The Interrogator

by Andrew Williams

Spring, 1941. The armies of the Reich are masters of Europe. Britain stands alone, dependent on her battered navy for survival, while Hitler's submarines -- his 'grey wolves' - prey on the Atlantic convoys that are the country's only lifeline. Lieutenant Douglas Lindsay is amongst just a handful of men picked up when his ship is torpedoed. Unable to free himself from the memories of that night at sea, he becomes an interrogator with naval intelligence, questioning captured U-Boat crews. He is convinced the Germans have broken British naval codes, but he's a lone voice, a damaged outsider, and his superiors begin to wonder - can he really be trusted when so much is at stake? As the Blitz reduces Britain's cities to rubble and losses at sea mount, Lindsay becomes increasingly isolated and desperate. No one will believe him, not even his lover, Mary Henderson, who works at the very heart of the intelligence establishment. Lindsay decides to risk all in one last throw of the dice, setting a trap for his prize captive - and nemisis - U-Boat Commander Jurgen Mohr, the man who sent his ship to its doom...

Genres: Fiction, Thriller, Historical Fiction, Historical, War, Espionage

375 pages, Paperback

First published January 8, 2009

About the author

Andrew worked as a senior producer on BBC Television's flagship current affairs programmes, Panorama and Newsnight, covering the major stories of the day. In 1997 he moved to BBC Documentaries and spent the next eleven years writing and directing television documentaries and drama documentaries for the BBC and international co-producers, including the award winning series, 'The Battle of the Atlantic'. He has written two best selling histories of the Second World War; 'The Battle of the Atlantic', and 'D-Day to Berlin'. His first novel, 'The Interrogator', was shortlisted for the CWA Ian Fleming Thriller of the Year Award and the Ellis Peters Historical Fiction Award, and it was the Daily Mail's debut thriller of 2009. His second, 'To Kill A Tsar', was one of the Daily Mail's thrillers of 2010 and was shortlisted for The Scott Prize for Historical Fiction and the Ellis Peters Award. HIs 1960's espionage thriller, Witchfinder, was one of The Times Literary Supplement Books of the Year. Set inside the British intelligence services in the weeks following the defection of master spy, Kim Philby to the Soviet Union, it tells the story of an MI5 and CIA mole hunt that spirals dangerously out of control. Andrew's latest novel, The Prime Minister's Affair, is the story of a plot to blackmail a Labour Prime Minister and bring down the British Government. The Daily Mail described Andrew 'as one of Britain's most accomplished thriller writers', and the Times Literary Supplement noted that 'if le Carré needs a successor, Williams has all the equipment for the role.'

For background to his books and more on the author, visit: http://www.andrewwilliams.tv You can follow and discuss the books with Andrew on Facebook at AndrewWilliamsbooks or follow on twitter @AWilliamswriter.

Reviews

[Gerald Sinstadt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another new thriller writer with a decent story to tell but lacking the true author's gift of pace and suspense. The result is a novel too long for its content and unrewarding in its central characters. Clearly a great deal of research has gone into re-creating the London of 1940-41 and into the u-boat war which is the book's central theme; but research alone is not enough.

The romantic relationship between the interrogator, Douglas Lindsay, and Dr Mary Henderson a bluestocking archaeologist working in naval intelligence, only half convinces, and therein lies a problem. If the reader is not engaged by the fate of the central characters, the urge to turn the page diminishes.

As a post-script, this observation: the author, a former BBC documentary director, allows Ian Fleming a peripheral role, but otherwise is apparently happy to name his characters mundanely - Lindsay, Jones, Henderson, Herbert, Samuels, Hyde, Brown and so on. A notable exception is Colonel Checkland - after a former BBC Director General?

[Rob Kitchin · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Interrogator is a run of the mill wartime thriller in which the main protagonist, Lieutenant Douglas Lindsay of British Naval Intelligence, seeks to crack a senior U-boat commander to determine if the British naval codes have been broken. Williams’ hook is to make Lindsay half-German, bullish and reckless, and therefore not entirely trustworthy, and to add in a romance to the academic Mary Henderson who has been recruited into the naval tracking room and whose brother works with Lindsay (and needless to say doesn’t like him). The plot consists principally of two, intertwined battle of wits between Lindsay and Jurgen Mohr, the U-boot commander, and Lindsay and his bosses. The ending is pretty well telegraphed and the last part fizzles out and was somewhat unnecessary. Overall, an interesting enough tale, but lacked twists and tension.

[Dolf Patijn · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is not possible to give half stars, otherwise I would have given it three-and-a-half stars.
I like the slower pace in this book. The tension builds up nicely. The atmosphere of wartime London is palpable. Plenty of research went into this book but that doesn't interfere with the story. I thought the characters were quite believable but a bit on the surface.

I really liked this book. Robert Harris' Enigma is still my favourite thriller about decoding in wartime England. This book, however, explores the subject from a different angle and is therefore a nice addition to the genre. Recommended.

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Douglas Lindsay is a survivor of a U-boat attack, who, because of his German mother is transferred to shore duties as an interrogator of captured German naval crew in WWII Britain. He falls in love with Mary Henderson, working in naval intelligence, who knows of the Enigma secret that Lindsay doesn’t when he suspects the Germans have broken the British code. An intriguing game of cat and mouse with a U-boat captain follows in a measured, authentic and tense narrative with the threads appropriately resolved

[WTD · Rating 3 out of 5]

Slow

I always distrust publisher claims that a new author is in the same league as an established success this book was sold on the review line that it was up there with Robert Harris while it is well researched and tells a fresh story it has none of Harris's page-turning pace.

[Derek Nudd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Williams has clearly done his research. Naval prisoner interrogation is an interest of mine and, given the needs of dramatic licence, I find little to fault in his use of historical material here. The art of the historical novelist - which I deeply admire - if (s)he is to go further than using the period simply as a backdrop is to weave the fictional narrative seamlessly through the scaffolding of known events. Robert Harris and Sharon Penman (to name but two) are superb at this but Andrew Williams has had a pretty good go.

There are places where he might have been braver. A prison camp clearly meant to represent Grizedale Hall could have been named as such without loss. Using a character obviously based on Bernard Trench to drive the plot forward meant he had to be fictionalised when perhaps he might have been better left alone and another device found.

Cutting to the chase though the key threat at the heart of the narrative was real and the story is well if not compellingly told. The ending could be stronger.

[Michael Spencer · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great read.

I really enjoyed this book. The history was interesting and appropriate. The author captured the captured the youthful spirit and courage of the time perfectly. Yes a great read. Thank You.

[Ant Koplowitz · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book started well but by halfway it had flagged significantly. The u-boat theme was interesting and I learnt stuff that I wasn't aware of. I enjoyed the cat-and-mouse nature of the relationship between the captured German naval captain and the spy/interrogator, but overall there was something missing for me.

I liked the introduction of Ian Flemming as a relatively minor administrator within naval intelligence, and the believable local. But I got fed-up with the slow pace and overly long descriptions of the characters playing verbal games and their too long speeches. Also, for people who worked as part if the intelligence service, there was so much loose talk, I don't think any of them could have remained quiet if they had tried.

This is a decent enough thriller, but in today's crowded spy themed marketplace, I'm not sure this book does enough to make if anything other than a run- of the mildly story.

[DGT · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wish that publishers' blurbs and reviewers would say something about how a story is told. I read Andrew Williams' war-time espionage thriller because the story looked interesting: " a ... spy story set in the darkest days of the Second World War. The Enigma Code has been broken - but what if German High Command can read our naval signals, too? For all readers of John le Carre and Robert Harris - 'Terrific... Robert Harris had better watch out' Daily Mail." But the telling is so conventional: we know that someone has a steely look about him, that there are flecks of some colour or other in his or her eyes, and so on. The comparisons with John Le Carre and Robert Harris are on the basis of subject-matter alone but both of these authors know something about indirect narration and, on the basis of this novel, Andrew Williams does not.

[Aisling · Rating 3 out of 5]

1942 and German U-Boats are causing devastion to British warships and merchant shipping in the Atlantic so when the captain and crew of a U-boat are captured there are no limits on the tacticts employed to glean information from them. A very interesting read for anyone interested in WW11 and especially the early days of the intelligence services.

[Gemma · Rating 3 out of 5]

Did its job. Didn't blow me away but it was interesting and was on a subject I haven't read about before, namely U-boats. Seemed to be somewhere between a twist filled page turner and a slow burning suspenseful spy novel. Not rocking any boats but potentially it wasn't supposed to, in which case it fulfilled its duty.

[Andy Walker]

"Enigma"-style wartime thriller focusing on the little-known fact that the Nazis read the Royal Navy's codes for much of the war, a topic which has had, as yet, only thin coverage. Not great, not bad. A two-evening read.

[J · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok WWII novel. Good sense of time and place based on an apparently little known fact regarding the successful breaking of British codes by the Germans.

[S Glenn Krochmal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Back to the cold war with real vigor!

[Grada (BoekenTrol)]

http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/8...

[Martijn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good fun and with an unusual topic for a WWII-novel. I liked the ending - no cheap feel-good stuff, but just something taken from real life.

[Carey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad, quite interesting plot line but not totally believable characters. Liked the ending, not too sentimental.

[Gary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Run of the mill WW2 novel, good but could have been better.

[Cold War Conversations Podcast · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good feel for the period, but I expected more twists.

[Studvet · Rating 3 out of 5]

Adequately interesting, but no more than that.