A Season of Shadows

by Paul McCusker

Love, deception, betrayal, decisions, duty, and the truth. How did things get so complicated? The night before had been so ordinary . . . as Julie Harris played the charming socialite at another of her husband's high-society Washington parties. But that morning . . . Julie awoke to find herself a widow, forced to deal with the scandal surrounding Stewart Harris's death---and with the shocking, unsuspected secrets of his life. Now her search for the truth about her late husband has brought Julie to wartime London. Posing as an aide at the U.S. embassy, she sets out to fulfill her infiltrate a radical Fascist group---a group with mysterious ties to her husband's past. As Hitler's savage air blitz against London commences, Julie finds herself swept into a whirlwind of clashing images---of glittering parties set against the firestorm of night bombings, and of treachery covered by a veneer of smiles and fair words. In a world where nothing is as it seems, and where the best of intentions can inspire the worst of actions, whom can Julie trust? One man may hold the answer, and with it, hope---not only amid war-torn London, but in the face of Julie's private struggle.

Genres: Christian Fiction, Mystery, World War II, Historical Fiction, Fiction

332 pages, Paperback

First published September 13, 2005

About the author

Paul McCusker is a writer of many different kinds of things. You may know him from Adventures In Odyssey and Focus On The Family Radio Theatre. Or the Father Gilbert Mysteries. Or the Augustine Institute audio dramas Brother Francis: The Barefoot Saint of Assisi and The Trials of Saint Patrick. Or plays like The First Church of Pete's Garage and Catacombs. Or C.S. Lewis projects like The Chronicles of Narnia audio dramas or The Annotated Screwtape Letters. Or the film Beyond The Mask. Or lots of other dramas, novels, scripts and lyrics. He simply can't make up his mind what he likes to write.

Reviews

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this book up because Paul McCusker wrote it and I'm an Odyssey kid :) I debated on how to rate it - three stars, four stars - so how about we split the difference and do 3.5 starts? Good, we got that settled.

The first almost about half of the book was kind of slow for me. I guess we were really stuck into Julie's character because I felt like I was reading through fog. What was going on, what was the point? Then, when it did pick up at the end, I was VERY confused as to who was working for whom and who was bad and who was good and who knew who was good and bad! It seems like Frank, Clare, and Anthony were bad and used other people and groups as their puppets. I suspected Anthony from very early on, just not trusting them, but not the others.

I liked Father John. I especially liked his sermon on forgiveness. He was a solid character.

This is definitely a book for older teens and adults, because of discussion of Stewart's "wanderings" shall we say. In the end, I liked it well enough. It's not the best WWII fiction I've read but it did end up being interesting and even in the slow parts, it held my interest to see where it was leading. A major plot twist leaves you guessing until the very end and people you think you know what side their on, well, you never know who to trust!

[Heather Roberts · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book with a complicated plot that I loved trying to unravel.

[booklearner · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s been a long time since I’ve ever read a book by Paul McCusker. I remember I loved his Passages series when I was a kid (spin-off novels from Adventures in Odyssey, which McCusker helped create). What would one of his novels for adults be like? This one grabbed my attention, as espionage always does!

I found that I enjoyed this suspense story very much. Although I suspected the one character all along, I was never quite sure enough and I kept going on the edge of my seat. Some great plot twists I didn’t see coming, and different love interests for our beautiful heroine that kept me guessing, too. 🙂

But more than that, I really learned a lot about England (esp. London) during the air raid bombings in 1940. I love fiction books that can teach me about a certain era, and this was definitely one of those. Everything from what civilian daily life was like, how they coped, their attitude during the most difficult of days, and the everyday heroes of the war such as the emergency volunteers, the doctors and nurses, and the priests. I even learned some things about Churchill. To confirm all of this, I ended up watching a documentary on Netflix (“Winston Churchill: Walking With Destiny”- narrated by Ben Kingsley) that went over the same timeline during which this book is set and I got to hear and see photographs of the very things “Julie” would have witnessed. I also watched a brief documentary on the first spy training camp the US set up in Canada, where our heroine also would have been sent to. It made the book feel all the more real and I know it was well researched.

Some drawbacks to the book are that some readers may find it predictable. Sometimes I wanted it to be a tad more cloak and daggerish, but that’s probably just me being unrealistic! I did find it somewhat unbelievable that Julie would run off to be an agent to spy against the very people her husband supposedly sympathized with, so soon after his death. That part just didn’t make a lot of sense to me.

But I still enjoyed it, and stayed up late nights trying to finish it in time to send it back to the library. Those are the good ones, aren’t they? So, if you’re up for burning the midnight oil, I think you’ll like this one!

[Caity · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 1/2 stars.

I love Paul McCuskers' style- he never fails to confuse me and keep me guessing at his intricate plots! I would have to say that I enjoyed the TSI series a lot better than Season of Shadows.
This was good, very intriguing and had a very well-thought-through plot. However I felt by the end that it was more of a suspense/soap-opera, with the heroine constantly trying to figure out which guys it's safe to be friends with and which ones to avoid. The whole thing with Stewert got a little old too- why is it a trend that suspense fiction authors all have a divorced couple, or a deceased spouse (who had been unfaithful before)?
Anyways- the ending was incredible! I had no idea what was going to happen- and I found out things about characters from all throughout the book that I hadn't even wondered at! Very well played.
Also, my favorite British character *had* to die- AND end up having been a bad guy. I had kind of been expecting that one, but it was still a disappointment.
I liked having the story set during the German and English war- the bombings gave it that constant vibe of suspense.
I would recommend this to Christian suspense lovers, because, like I said, it was REALLY well thought up, fast paced, and had an amazing ending.

Now I'm off to read another regency- where the British guy is the hero. ^_^

[Jaclynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is fiction with real life history in a WWII setting involving spies, secret codes, a fascist group and the M16. Julie Harris, recently widowed is trying to find out the truth about her husband; are the scandals true? And which side was he really on? She’s been recruited as an aide for the U.S. embassy, stationed in London. “ As Hitler’s save air blitz against London commences, Julie finds herself swept into a whirlwind of clashing experiences, and of glittering parties. Set against the firestorm of night bombings and of treachery covered by a veneer of smiles and fair worlds. In a world where nothing is as it seems and where the best of intentions can inspire the worst of actions, who can Julie trust? One man may hold the answer, and with it hope, not only amid the war torn London but in the face of Julie’s private struggle.”

[Samantha · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's January 1940 and in one night, Julie Harris' life is changed completely. Her search for truth eventually takes her to wartime London. Before long, she finds herself in a whirlwind of clashing experiences:Love, deception, betrayal, duty and the truth. Everything is so very complicated and is there anyone she can trust? This book was very suspenseful, intriguing, and exciting to read! I really felt for Julie and her confusion at times. But I also became frustrated with her because of some of the choices she made; especially when it came to trusting Anthony... I'd suspected him all along! But then again, if I were in her shoes, I might have been desperate enough to find someone or something I could put my trust in; just to stay sane! I give this 4 out of 5 stars. I felt the ending was lacking a little something...

[Danielle Reily · Rating 3 out of 5]

At first I didn't think I was going to like this book, it was very fragmented in the beginning. Then I realized that the style of writing really worked for the story. The fragmented story, and scenes worked to portray the confusion surrounding the main character. I began to really relate to Julie (the main character), and to be really interested in what the outcome would be. I often find mysteries, or at least parts of them, to be predictable. This book had me on the edge if my seat, I was very surprised by a lot of the ending.
I will have to look into more of McCusker's books.