, the Soviets are planning a bloody war of terror that will have serious repercussions – even for the citizens themselves. As Bella finds herself caught and hunted by both the Russians and the Germans, can she possibly find a way to stay alive when all the odds are stacked against her?
Bella needs to watch her back because one false move and she could lose everything – including her life.
Graham Hurley is a master at heightening the tension and suspense and in Kyiv, he has penned a vivid historical novel where readers will find themselves immersed in a world of espionage, chicanery, deception and skullduggery.
A deftly plotted and immensely absorbing thriller, Graham Hurley’s Kyiv will keep readers engrossed and entertained till the very last page.
January 20, 2023
Chronologically this follows directly from Raid 42 while evoking the Eastern Front horrors covered in Last Flight to Stalingrad. For a change, the focus is on femme fatale Bella who was an incidental (and usually destructive) presence in previous books. The book was published in 2021 so Hurley could not have known how topical the title and location would shortly become.
While some things (Holodomor, Babyn Yar) are engraved on our consciousness I confess I don't know enough about the history of that time and place to tell where it blends into imagination. Kyiv is still a jolly good story, if harrowing in places.
I wonder if the political and ethnic complexities of the moment are adequately described but, even so, this is a good primer into the way anyone who tells Ukrainians they are really Russian is on a hiding to nothing.
While some things (Holodomor, Babyn Yar) are engraved on our consciousness I confess I don't know enough about the history of that time and place to tell where it blends into imagination. Kyiv is still a jolly good story, if harrowing in places.
I wonder if the political and ethnic complexities of the moment are adequately described but, even so, this is a good primer into the way anyone who tells Ukrainians they are really Russian is on a hiding to nothing.
April 27, 2022
It's well worth reading this book. It's not an easy subject at times, but I would recommend it.
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