Reviewed by Emma Crowley
1944. Beautiful American Kitty Larsson knows better than most that fighting the Nazis comes at a price. She’s spent years working undercover as an agent for the British and knows that doing what is right could cost her everything…
When Kitty is captured during a mission and her true identity is revealed, she learns her beloved husband, Edgar, has gone missing. The Gestapo tell her they have him, and that his life is in her hands. If she doesn’t cooperate, he will die and her worst fears will be realized. If they are telling the truth, Kitty’s secrets might be enough to save the man she loves… But what if they are lying?
Fueled by her desire to do what is right, but also to save the man she loves, Kitty knows that she won’t be able to rest until she can escape and find Edgar. Because surely, somewhere out there, he is still alive…
As the war rages, Kitty tries to think of a plan. Surely this isn’t where it all ends? She needs to know whether Edgar is safe, and to hold him in her arms once again. But, to do that, will Kitty finally have to make the ultimate sacrifice?
Many thanks to Bookouture via NetGalley for my copy of The American Wife’s Secret to review and to Sharon for having my review on the blog.
The American Wife’s Secret is the third and final book in The Diplomat’s Wife series by Chrystyna Lucyk Berger.This new story picks up directly where book two left off with that very dramatic and shocking conclusion which left the reader with so many unanswered questions. I did find that the first chapter would probably have been confusing for those who hadn’t read the previous two books or if you weren’t familiar with intelligence during World War Two. Having finished the book it can be read as a standalone but being 100% honest to fully appreciate and understand what a fantastic, resilient and remarkable character Kitty Larson is I would recommend going back and starting with the first book, The American Wife.
I found the book as a whole took quite some time to get going and for things to come together and for pieces of the puzzle to fall into place. But once it did, my god, it became a complete page turner and I couldn’t read quick enough to discover what would happen and if I would get that ending I had so desperately wanted since book one. Yes, you need to have your full wits and concentration about you as you read as there is a lot of information given and characters presented but stick with it and the payoff is more than worth it.
Kitty has been married to Edgar, an Austrian diplomat, for several years. He is currently working undercover making the Germans believe he is on their side. Whereas really he is gathering information in order to see the fall of Hitler and the Nazi’s. He is an incredible character but I always felt we never got enough of him in the books. Just as Kitty craves time with him, it never seems to materialise but that is the nature of the war and his role in it. Their separation only makes the scenes where they can briefly be together although under a shroud of danger, tension and suspicion although the more real and heartfelt. The love, devotion and connections they share just become all the more apparent and have you rooting for a happy ending for the pair.
Edgar flits in and out of this book and I desperately wanted things to turn out ok but for the vast majority of it Kitty is on her own working on her most important and crucial mission to date. I wanted her backbone and strength to be there for her but there is a much bigger game at play, and they need to be apart in order to hopefully be together for the long term.
Kitty really comes into her own in this book. She is put through the mill and plunges the depths to the lowest of lows. She is firmly trapped in the currents of war and throughout the book she is very much swimming against the tides and at any moment may drown. There are numerous twists and turns as she is tasked by the OSS-Office of Strategic Services, to once again return to Vienna where she will head up Resistance activities in the city which has been occupied by the Germans since the start of war. There is an awful lot that needs to be put in place before agents from other countries can come to the city and Kitty is the woman to do it. But with every turn, plan and manoeuvre there always seems to be those that are one step ahead of her and at no point can she trust anyone. That’s what I really enjoyed about the book. The author gave us information and when I read I take things as they are presented at face value but with this story you really shouldn’t. Not one character can be trusted it’s up to Kitty to weed out the good from the bad. The ones who are loyal and the ones you will do anything to betray her and the Resistance group she is working with.
No doubt about it Kitty is tested to her limits time and time again and her vulnerabilities and weaknesses are cleverly shown by the author. She is like a chameleon who regularly changes her appearances in order to work with and infiltrate the sectors of the Nazi party she would rather not know about. I loved that she was so dogged and determined that she would always do her best and never give up even when the worst fate befalls her as mentioned in the blurb. I do think the blurb gave a bit too much away as this occurred very much towards the later stages of the book and there wasn’t as much focus on this until the end stages. A different blurb would have added an element of mystery and surprise for readers. Instead, it was like you were waiting for this point to occur as you read from the beginning. Although I will say when this point was reached I felt the book really sprung into action and all the ground work that had been laid and which led to this juncture was more than worth it.
I did feel at certain times well before the climax and dramatics were reached that the plot did become a bit confusing and that there was an overload of information in terms of groups and technical operations. I understand there was a much bigger operation at work but for readers new to the series or even for those of us that have been with Kitty since the beginning a little refresher or explanation as to who groups were perhaps placed as a note at the beginning would have been helpful. Although, I did appreciate the authors end note explaining whether certain characters were real or fictional and what groups existed and did not.
All in all The American Wife’s Secret was a satisfying conclusion to Kitty’s story. That ending I didn’t see coming and it was brave of the author to go for it but in a way it does pave the path for another book. As the author herself mentions in her notes she has an idea for another story featuring Kitty but is their the appetitive for it? Well, I certainly think that there is and will be looking forward to reading it if she chooses to go ahead and write it. Kitty and Edgar make so many sacrifices for each other and to see the end of the war and whether these are worth it or not you will have to read this terrifying yet gripping story with Kitty being a character you certainly won’t forget in a hurry.
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