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The Enigma Effect
When librarian Patton Harcourt comes under sniper fire in her rural North Carolina home, she is thrown together with professional assassin Nemo and into a web of international deceit.
On the run from two German killers, Patton and Nemo discover a seventy-five-year-old Enigma message which leads them to Bletchley Park in England and a code breaker named Ruthie Drinkwater, an old flame of Patton's. Unable to complete the job of code breaking at Bletchley, the trio leaves and are pursued by the Germans, who support a white-supremacist agenda. The Germans work for Ingrid Weiss, whose grandfather was a protégé of Henrich Himmler and who is following in his footsteps.
When Patton, Nemo, and Ruthie break the code, they discover a message claiming that Himmler mastered alchemy, and Patton and Nemo are incredulous but determined to stop Ingrid Weiss from obtaining limitless wealth to promote her agenda. In need of a book owned by Weiss, they travel to Munich. When they break into her home to steal the book, they find themselves in a deadly situation.
Using the Enigma message, the group travels to Prague and then the Italian Alps. What they find when they arrive puts them in the crosshairs of Weiss and the Nazis, and leads to a high-stakes confrontation that will require allies from their pasts to ensure their survival.
On the run from two German killers, Patton and Nemo discover a seventy-five-year-old Enigma message which leads them to Bletchley Park in England and a code breaker named Ruthie Drinkwater, an old flame of Patton's. Unable to complete the job of code breaking at Bletchley, the trio leaves and are pursued by the Germans, who support a white-supremacist agenda. The Germans work for Ingrid Weiss, whose grandfather was a protégé of Henrich Himmler and who is following in his footsteps.
When Patton, Nemo, and Ruthie break the code, they discover a message claiming that Himmler mastered alchemy, and Patton and Nemo are incredulous but determined to stop Ingrid Weiss from obtaining limitless wealth to promote her agenda. In need of a book owned by Weiss, they travel to Munich. When they break into her home to steal the book, they find themselves in a deadly situation.
Using the Enigma message, the group travels to Prague and then the Italian Alps. What they find when they arrive puts them in the crosshairs of Weiss and the Nazis, and leads to a high-stakes confrontation that will require allies from their pasts to ensure their survival.
350 pages, Hardcover
First published September 6, 2022
195 people are currently reading
3420 people want to read
About the author
Charlie Lovett
28 books1,069 followersI was born in Winston-Salem, NC and grew up as the child of an English professor. We spent our summers in the rural North Carolina mountains, so I felt an early affinity for the countryside. I was educated at Summit School, Woodberry Forest School (VA), and Davidson College (NC) and in 1984 went into the antiquarian book business with my first wife, Stephanie. About the same time I began to seriously collect books and other materials relating to Lewis Carroll, author of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
When I left the book business in the early 90s, I continued to be a book collector, and now have a large (and growing) collection of rare (and not so rare) books and artifacts connected to Lewis Carroll and his world.
In 1997 I received my MFA in Writing from Vermont College (now Vermont College of Fine Arts). During my work on this degree I researched and wrote Love, Ruth, a book about my mother, Ruth Candler Lovett, who died when I was two years old. Maya Angelou called the book “tender, sensitive, and true.”
After completing my MFA, I traveled with my wife, Janice, and daughter, Jordan, to England where we lived for six months in Kingham, Oxfordshire. We immersed ourselves in the culture and made lifelong friends. Ten years later, we purchased the cottage we had rented in 1997 and renovated it. My wife and I now spend about 6–8 weeks a year in Kingham, and have traveled extensively throughout the UK.
In 2001, my wife was hired to oversee the third grade drama program at Summit School. Bemoaning the dearth of good material, she asked if I would write a play. Thus began my career as a children’s playwright. For eleven years, as Writer-in-Residence, I wrote plays for third graders and for eighth and ninth graders. Nineteen of my plays have been published and have proved extremely popular and have seen over 3500 productions in all fifty states and more than 20 foreign countries.
During all my years as a writer, I have worked on writing fiction. I wrote my first novel-length manuscript in the early 1990s and, with luck, it will never see the light of day, but it did prove to me that I could write a book-length work of fiction. In 2008, my novel The Program, about an evil weight loss clinic, was published by the micro-press Pearlsong Press, which later published my YA novel The Fat Lady Sings.
But my big break-through as a writer came when I put together two of my passions—rare books and the English countryside—to write The Bookman’s Tale. It was a New York Times bestseller, a Barnes and Noble Recommends selection, and has been translated into several foreign languages. Parade Magazine called the book “[A] delightful tale of love and bibliophilia.”
My next novel, First Impressions, is another literary adventure, this one starring Jane Austen. People Magazine called it “a delightful novel that weaves together a modern love story and a literary mystery involving Jane Austen.”
2015 was a busy year for me, being the 150th anniversary of the publication of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. I curated a major exhibition called Alice Live! at the New York Public Library for Performing Arts at Lincoln Center. I spoke at the international gathering of Carroll enthusiasts in New York and wrote the introduction to the new Penguin Books edition of Alice. 2016 also saw the publication of my Christmas book, The Further Adventures of Ebenezer Scrooge, which USA Today called “[a] clever, merry, and, yes, convincingly Dickensian reimagining of this Victorian tale.”
My new novel, The Lost Book of the Grail, will be published on February 28, 2017. Set in an English cathedral library, and reaching through centuries of English history, it tells the story of bibliophile and Holy Grail enthusiast Arthur Prescott as he works to uncover a centuries-old secret about the cathedral’s history.
None of this could have happened without the support and love of my wonderful wife, Janice, and my fabulous children, Jimmy and Jordan.
When I left the book business in the early 90s, I continued to be a book collector, and now have a large (and growing) collection of rare (and not so rare) books and artifacts connected to Lewis Carroll and his world.
In 1997 I received my MFA in Writing from Vermont College (now Vermont College of Fine Arts). During my work on this degree I researched and wrote Love, Ruth, a book about my mother, Ruth Candler Lovett, who died when I was two years old. Maya Angelou called the book “tender, sensitive, and true.”
After completing my MFA, I traveled with my wife, Janice, and daughter, Jordan, to England where we lived for six months in Kingham, Oxfordshire. We immersed ourselves in the culture and made lifelong friends. Ten years later, we purchased the cottage we had rented in 1997 and renovated it. My wife and I now spend about 6–8 weeks a year in Kingham, and have traveled extensively throughout the UK.
In 2001, my wife was hired to oversee the third grade drama program at Summit School. Bemoaning the dearth of good material, she asked if I would write a play. Thus began my career as a children’s playwright. For eleven years, as Writer-in-Residence, I wrote plays for third graders and for eighth and ninth graders. Nineteen of my plays have been published and have proved extremely popular and have seen over 3500 productions in all fifty states and more than 20 foreign countries.
During all my years as a writer, I have worked on writing fiction. I wrote my first novel-length manuscript in the early 1990s and, with luck, it will never see the light of day, but it did prove to me that I could write a book-length work of fiction. In 2008, my novel The Program, about an evil weight loss clinic, was published by the micro-press Pearlsong Press, which later published my YA novel The Fat Lady Sings.
But my big break-through as a writer came when I put together two of my passions—rare books and the English countryside—to write The Bookman’s Tale. It was a New York Times bestseller, a Barnes and Noble Recommends selection, and has been translated into several foreign languages. Parade Magazine called the book “[A] delightful tale of love and bibliophilia.”
My next novel, First Impressions, is another literary adventure, this one starring Jane Austen. People Magazine called it “a delightful novel that weaves together a modern love story and a literary mystery involving Jane Austen.”
2015 was a busy year for me, being the 150th anniversary of the publication of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. I curated a major exhibition called Alice Live! at the New York Public Library for Performing Arts at Lincoln Center. I spoke at the international gathering of Carroll enthusiasts in New York and wrote the introduction to the new Penguin Books edition of Alice. 2016 also saw the publication of my Christmas book, The Further Adventures of Ebenezer Scrooge, which USA Today called “[a] clever, merry, and, yes, convincingly Dickensian reimagining of this Victorian tale.”
My new novel, The Lost Book of the Grail, will be published on February 28, 2017. Set in an English cathedral library, and reaching through centuries of English history, it tells the story of bibliophile and Holy Grail enthusiast Arthur Prescott as he works to uncover a centuries-old secret about the cathedral’s history.
None of this could have happened without the support and love of my wonderful wife, Janice, and my fabulous children, Jimmy and Jordan.
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August 22, 2022I read a free advance review e-galley provided by the publisher via Netgalley.
The first thing you need to do is to be sure to read the book description. Sounds absolutely bonkers, doesn’t it? Even more bonkers than the plot of Marathon Man, for example. So bonkers that I’m not going to attempt to write my own description. One thing that compelled me to want to read this book, despite that looney description, is that I’m a complete sucker for stories relating to Bletchley Park. The other is that I’m a big fan of Charlie Lovett’s work, especially his 2013 novel, The Bookman’s Tale.
This is a caper/chase type of thriller that I hope somebody decides to turn into a movie. The settings zip from a mountain town in North Carolina to England’s Bletchley Park, then on to multiple other destinations, including Munich, Prague, the Alps, and Zurich. The chase action is tension-filled, and the caper schemes are multi-layered and clever—if not always successful.
The characters are terrific, especially the two damaged leads, Patton and Nemo, whose teamwork-by-necessity brings them to a sort of friendship. But the many side characters are well realized too. Ingrid Weiss makes for a villain you love to hate and can’t wait for her to get her comeuppance.
A vastly entertaining and thrilling tale.
The first thing you need to do is to be sure to read the book description. Sounds absolutely bonkers, doesn’t it? Even more bonkers than the plot of Marathon Man, for example. So bonkers that I’m not going to attempt to write my own description. One thing that compelled me to want to read this book, despite that looney description, is that I’m a complete sucker for stories relating to Bletchley Park. The other is that I’m a big fan of Charlie Lovett’s work, especially his 2013 novel, The Bookman’s Tale.
This is a caper/chase type of thriller that I hope somebody decides to turn into a movie. The settings zip from a mountain town in North Carolina to England’s Bletchley Park, then on to multiple other destinations, including Munich, Prague, the Alps, and Zurich. The chase action is tension-filled, and the caper schemes are multi-layered and clever—if not always successful.
The characters are terrific, especially the two damaged leads, Patton and Nemo, whose teamwork-by-necessity brings them to a sort of friendship. But the many side characters are well realized too. Ingrid Weiss makes for a villain you love to hate and can’t wait for her to get her comeuppance.
A vastly entertaining and thrilling tale.
December 14, 2023
This book was an entertaining surprise for me. I found this author about 6 years ago. He had written a book, The Lost Book of the Grail, based on an English legend involving King Arthur and the search for the Holy Grail. The book pitted a grumpy middle-aged college professor against a young woman technocrat with a hidden agenda. The book was marvelously charming and well done and made me an instant fan. Turns out the author is a former antiquarian bookseller so that his genre seemed to be books about books which certainly endeared him to me. I ordered another of his books which was okay and his other books seemed to focus on Jane Austen and not my cup of tea. I lost track of Mr. Lovett until recently and looked him up to checkout any new publications he might have. In doing so I found this book listed and ordered it.
Since his other books were based on a mystery involving books I expected that this would also be in that vein. This was my first surprise as it was not, it is very much not a book about books. It seems Mr. Lovett has changed genres as this is novel is a no holds barred thriller and, to a degree, a rather gritty thriller. The book also contains some mildly distasteful behavior that might give some readers pause but it wasn't heavy handed or out of place in the plot. And then there's the plot so what's that about?
The book starts with a backwoods North Carolina librarian baking in her kitchen on a nice Sunday morning when a snipper starts shooting at her. Unalarmed the librarian retreats to her bedroom and opens her floor safe and retrieves her trusty Berreta M9 and prepares for war. I do not want to spoil anything for you so let's just say the librarian joins up with a hired killer and starts on a quest that puts them on the trail to trackdown a legend involving Heinrich Himmler and his attempts to discover the validity of alchemy. The journey takes them to England, Austria, Czechia, Germany, and Italy before the story concludes. What I found interesting was the way the author portrays his characters. I can't say I was particularly enamored with any of them, even the librarian. The way they are portrayed and behave is probably closer to reality than one might be used to in such stories. However, if a real person was placed in the circumstances described the real person's behavior probably wouldn't have been all that different. I think this is what I meant when I stated the story was rather gritty, human beings actually behaving like real humans. The librarian and the assortment of characters she assembles on this quests have a noble cause but they certainly don't act like any good guys that I can recall. In short it was a good thriller and a fun read and a great choice for a light read. Enjoy.
Since his other books were based on a mystery involving books I expected that this would also be in that vein. This was my first surprise as it was not, it is very much not a book about books. It seems Mr. Lovett has changed genres as this is novel is a no holds barred thriller and, to a degree, a rather gritty thriller. The book also contains some mildly distasteful behavior that might give some readers pause but it wasn't heavy handed or out of place in the plot. And then there's the plot so what's that about?
The book starts with a backwoods North Carolina librarian baking in her kitchen on a nice Sunday morning when a snipper starts shooting at her. Unalarmed the librarian retreats to her bedroom and opens her floor safe and retrieves her trusty Berreta M9 and prepares for war. I do not want to spoil anything for you so let's just say the librarian joins up with a hired killer and starts on a quest that puts them on the trail to trackdown a legend involving Heinrich Himmler and his attempts to discover the validity of alchemy. The journey takes them to England, Austria, Czechia, Germany, and Italy before the story concludes. What I found interesting was the way the author portrays his characters. I can't say I was particularly enamored with any of them, even the librarian. The way they are portrayed and behave is probably closer to reality than one might be used to in such stories. However, if a real person was placed in the circumstances described the real person's behavior probably wouldn't have been all that different. I think this is what I meant when I stated the story was rather gritty, human beings actually behaving like real humans. The librarian and the assortment of characters she assembles on this quests have a noble cause but they certainly don't act like any good guys that I can recall. In short it was a good thriller and a fun read and a great choice for a light read. Enjoy.
August 25, 2022
I received this book as an ARC on Edelweiss.
***
Ever wished that you could have dealt a death blow to the Nazi regime? Look no further...
Ex-military Patton Harcourt lives a quiet life as a librarian in small town North Carolina. When a sniper upsets her morning pastry making, she's forced to team up with professional assassin Nemo to foil an elaborate neo-Nazi plot to discover Heinrich Himmler's lost recipe for Alchemy. If Patton and Nemo do not get to it first, the Third Reich have all it needs to return to power and perpetuate their horror on the world once again.
I'm a bit of WWII History nerd, so this one piqued my interest immediately, especially when the title says Enigma and Bletchley Park was mentioned on the back cover. I went on the 75th Anniversary of D-Day tour with EF Tours in 2019 and visited many of the places these characters go in Enigma Affair. Bletchley Park was one of them and was absolutely incredible.
While on that tour, we also visited several Holocaust memorials and learned in depth history and details about some of atrocities that took place, which are also deeply threaded into this book. I was engrossed in Lovett's characters and in tune to their purpose throughout the book.
Lovett did a phenomenal job with his research in regard to Bletchley Park and its contribution to the Allied victory, WWII artifacts and timelines, Nazis, the Holocaust, and neo-Nazis too. His blend of factual Nazi propaganda strategies and modern-day outreach methods enhanced by technological advances was brilliant and thorough. I can totally see people (literally and figuratively) with sinister motives preying on the good graces of everyday people to further their evil intentions without a second thought.
Charlie Lovett's character voices were distinct, and their personalities intriguingly flawed, which I enjoyed. Each main character had something from their past that haunted them and directly influenced their interactions and beliefs about the world and wove nicely into the plot of the story. Even the villain was well developed, and her plans to return Nazism to global prominence were closer to possible than I was comfortable with, so the stakes were extremely high for me.
That said, I felt the beginning was a bit slow. When Patton and Nemo teamed up, I didn't get a good sense of the anxiety of the situation that I feel two strangers being shot at would have, but after a few chapters this smoothed out really nicely.
There were also a couple things that I felt were edging on Deus ex Machina. It seemed like the one person in the world with the expertise they needed to solve a clue either showed up at the right time or they knew them personally. Despite feeling a bit convenient at times, I still enjoyed the story immensely.
The Enigma Affair is filled with suspense, betrayal, intrigue, and haunting facts from humanity's darkest years that, if forgotten, have the potential to be repeated again. The Enigma Affair is not only a thrilling work of fiction, but it's a reminder that the evils of yesteryear could easily creep into our future if we are not vigilant.
***
Ever wished that you could have dealt a death blow to the Nazi regime? Look no further...
Ex-military Patton Harcourt lives a quiet life as a librarian in small town North Carolina. When a sniper upsets her morning pastry making, she's forced to team up with professional assassin Nemo to foil an elaborate neo-Nazi plot to discover Heinrich Himmler's lost recipe for Alchemy. If Patton and Nemo do not get to it first, the Third Reich have all it needs to return to power and perpetuate their horror on the world once again.
I'm a bit of WWII History nerd, so this one piqued my interest immediately, especially when the title says Enigma and Bletchley Park was mentioned on the back cover. I went on the 75th Anniversary of D-Day tour with EF Tours in 2019 and visited many of the places these characters go in Enigma Affair. Bletchley Park was one of them and was absolutely incredible.
While on that tour, we also visited several Holocaust memorials and learned in depth history and details about some of atrocities that took place, which are also deeply threaded into this book. I was engrossed in Lovett's characters and in tune to their purpose throughout the book.
Lovett did a phenomenal job with his research in regard to Bletchley Park and its contribution to the Allied victory, WWII artifacts and timelines, Nazis, the Holocaust, and neo-Nazis too. His blend of factual Nazi propaganda strategies and modern-day outreach methods enhanced by technological advances was brilliant and thorough. I can totally see people (literally and figuratively) with sinister motives preying on the good graces of everyday people to further their evil intentions without a second thought.
Charlie Lovett's character voices were distinct, and their personalities intriguingly flawed, which I enjoyed. Each main character had something from their past that haunted them and directly influenced their interactions and beliefs about the world and wove nicely into the plot of the story. Even the villain was well developed, and her plans to return Nazism to global prominence were closer to possible than I was comfortable with, so the stakes were extremely high for me.
That said, I felt the beginning was a bit slow. When Patton and Nemo teamed up, I didn't get a good sense of the anxiety of the situation that I feel two strangers being shot at would have, but after a few chapters this smoothed out really nicely.
There were also a couple things that I felt were edging on Deus ex Machina. It seemed like the one person in the world with the expertise they needed to solve a clue either showed up at the right time or they knew them personally. Despite feeling a bit convenient at times, I still enjoyed the story immensely.
The Enigma Affair is filled with suspense, betrayal, intrigue, and haunting facts from humanity's darkest years that, if forgotten, have the potential to be repeated again. The Enigma Affair is not only a thrilling work of fiction, but it's a reminder that the evils of yesteryear could easily creep into our future if we are not vigilant.
May 12, 2023
In "The Enigma Affair" by Charlie Lovett, librarian Patton Harcourt and assassin Nemo join forces when they become targets of German killers. A historic Enigma message leads them to where a code breaker is pursued by a group with a white supremacist agenda. A fascinating mystery unfolds that kept my interest throughout. Their journey takes them to Munich, Prague, and the Italian Alps, facing deadly danger along the way. This action-packed book references real WWII events and the groundbreaking work at Bletchley Park. It's a good but not great read with important messages.
September 17, 2022
I thought this was fine and enjoyable enough, though probably my least favorite of his books I've read so far. This is a cross between historical fiction and mystery/thriller. As far as historical fiction goes, I've read plenty of WWII books/novels, so I didn't learn anything new in that regard. If you want to learn more about Enigma and Bletchley Park, I can think of others I'd recommend first. I'm not usually a mystery/thriller reader, so while that portion kept me interested, I think most who usually read those genres will be put off by the number of coincidences that are prevalent in Mr. Lovett's novels. I don't regret my time reading it, but I don't know if I'll be recommending it to anyone.
August 2, 2024
Definitely different from what i would normally read but this author is local to me and I was gifted it! I liked the plot a lot I personally felt like I was getting lost in the different timelines but overall I had a good time with this
September 26, 2022
3.5 stars.
March 31, 2025
Storyline was really good start but couldn't stay with it. Throwing f*bombs in so frequently doesn't show wordsmith craft but a lack of it and detractor to it. Wish I had read more reviews first
May 28, 2022
Patton Harcourt is from a long line of United States military veterans, but her last engagement left some other soldiers killed and she left the army under a bit of a cloud and her memory cloudy. So, while hiding in North Carolina she is not surprised when she is shot at, but is surprised by her rescuer, an assassin named Nemo who was hired to kill an elderly World War II veteran Jasper Fleming, who was a sort of friend. Meanwhile art history professor Jean Simpson, whose grandfather was murdered at Dachau, receives a mysterious gift of a book from Ingrid Weiss who writes that she belongs to Columbia House Enterprises, and that they return books to heirs of victims of the Nazis. All of the characters are now searching for clues to a message sent by the enigma code that Jasper had taken from a German soldier and travel through England to Germany to Italy to Switzerland and back to Germany. This message relates to Himmler and an alchemy project of his during the war to turn base substances to gold. There are many unsavory, untrustworthy, violent characters in this suspenseful tale full of historical detail and treasure hunting. There is also perhaps a warning of how a powerful person or small group can impose their will on the world. Fortunately, Patton and her diverse sort of allies are out there, and I hope for a sequel. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.
October 18, 2022
Lovett’s thriller is fast paced with fun, quirky characters. The historical elements are well done. There are a LOT of unlikely coincidences so you either go with the ride, knowing it is a bit fantastical, or you’ll be frustrated. This is a book with a movie script in mind - for a crazy action packed thriller with a part comedic cast.
Readers who want a quick, raucous escape from reality, like historical fiction/WWII themes, and like some action in their mysteries will likely enjoy this book.
Thanks to NetGalley for giving me a free ebook version of the novel in exchange for an honest review.
Readers who want a quick, raucous escape from reality, like historical fiction/WWII themes, and like some action in their mysteries will likely enjoy this book.
Thanks to NetGalley for giving me a free ebook version of the novel in exchange for an honest review.
July 17, 2022
I can't properly "blurb" this book without spoilers, so all I will say is that I was hooked from the page 1 introduction of Patton Harcourt: "Most women who suddenly came under fire in the middle of a Sunday morning bake would be terrified or panicked or at the very least shocked." I now have two Charlie Lovett titles on my everyone-should-read-it list.
July 13, 2022
The Characters are wonderful in this WW 2 Thriller. It is a fast-paced book of secret codes and an unlikely partnership. Definitely a 5 star read for me.
November 6, 2022
Cartoonish characters that do not talk or act like real people. Just bad writing.
September 17, 2022
See my full review here.
A librarian, an assassin, and a 75-year-old Nazi mystery - irresistible! And it was a hell of a ride, as Patton Harcourt teams up with the mysterious Nemo after he saves her from a pair of killers at her home in small-town North Carolina. Before long they have an encrypted Nazi message in hand and are off to London’s Bletchley Park in search of an Enigma machine. Just like The Da Vinci Code, this unlikely duo escapes death as they speed through Europe, from Munich to Prague to the Alps. Flashbacks to World War II add layers of historical information to the modern mystery. There’s depth here too – both Patton and Nemo are damaged goods, and their backstories serve to make them sympathetic protagonists who occasionally make mistakes as they try to do the right thing. There are just enough clues as to what is going on to keep you figuring things out and enjoying the caper, though sometimes Lovett explains more than he needs to. My thanks to Blackstone Publishing for the digital reading copy provided in exchange for my honest review.
A librarian, an assassin, and a 75-year-old Nazi mystery - irresistible! And it was a hell of a ride, as Patton Harcourt teams up with the mysterious Nemo after he saves her from a pair of killers at her home in small-town North Carolina. Before long they have an encrypted Nazi message in hand and are off to London’s Bletchley Park in search of an Enigma machine. Just like The Da Vinci Code, this unlikely duo escapes death as they speed through Europe, from Munich to Prague to the Alps. Flashbacks to World War II add layers of historical information to the modern mystery. There’s depth here too – both Patton and Nemo are damaged goods, and their backstories serve to make them sympathetic protagonists who occasionally make mistakes as they try to do the right thing. There are just enough clues as to what is going on to keep you figuring things out and enjoying the caper, though sometimes Lovett explains more than he needs to. My thanks to Blackstone Publishing for the digital reading copy provided in exchange for my honest review.
September 5, 2022
Jasper Fleming was present at the liberation of Dachau. After he killed a young German soldier, he discovered a coded message on the body that he kept as a reminder. It is an action that will lead to his death seventy years later. Jasper’s only friend was his neighbor Patton Harcourt. When Jasper’s home was searched after his death and the message was not found, two men come after her. Patton is saved by Nemo, the assassin originally sent to kill Jasper. The message is actually hidden in a book that Jasper had given to Patton. Now she and Nemo must stay ahead of the killers and decipher the code if they want to stay alive.
Ingrid Weiss heads an organization that returns books stolen by the Germans to the descendants of the original owners. It is a cover for Weiss’ true activities. The encoded message is the key to the location of a treasure that could finance the rise of a new Reich. Patton has a connection at Bletchley Park with access to an enigma machine, so she and Nemo are off to London. While there, her friend introduces them to a collector of WWII memorabilia. At each step on their journey they add another member to their quest with specific skills. Patton was in military intelligence, Nemo is an assassin with financial resources, Alex is an expert on WWII history and Jean is a professor of art history. They are also joined by three former soldiers who have been tracking Patton. They are survivors of an attack blamed on Patton’s error during her service and they want revenge for their fallen comrades. The greater danger facing the group forces them to all work together. From North Carolina to London, Switzerland, Italy and Germany their path is strewn with danger, but this unusual group is the best hope in preventing the return of the darkness that covered Europe in WWII. Charlie Lovett mixes history with the present quest that should please fans of Steve Berry and Dan Brown. I would like to thank NetGallley and Blackstone Publishing for providing this book for my review.
Ingrid Weiss heads an organization that returns books stolen by the Germans to the descendants of the original owners. It is a cover for Weiss’ true activities. The encoded message is the key to the location of a treasure that could finance the rise of a new Reich. Patton has a connection at Bletchley Park with access to an enigma machine, so she and Nemo are off to London. While there, her friend introduces them to a collector of WWII memorabilia. At each step on their journey they add another member to their quest with specific skills. Patton was in military intelligence, Nemo is an assassin with financial resources, Alex is an expert on WWII history and Jean is a professor of art history. They are also joined by three former soldiers who have been tracking Patton. They are survivors of an attack blamed on Patton’s error during her service and they want revenge for their fallen comrades. The greater danger facing the group forces them to all work together. From North Carolina to London, Switzerland, Italy and Germany their path is strewn with danger, but this unusual group is the best hope in preventing the return of the darkness that covered Europe in WWII. Charlie Lovett mixes history with the present quest that should please fans of Steve Berry and Dan Brown. I would like to thank NetGallley and Blackstone Publishing for providing this book for my review.
September 5, 2022
Jasper Fleming was present at the liberation of Dachau. After he killed a young German soldier, he discovered a coded message on the body that he kept as a reminder. It is an action that will lead to his death seventy years later. Jasper’s only friend was his neighbor Patton Harcourt. When Jasper’s home was searched after his death and the message was not found, two men come after her. Patton is saved by Nemo, the assassin originally sent to kill Jasper. The message is actually hidden in a book that Jasper had given to Patton. Now she and Nemo must stay ahead of the killers and decipher the code if they want to stay alive.
Ingrid Weiss heads an organization that returns books stolen by the Germans to the descendants of the original owners. It is a cover for Weiss’ true activities. The encoded message is the key to the location of a treasure that could finance the rise of a new Reich. Patton has a connection at Bletchley Park with access to an enigma machine, so she and Nemo are off to London. While there, her friend introduces them to a collector of WWII memorabilia. At each step on their journey they add another member to their quest with specific skills. Patton was in military intelligence, Nemo is an assassin with financial resources, Alex is an expert on WWII history and Jean is a professor of art history. They are also joined by three former soldiers who have been tracking Patton. They are survivors of an attack blamed on Patton’s error during her service and they want revenge for their fallen comrades. The greater danger facing the group forces them to all work together. From North Carolina to London, Switzerland, Italy and Germany their path is strewn with danger, but this unusual group is the best hope in preventing the return of the darkness that covered Europe in WWII. Charlie Lovett mixes history with the present quest that should please fans of Steve Berry and Dan Brown. I would like to thank NetGallley and Blackstone Publishing for providing this book for my review.
Ingrid Weiss heads an organization that returns books stolen by the Germans to the descendants of the original owners. It is a cover for Weiss’ true activities. The encoded message is the key to the location of a treasure that could finance the rise of a new Reich. Patton has a connection at Bletchley Park with access to an enigma machine, so she and Nemo are off to London. While there, her friend introduces them to a collector of WWII memorabilia. At each step on their journey they add another member to their quest with specific skills. Patton was in military intelligence, Nemo is an assassin with financial resources, Alex is an expert on WWII history and Jean is a professor of art history. They are also joined by three former soldiers who have been tracking Patton. They are survivors of an attack blamed on Patton’s error during her service and they want revenge for their fallen comrades. The greater danger facing the group forces them to all work together. From North Carolina to London, Switzerland, Italy and Germany their path is strewn with danger, but this unusual group is the best hope in preventing the return of the darkness that covered Europe in WWII. Charlie Lovett mixes history with the present quest that should please fans of Steve Berry and Dan Brown. I would like to thank NetGallley and Blackstone Publishing for providing this book for my review.
May 18, 2023
This was an entertaining story, good guys versus bad guys chasing around Europe trying to solve a mystery involving Heinrich Himmler’s quest to turn “base materials” into gold. There were some good characters to root for and against, and also some one-dimensional stereotypes. The plot likewise had enough substance to keep me interested all the way to the end, but there were enough holes in it and too-convenient coincidences to inspire eye-rolling at times. The whole plot line involving the three people that Patton thinks are trying to kill her at the beginning of the book had no credibility, in my opinion. Altogether not a bad read, but not among the best of the genre.
October 2, 2022
Pangram! A P L K H E N I T
November 22, 2022
Another great book by this author. I definitely recommend all his books.
February 11, 2023
I actually loved it … it does sound bonkers when you read the description - it’s witty, complex, and well-written. Makes me want to read more of Charlie Lovett
January 27, 2023
An assortment of CHs and a very fast Pace make this Adventure Thriller work but I wanted to like it more than I did. Mostly, because the story concept of using the Enigma machine from WWII to thwart a White Supremacist group was intriguing. The Settings (NC, London, Germany, Italy) were well-drawn but most of CHs, especially the villains, were cartoonish. The chess game strategy begins as clever and compelling but the secondary revenge plot fell flat and resolved unbelievably. There had to be a better way to find allies. The top criticism I have is that the dialogue was unwieldy—often punctuating the plot with unlikely patter after and before major plot events that were too detailed or failed attempts at wit. The ending was slick and somewhat satisfactory; the CHs Patton and Nemo the best developed. There is a nod to be inclusive with racially diverse and LGBTQ CHs. This might be okay for Dan Brown addicts, who have also enjoyed Jeff Abbott and James Rollins.
January 30, 2023
Entertaining adventure with interesting characters and some fun plot twists.
November 26, 2023
I loved the plot.
I did not love the editing.
To move from one plot thread to the next with only a new paragraph was disconcerting. Something as simple as a space between one narrative and the next would have been helpful.
Otherwise I would have given this 5 stars.
I did not love the editing.
To move from one plot thread to the next with only a new paragraph was disconcerting. Something as simple as a space between one narrative and the next would have been helpful.
Otherwise I would have given this 5 stars.
August 27, 2022
Patton Harcourt, ex-military and now a librarian in a small town in rural North Carolina (the reason for which will be revealed in the book). She is making a sweet dessert for her neighbor when a bullet whistles by her. She eludes injury because of her military training, but when Nemo, a professional assassin appears at her door, explaining that he took out the shooter, an unusual partnership is formed. Both have some dark history, which makes for an entertaining relationship between the two throughout the book. It turns out that her neighbor was protecting a secret message (using the Nazi Enigma Code that was cracked during WWII) which will lead Patton and Nemo to Bletchley Park in London and then onwards to Munich, Prague, and Switzerland in search of the reason for the secret message. They are joined along the way by an art historian and a collector of Nazi memorabilia as well as a couple of others (who shall remain nameless to avoid spoilers). Reichsfuhrer Heinrich Himmler appears at the root of the search given his search for an alchemist who could turn base into gold. The Enigma Affair is a thriller filled with historical fact that will keep you turning page after page. The book has plenty of suspense, some surprising twists and turns, and interesting characters, both likeable and despicable. A thoroughly enjoyable read. My thanks to Blackstone Publishing and Edelweiss for the opportunity to read and review the ARC of this novel.
August 17, 2022
This book made me gasp at the twist, which is all you can ask for in a thriller!
Patton is making a pastry when she feels a bullet pass by her head. She figures she knows who is shooting at her, and why, but the person who enters her home isn't who she's expects. Nemo tells her that he just tranquilized one of the people hunting her - and he wants to know what she knows about her neighbor Jasper. Nemo was hired to kill Jasper, but when two other men ransack Jasper's home after he has left, he gets curious. He follows the other men to Patton's house and saves her, but now both of them are in a race with a mysterious woman to find a Nazi communique, use an old Enigma machine to decipher it, and find the treasure it leads to.
There have been a lot of thrillers written about WWII, but this one doesn't feel like it is going over old territory. Perhaps it is because the group going after the treasure consists of a hit man, a former intelligence agent who is a lesbian and her one-time lover, and a civilian who doesn't give up investigating when she receives an unexpected package related to their quest. And of course, the people Patton expected to kill her show up at exactly the wrong (or right?) time as well.
The story is very satisfying and keeps you turning the pages. I did literally gasp at one point (you'll know when you read it). It is a really enjoyable thriller and a history lesson as well.
Thanks to Netgalley for the advance copy.
Patton is making a pastry when she feels a bullet pass by her head. She figures she knows who is shooting at her, and why, but the person who enters her home isn't who she's expects. Nemo tells her that he just tranquilized one of the people hunting her - and he wants to know what she knows about her neighbor Jasper. Nemo was hired to kill Jasper, but when two other men ransack Jasper's home after he has left, he gets curious. He follows the other men to Patton's house and saves her, but now both of them are in a race with a mysterious woman to find a Nazi communique, use an old Enigma machine to decipher it, and find the treasure it leads to.
There have been a lot of thrillers written about WWII, but this one doesn't feel like it is going over old territory. Perhaps it is because the group going after the treasure consists of a hit man, a former intelligence agent who is a lesbian and her one-time lover, and a civilian who doesn't give up investigating when she receives an unexpected package related to their quest. And of course, the people Patton expected to kill her show up at exactly the wrong (or right?) time as well.
The story is very satisfying and keeps you turning the pages. I did literally gasp at one point (you'll know when you read it). It is a really enjoyable thriller and a history lesson as well.
Thanks to Netgalley for the advance copy.
August 17, 2022
I was so excited to find that Charlie Lovett, a favorite author of mine, had a new book coming out, but I'm sad to say this one fell a little flat for me. I'm used to the other books Lovett has written being mysteries with storylines that take place in the past and the present, and I've always loved that about his other works. The Enigma Affair, however, falls much more into the thriller genre, which isn't really my cup of tea. So through no fault of Mr. Lovett's, I didn't enjoy this book as much as I had hoped I would. However, if you're a fan of WWII mysteries/thrillers, I'd be willing to bet this book would be right up your street!
One note on the fun addition of encrypted text, which I hope won't be spoiler-y: I was expecting something more interesting when I decrypted it, but in the end it was interesting to have a chance to actually use an Enigma emulator after reading so much about the original machine throughout the book.
Many thanks to Blackstone Publishing for the eARC of this novel, provided in exchange for a review.
One note on the fun addition of encrypted text, which I hope won't be spoiler-y: I was expecting something more interesting when I decrypted it, but in the end it was interesting to have a chance to actually use an Enigma emulator after reading so much about the original machine throughout the book.
Many thanks to Blackstone Publishing for the eARC of this novel, provided in exchange for a review.
April 17, 2023
A Review of the Audiobook
Published by Blackstone Publishing in September of 2022.
Read by Nicole Zanzerella.
Duration: 12 hours, 6 minutes.
Unabridged.
Synopsis:
Patton Harcourt is a very small town librarian in North Carolina. One morning, while cooking in the kitchen, a sniper round comes through her window and nearly hits her. She reacts well (thanks to her previous career in the military) and finds a stranger at her door.
He is not the sniper, but he is an assassin that was hired to kill another person in town. Against her better judgment, she joins with the assassin to elude the sniper team.
All of that happens in the first 10 minutes or so of this audiobook.
From there, they discover a handmade copy of World War II Enigma machine (the British machine that broke the German secret codes) and are off to confront modern-day Neo-Nazis...
My Review:
This book was certainly action-packed, extremely fast-paced ,and had some good moments. But, it also had some practical issues that just didn't jive with reality. For example, one of the main plot points is that they cannot access the internet because they will be detected and tracked down. This completely ignores the existence of proxy servers. A professional assassin should have been familiar with this technology as a way to hide his location when communicating with clients.
Later, the characters are speaking German and passing off as native speakers (this is a vitally important point more than once). Granted, it is not complicated German, but very few untrained people can pass themselves off as native speakers in a second language. I've been speaking Spanish as a second language for years and I would never be confused for a native speaker.
This is not a bad book. The quick pace was fun, the bad guys are truly bad, and the flashbacks to World War II were well-done. But, the end result was 3 stars out of 5.
https://dwdsreviews.blogspot.com/2023...
Published by Blackstone Publishing in September of 2022.
Read by Nicole Zanzerella.
Duration: 12 hours, 6 minutes.
Unabridged.
Synopsis:
Patton Harcourt is a very small town librarian in North Carolina. One morning, while cooking in the kitchen, a sniper round comes through her window and nearly hits her. She reacts well (thanks to her previous career in the military) and finds a stranger at her door.
He is not the sniper, but he is an assassin that was hired to kill another person in town. Against her better judgment, she joins with the assassin to elude the sniper team.
All of that happens in the first 10 minutes or so of this audiobook.
From there, they discover a handmade copy of World War II Enigma machine (the British machine that broke the German secret codes) and are off to confront modern-day Neo-Nazis...
My Review:
This book was certainly action-packed, extremely fast-paced ,and had some good moments. But, it also had some practical issues that just didn't jive with reality. For example, one of the main plot points is that they cannot access the internet because they will be detected and tracked down. This completely ignores the existence of proxy servers. A professional assassin should have been familiar with this technology as a way to hide his location when communicating with clients.
Later, the characters are speaking German and passing off as native speakers (this is a vitally important point more than once). Granted, it is not complicated German, but very few untrained people can pass themselves off as native speakers in a second language. I've been speaking Spanish as a second language for years and I would never be confused for a native speaker.
This is not a bad book. The quick pace was fun, the bad guys are truly bad, and the flashbacks to World War II were well-done. But, the end result was 3 stars out of 5.
https://dwdsreviews.blogspot.com/2023...
January 19, 2023
The thing is if you’re going to write a thriller….the writer must make sure that the plot, dialog, and characters are well done and flow, so that the reader is willing to buy into the story …no matter how head scratching some parts of it might be. “The enigma effect” does none of those things well. It’s too bad, because the first few pages had me hooked. Unfortunately, it went almost straight downhill from there. From “ well, that’s kind of interesting“… To “ getting a little far-fetched“… To “ give me a break, they’d never do that“… And finally to ridiculous/stupid/ preposterous. Take your pick or use all three. They certainly all apply to this one. It gets 2 stars because I actually finished it. Luckily, it was only a day out of my life.
Sent from the all new AOL app for iOS
Sent from the all new AOL app for iOS
January 14, 2024
I'm generally not a reader of WWII historical fiction or mysteries because I think the WWII fiction drama is oversaturated and overdone, but I am fascinated by Bletchley Park and all the work on the Engima machine. I thought the plot of this novel was interesting, but I don't think it quite accomplished what the author set out to do. Some thriller/mysteries that have enough external action that characterization really isn't necessary, whereas others need more characterization in order to make the story successful. The problem here is that the narrative didn't have quite enough action to overcome flat characters and it really hurt the overall impact of the story.
November 27, 2024
I started this book a few months before the 2024 U.S. election. Outside stressors drove to "comfort food" reading (old romances), so i only resumed reading this a few weeks after the election. Then I wasn't sure I wanted to continue, given that the plot revolves around people trying to revive Germany's third reich. Too close to the bone, given the hateful associations to one of our candidate's willingness to embrace Fascisim to win re-election... and so many people voting to allow him to do so.
I finally finished the book. It was an okay thriller with the fascinating tease of an Enigma-machine encoded message that survived World War II in the keeping of a U.S. soldier who was among the liberators of the Dachau concentration camp. I set it aside a second time after a particularly disturbing chapter involving a torture interrogation session, in which a woman bystander was forced to participate. Not what I expected based on past Charlie Lovett books. At least, not from one of the characters I am eventually expected to like...
The plot embraces not only the restored code-breaking equipment of Bletchley Park in England, but tours of a remarkable Prague library; the Nazi memorabilia collection of an obsessive historian; and a bit of art history. I enjoyed time with Patton, the lead character, who joins forces with Nemo, an unexpected ally, to track down and stop people seeking long-rumored Nazi gold to finance the revival of the Third Reich. I'm still a little unsure of how a final caper played out–I may need to re-read it to be clear how they pulled off a switch. There are a lot of unlikely last-minute rescues, sudden appearances by random characters, and probably a little history-tweaking here and there for the knowledgeable. But this was an entertaining read, aside from the previously mentioned violent passage.
I finally finished the book. It was an okay thriller with the fascinating tease of an Enigma-machine encoded message that survived World War II in the keeping of a U.S. soldier who was among the liberators of the Dachau concentration camp. I set it aside a second time after a particularly disturbing chapter involving a torture interrogation session, in which a woman bystander was forced to participate. Not what I expected based on past Charlie Lovett books. At least, not from one of the characters I am eventually expected to like...
The plot embraces not only the restored code-breaking equipment of Bletchley Park in England, but tours of a remarkable Prague library; the Nazi memorabilia collection of an obsessive historian; and a bit of art history. I enjoyed time with Patton, the lead character, who joins forces with Nemo, an unexpected ally, to track down and stop people seeking long-rumored Nazi gold to finance the revival of the Third Reich. I'm still a little unsure of how a final caper played out–I may need to re-read it to be clear how they pulled off a switch. There are a lot of unlikely last-minute rescues, sudden appearances by random characters, and probably a little history-tweaking here and there for the knowledgeable. But this was an entertaining read, aside from the previously mentioned violent passage.
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