Codename Lazarus takes us first to Germany in the mid-1930s as Hitler and the Nazis rise to power. We see the unpleasant changes through the eyes of John King, an English academic, whose friends include a Jewish family, the Bernsteins and a young German, Joachim Brandt, who has decided to join the SS.
Moving to 1938, King is recruited by his former professor to the world of espionage, in an attempt to foil the efforts of Nazi sympathisers in England. This requires him to cut off all ties with his former life and after another visit to Germany, he must disappear. However his under-cover activities take place in London, where he has to cultivate relationships with British nationals who wish to aid Germany. A significant relationship with a young German nurse, is suspended, but old friends from the past will take a dramatic part in the denouement.
This is an exciting plot-driven story and although we gain knowledge of King’s feelings early in the story, he becomes increasingly more distant as other protagonists take a more active part in the storyline. One of the Nazi sympathisers gains our sympathy and we realise that she has trapped herself in a web of deceit. I was especially interested in the vivid description of pre-war Germany and in the realistic account of the evacuation scene at Dunkirk. The final scenes intensify in excitement and are real page-turners, but I was disappointed at the sudden conclusion which left questions about other threads in the book.
This debut novel is a fluent tale set in a fascinating time. Plotting and descriptions are sound but the earlier parts of the book lead me to expect greater knowledge of the hero’s emotions and confusion at his use of subterfuge and his abandonment of his friends and family. I look forward to reading the next book by this promising author.
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I really enjoyed the second half of this novel when the paced moved up a notch and there was much more danger and intrigue.

The first half seemed to follow along a well trodden path of stories written about the time leading up to WWII and I found the writing a little slow. I wanted to get on with the danger – the real spy stuff.

Martin uses real world events to create a sense of time and place but I found some famous names were dropped into the story that had no relevance to the scene or plot.

I liked how Martin tied the three main characters together, in a very convincing and believable way, for an explosive ending.

Worth a read for those new to spy thrillers but probably not for hardcore WWII buffs. ( )