Hellyer's Line: An espionage novel

by Philip Prowse

Hellyer’s Line unfolds in Athens in the summer of 1974. It’s a hot and dangerous time as the ruling military junta collapses and Turkey invades neighbouring Cyprus. There is a spy in the British embassy and Nick Hellyer, working for British intelligence, is despatched to determine the traitor. Prowse lived in Athens at the time and the Greek capital is sharply drawn. British spies are not welcome and Hellyer, in his third outing, is soon in danger . . . and romantically entangled. FINANCIAL TIMES

This hugely enjoyable and distinctive series … blends the almost absurdist complexities required of the espionage genre with honed humour and meticulous historical research. The story sees Nick Hellyer sent to Athens to uncover a double agent at the British embassy. As ever, Nick’s official assignment turns out to be the least of his problems. The military junta is in its last weeks, Turkey is about to invade Cyprus, and it’s really not a great time to be British in Greece. On the streets many see British functionaries as merely junior Americans, and therefore legitimate targets, while some still remember Churchill’s wicked, blood-soaked betrayal of Greek democracy in 1944. MORNING STAR

Prologue
Athens, Saturday 16 November 1973
Chanting demonstrators raise fists on rooftops, hang out of windows waving outsize Greek flags and balance astride poster-draped gates and railings. What started as a student occupation of the Polytechneio has mushroomed into a massive popular protest against the ruling military junta. In the streets outside, thousands cry ‘Psomi! Paideia! Eleftheria!’ Bread! Education! Freedom! Demands that are scrawled on walls and pillars alongside anti-NATO and anti-American graffiti. An improvised radio station transmits news of the uprising to the people of Athens and the world beyond. Sporadic firing breaks out late in the evening after successive police charges fail to disperse the growing crowd. The shooting intensifies as the snap of individual shots becomes the clatter of volleys. Single shoes, burst handbags, torn jackets and twisted bodies lie abandoned. At three in the morning a tank smashes down the main gate and troops storm the campus, crushing the revolt. Police and soldiers have fired over 24,000 rounds, killing at least thirty-four demonstrators and wounding hundreds.
Aliki kneels beside her boyfriend. A single shot to the head. An aimed bullet, not a random round. In a blood-smeared skirt she clutches his hands to her heart. But tears refuse to fall.

319 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 9, 2022

About the author

Philip Prowse, author of the Nick Hellyer espionage series, lived and worked overseas for over a decade including periods in Egypt where Hellyer’s Trip takes place against the background of the 1967 Six Day War, Portugal whose 1974 Carnation Revolution and guerrilla war in Mozambique feature in Hellyer’s Coup, and Greece where the fall of the military junta and the 1974 invasion of Cyprus provide the setting for Hellyer’s Line.

Moving into an unknown country with an alien language and culture, ways of thinking and perspectives on life parallels that of the secret agent’s struggle to swim unobserved in perilous waters. Through the series we follow Nick Hellyer’s development from reluctant accidental academic spy to trained hardened professional. But his depth of experience has been gained at the cost of traumatic incidents which have increased his vulnerability and undermined his self-confidence.

We experience events from Nick’s point of view, knowing and seeing only what he does as he hurtles towards his destiny. We are privy to his thoughts and self-doubt, exhilaration and despair, delirium and delight. We interpret this evidence in our own way and reach our own conclusions because like him we want to know how it will all end.

Reading a fast-moving Hellyer novel will immerse you in a story where accurate historical fact and plausible fiction meld, where with Nick as guide you may uncover fresh truths about the world and even yourself.

Listening to the masterly narration on the top quality audiobooks will bring the characters and action to vivid life.

Reviews

[Glen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I won this book in a goodreads drawing.

In 1974, a British agent is sent to Greece to find the mole. He has an affair with his secretary. The British have a dark history in Greece, as they do most places, and that makes the job that much harder.

Definitely not in the James Bond school of fiction, but still okay.

[Meredith Parets · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to the author and publisher for a free Kindle copy!

There were several things I enjoyed about this novel: the setting (1970s Cyprus) and the central mystery of unmasking a traitor within the ranks of the intelligence service.

Having said that, there was a woodenness to the characters and the story that made it difficult for me to be invested. There was some over-writing and over-description as well, and I think some editing may have helped. It felt almost like it was written to a spy story template.

I'm not a big espionage reader, so take the above with a grain of salt if you are.

[Mark Frangia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't usually go for spy novels but this one intrigued me as it was set in Athens in a political time frame I also personally experienced. Having said that, the author's recollection of events and their portrayal are credible and interesting, as are his personal descriptions of characters he meets and intertacts with. All in all an enticing, informative and good read.

Mark di Frangia, author

[Chris · Rating 2 out of 5]

An okay read.
Thanks to Goodreads for the kindle copy.