Corpus: A gripping spy thriller

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The plot is set during the Second World War and dives straight into the action with a plane crash in Scotland which kills most onboard including the brother of the British monarch, hence the use of “Prince” in the title. The action moves around the country and then on to Sweden. For some reason which I have yet to fathom the plot revolves around Professor Tom Wilde (the spy) trying to establish and prove that the Nazis are murdering thousands of Jews in death camps in Eastern Europe. To what end remains a mystery to me. Even if FDR and Churchill could be convinced it’s not clear what action would or could be taken. This was hard work. When a publisher advertises a novel 'for fans of Robert Harris' I expect more. Harris is a master at taking historical events, building believable characters, bringing dialogue to life and creating real suspense - even when the reader knows the outcome. Rory Clements doesn't. Corpus is quite rich in history and detail within the plot, so there are many threads to follow. The author has done a great job of weaving it together cohesively and the end result is a highly intriguing read.' * Bibliophile Book Club * Author Rory Clements is obviously best known for his John Shakespeare series and I will admit that, although I have meant to read those books for ages, I have not yet got around to doing so. However, when I discovered he had written a new novel, set in 1930’s Cambridge, I was keen to finally give this author a try and I was very impressed. Simply from the writing style, you can tell this is no debut novel – the author is obviously very accomplished and the writing style flows well. Whilst the fifth book in the series, it can easily be read as a standalone, however I think you would soon be devouring the rest.

This is a fun, gripping series set at a fascinating time in Britain’s history when each side was plotting to win the propaganda war and influence America. It tempts me to start reading Clements’ Elizabethan spy novels. This plane crash actually happened and there was indeed a survivor but the rest of the plot is obviously fiction. In 1942 little was known about the Nazis “final solution”and this too features in the novel although, defector Rudi Coburg did not exist: in this book he is trying to escape the Nazis and reveal the truth to the world. One or two ironies: the British traitor Quayle is an overt homosexual Instead of being set just before World War II, this book sees the start of the conflict in 1939 and is a mixture of real people and events and the fictional. To be honest, it is the fictional that are the most interesting, especially the rather charismatic and enigmatic Marcus Marfield. Although there were times when I found it necessary to suspend disbelief about some of the plot developments, I felt enough engagement with the characters to feel able to do so with good humoured tolerance! Tom’s forays into the dark, murky world of espionage, whilst demanding more suspension of disbelief, did allow the author to explore the labyrinthine interrelationships and rivalries between MI6, MI5, Special Branch etc. However, I was able to feel much more straightforwardly engaged with the more realistic complexities of the relationship between Tom and Lydia, and the will they/won’t they ever get married question which continues to hang over it. Each of them is likeable and convincing and at the end of the story I was left wanting to know what will happen to them as the war progresses!Great new character, upbeat pace, low cunning plot, a fine read'. -- Jon Wise * The Sport newspaper * This was a super book that I read in 24 hours, with so many twists, turns and an international conspiracy, that I really didn’t know what to expect next. Even though I read this just before Christmas, I still get the shivers thinking about the villain and the things that happened. This is definitely the best in the series so far, and I can’t wait for the next book, even though I have to wait another year! Dramatic . . . pacy and assured . . . Well crafted, it has all the pleasures of an intriguing lead character, intricate plot and fascinating historical context' Daily Mail As in other books by this author there is a lot of excitement and nail biting, edge of your seat action. Tom Wilde is a great hero who is constantly striving to do the right thing, even resisting romantic temptation when it is put in his path. We begin in Berlin, August 1936. A young woman, called Nancy Hereward, is on a mission to deliver some false papers to a Jewish physicist. We then move to Cambridge – it is November 1936 and we meet our main character, the history professor, Tom Wilde. Tom lives next door to Lydia, who was friends with Nancy and also another woman named Margot. When Nancy is found dead, from a supposed drugs overdose, Tom finds himself offering Lydia support. Lydia does not believe that Nancy’s death was an accident and the pair find themselves embroiled in much more than the murder investigation of one woman.

This time, perhaps because I listened on audio, Wilde came over as a bit of a prig and a bit less sympathetic than in the other two I have read. These secret negotiations will in the end have very severe consequences, being the plane crash and subsequent death of Prince George and his crew in the north of Scotland, while an important aide of Prince Philipp von Hessen, Rudi Coburg, has gone in hiding with very important knowledge to deliver to England and the rest of the world. Rory Clements does a brilliant job in setting the scene and keeping the fictional events relevant to the established historical facts that he is weaving his story around. There are some very unlikeable characters, yet Wilde is a joy to follow and reading this story was something of a treat. Fans of Fatherland, cold war thrillers and political dramas - this is very much one for you.' * Grab This Book * A Prince and a Spy’ is the latest book from the pen of best-selling British based author, Rory Clements. The story is written in the third person and the past tense and we witness most of the action through the eyes of American-born Cambridge Professor, Tom Wilde. Wilde is an academic whose wartime role has seen him employed by the Office of Strategic Services, a newly formed intelligence agency.I struggled with Corpus and eventually gave up. It’s not a really bad book, but I just found it slow, cumbersome and rather turgid, I’m afraid. Fast forward to 1939 and Wilde, and his partner, Lydia, are travelling in France. War is days away and their holiday is winding down, when Wilde has a strange visitor. He informs him that a young English man, previously fighting in the Spanish Civil War, is in an internment camp and needs his help. Wilde was the supervisor of Marcus Marfield at Cambridge and immediately does all he can to obtain his release and return him to England. Clements spins his wheels within wheels to enjoyable, if mind-boggling, effect. Pay attention if you don't want to get lost: it works for thrillers and American Presidents alike. * South China Morning Post *

Revenger is the second book in the John Shakespeare series. It was published in 2010. In this exciting sequel to Martyr, the year is 1592. The countries of Spain and England are at war. But while there are risks going on and the war being waged, home is not safe either. The regal Queen Elizabeth is left vulnerable ever since the passing of Sir Francis Walsingham, who was her most trusted spymaster. This is one of the worst things that could happen while a country is at war, but what can you do? Summary: The creator of Tudor spy John Shakespeare introduces us to a 1930s professor who falls into the world of murder and espionage. Mix in an abdication crisis and unscrupulous powers and we have a top flight historical thriller on our hands. fascinating historical conspiracy...it is in the minutiae of old fashioned sleuthing where the story starts to truly come alive. The mystery at the heart of the novel is intelligently written with this author's fine eye for historical detail and even though the overall pace of the novel is never fast and furious, there are certainly more than enough twists and turns in the plot to keep the reader guessing until the end.' * Jaffa Reads Too * There is a lot of seemingly random connection making in the book which can be hard to swallow and some of the violence is, perhaps, of the extreme variety. I did find myself having to read some sections a couple of times to figure out what on earth was going on as the language can be obfuscatory. Well worth persevering with though and has a strange ring of truth to it (as all the best Historical Fiction should).Clements juggles his story's disparate ingredients very skilfully, without - as far as I could tell - distorting facts. This book is the first in a series - good! * Literary Review * As Germany and the Soviet Union divide up defeated Poland and the British and French prepare for invasion, Wilde pursues his inquiries. Soon, he is reunited with Philip Eaton, an MI6 agent who seems to know a great deal about Marcus Marfield's time in Spain, as does Eaton's colleague, Guy Rowlands. In this maelstrom of plotting and changing of allegiances , this spy story is based. I admit to 'losing' some of the characters and their loyalties in the plot as so-called allies plotted an offensive against another faction of maybe allies both sets thinking they had the Country's best interest at heart.