Reviewed by Emma Crowley
Paris, 1944: secret agent Juliette is on her most dangerous mission of the war so far. But then her children are kidnapped, and to get them back she may have to commit the ultimate betrayal – that of France itself…
Four years ago, when France fell to the Nazis, Juliette made the ultimate sacrifice, leaving behind her two precious children to join the Resistance and defend her country. Now a spy in Paris, she must work with Captain Daniel Diaz – an American agent she’s taken an instant dislike to – on a dangerous mission to uncover a deadly Nazi plot.
As the pair play their parts, Juliette begins to see another side to Daniel, and their feelings for each other start to grow. But just as love blossoms, Juliette receives a ransom note that changes everything. Someone in Paris knows who she is. And they’ve kidnapped her little son and daughter. The message is clear: betray your country, or you’ll never see your children alive again.
Juliette has sworn a sacred oath to save France at all costs, but she could never sacrifice her children. So, against all the odds, she decides to attempt the impossible: rescue her children and continue her dangerous work fighting the Nazi threat.
But as the mission forces Juliette and Daniel to the very brink, will they succeed on all fronts? And if not, will France pay the ultimate price, or will Juliette?
Many thanks to Bookouture via NetGalley for my copy of Paris at First Light to review and to Sharon for having my review on the blog.
Paris at First Light by Amanda Lees is the second in the WW2 Resistance series. It can be read as a standalone but to truly appreciate what these incredible band of women are doing for the war effort I would suggest beginning with book one. This new book continues on the story but this time around the focus is on Juliette although Marianne, Suzanne and Christine do feature again but to a lesser extent. Events in the story are based on fact and the characters are based on people who lived, loved, fought and died for everyone’s freedom. The names of these people have been altered but their daring feats and astounding accomplishments in the face of so much danger and adversity are highlighted here so they will never be forgotten. The female characters are all very strong, determined and forceful and they share a common bond and work together as comrades in arms to help bring about an end to the terror, loss and destruction for so many people in every corner of the world.
Amanda Lees gives her characters such solid and tenacious voices. They truly are incredible for their ingenuity, their abilities and their doggedness to keep going no matter when it seems all could potentially be lost and everything they had done and been through could all have been for nothing. Insights are given into aspects of the war I had never heard of before and clearly extensive research had been undertaken by the author prior to writing this book as there is such unbelievable detail as to manoeuvres, plots and secret work carried out by so many. Admitedly, although it has only been a few short months since I read the first book, I found it took me some time to refamiliarize myself with the characters and at what point they were at now. Things had a very dramatic finish in book one and I was hoping for more of the same here and for major events to happen slightly earlier than they had before. But again I found the story got off to a slow start and there was a lot of jumping around between characters and locations before it finally settled down and found its pace and rhythm and I could anticipate slightly in which direction the plot was going to go.
The main crux of the story is that there are plans afoot to assassinate General Eisenhower in France and Churchill. The Resistance has been officially disbanded in France but still the women and their fellow members will do anything to help stop, what at times seem the unstoppable. Plans are set in motion with a new unit called the Network established. This is a new clandestine operation separate from all the others. To be honest, I found all this information (as it does go into a lot of detail) absolutely fascinating. There were so many people out fighting on the battlefields, innumerable people incarcerated in camps and at the same time so much secret and dangerous work was undertaken by both men and women who were brave, without fear, loyal and above all else dedicated. The Resistance network itself involved so much intricate detail, plotting, manoeuvring, observing and gutsy acts that reading this book made me gain an even deeper appreciation of what so many did for our freedom.
I loved how the further the book developed the more a sense of mystery unfolded and it was like Juliette had to follow the clues. She was on a mission as tasked by the Network as were her fellow members and all the ducking and diving they did and manoeuvring trying to gain information and outwit people was just brilliant. It was like one giant game of chess and one wrong move would lead to the ultimate horrible result for her. Juliette’s mission becomes very personal as, aside from halting the Nazi plot as mentioned above, her two children Nicolas and Natalie along with her mother who was caring for them go missing from their safe house in England. The real maternal side of Juliette starts to come out and she is like a tigress who would protect her cubs at any time. She realises her family situation has been brought onto a major stage and she is dogged in her stance that she will find her children and mother and get them back to safety but she has to be so careful and with American Captain Diaz by her side she must maintain her position undercover as part of a wider operation undertaken by the Network but at the same she can’t let sleeping dogs lie until her loved ones are back in her arms. Juliette, like all the women who feature in this series so far, garners so much respect through her actions and the ability she possesses to never give up even when everything seems to be spiralling out of control.
I loved how Juliette was so mature, astute, cautious and alert yet at the same time she does show a vulnerable side especially when she reveals events in her past which have moulded her into the women she is today. It all becomes clearer the further you delve into the story and you can see what drives her on and motivates her. I thought I had missed something when I read a chapter and it was as if Juliette and Dan had been together and then it jumped forward a bit and it was like this had never happened. So I did become confused for awhile but then every little bit of information I didn’t give much thought to was actually part of the bigger story. In fact Amanda Lees was very clever with her plotting and then having everything coming together with such a dramatic climax was just brilliant. It was filled with tension and edge of your seat stuff and it makes you realise that not everyone is as they seem and to watch out for every person mentioned no matter how small a role you first perceive them to play.
All Juliette wants is peace and her steely resolve sees her play a major role in a big machine that is constantly evolving and on the move. Her story is one of a mother’s love which never wavers in its intensity no matter what objects are placed in its path. Alongside the other women courage, daring and resourcefulness are all words that spring to mind when it comes to their actions. Once this story got going it did become difficult to leave it out of my hands and I found myself racing towards the finish line with my heart in my mouth hoping against hope that things would turn out all right for Juliette and that she would find some sort of happiness and a semblance of normality amidst all the madness and cruelty that surrounded her. I can’t wait to see what women the next book will follow. Suzanne is one character I would certainly like to get to know better and as the war has nowhere reached its conclusion I hope that Amanda Lees has many more stories to tell in this series.
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