The Silk Code

This title was previously available on NetGalley and is now archived.
Buy on BN.com Buy on Bookshop.org
*This page contains affiliate links, so we may earn a small commission when you make a purchase through links on our site at no additional cost to you.
Send NetGalley books directly to your Kindle or Kindle app

1
To read on a Kindle or Kindle app, please add kindle@netgalley.com as an approved email address to receive files in your Amazon account. Click here for step-by-step instructions.
2
Also find your Kindle email address within your Amazon account, and enter it here.
Pub Date 17 May 2023 | Archive Date 31 May 2023
HQ | HQ Digital

Talking about this book? Use #TheSilkCode #NetGalley. More hashtag tips!


Description

The Silk Code had me absolutely hooked… A great storyline full of bravery, trust, love, survival, betrayal and determination.’ NetGalley reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Based on the true story of ‘Englandspiel’, one woman must race against the clock to uncover a traitor, even if it means losing the man she loves.

England, 1943:
Deciding to throw herself into war work, Nancy Callaghan joins the Special Operations Executive in Baker Street. There, she begins solving ‘indecipherables’ – scrambled messages from agents in the field.

Then Nancy meets Tom Lockwood, a quiet genius when it comes to coding. Together they come up with the idea of printing codes on silk, so agents can hide them in their clothing to avoid detection by the enemy. Nancy and Tom grow close, and soon she is hopelessly in love.

But there is a traitor in Baker Street, and suspicions turn towards Tom. When Nancy is asked to spy on Tom, she must make the ultimate sacrifice and complete a near-impossible mission. Could the man she loves be the enemy?

An utterly gripping and unputdownable WW2 historical fiction novel, perfect for fans of Ella Carey and Ellie Midwood!

Readers LOVE The Silk Code!

‘Characters that you could get into and a storyline that kept you hooked wanting to read on to find out what happened next – my sign of a good book!’ NetGalley reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘A brilliant book, one of Swift’s best. I can’t wait for the next one.’ NetGalley reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘I loved the characters that Deborah Swift crafted… well written and a good mix of historical fiction and mystery.’ NetGalley reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘Really enjoyed this book… [a] fantastic read.’ NetGalley reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘The depth of research this author does is obvious but she makes it so easily absorbable with characters you either hate or love and a plot that just keeps the pages turning.’ NetGalley reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘An excellent book on World War 2 history.’ NetGalley reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Silk Code had me absolutely hooked… A great storyline full of bravery, trust, love, survival, betrayal and determination.’ NetGalley reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

...


Available Editions

EDITION Ebook
ISBN 9780008584719
PRICE £0.99 (GBP)
PAGES 410

Available on NetGalley

NetGalley Shelf App (EPUB)
Send to Kindle (EPUB)
Download (EPUB)

Average rating from 36 members


Featured Reviews

Excellent book, loved it all. Kept me intrigued all the way through. A must read for all ww11 readers.

Was this review helpful?

Deborah Swift's latest is set in World War II. Life in London during the Blitz is wonderfully evoked, with trips to a Lyons Corner House where you eat Shepherd’s Pies that are mainly potato and beetroot is everywhere. Normal life continues between air raid warnings. It’s spot on.

I can hardly mention the plot. It starts with the heroine, Nancy, being betrayed by her fiancé practically on the eve of their wedding. She flees her quiet life in Scotland to move to London where she gets a job in the offices where her brother works. When she applies, she has no idea that she will be a decoder with the Special Operations Executive – part of the lifeline supporting field agents in occupied Europe.

She soon finds herself falling for a young man who has arrived to shake up the way the SOE codes its messages. So far, so clichéd (and the opening pages with the cad in Scotland did leave me worrying that the book might all be a bit of a cliché). But suddenly the plot kicks into gear with twists and turns that continue throughout the book. Infuriatingly, as a reviewer, I can’t say anything about any of them because any clue as to what is coming will spoil the story. (The title is a spoiler in itself, which annoyed me. I bet that was the publisher’s choice and not the author’s.)

What I can say is that the romantic betrayal that the story starts with is just the first of many betrayals we are going to discover. This is a story about loyalty and betrayal: betrayal because of cowardice or betrayal because you have to sacrifice your friends for your country. It reminds us that not that long ago London was full of people with secrets, determined that no one should ever learn what they were doing for their country – or for the enemy.

Swift writes about the experience of agents in the field and how they can (or more often can’t) survive in a world where German troops are everywhere and where nobody can be trusted. There are scenes of considerable violence. Swift is not afraid to depict the horror of killing with bare hands or whatever tools are available. One agent kills someone by hitting them with a spade and the reality of that killing and how it feels to murder someone so up close and personal is chillingly spelled out.

Whatever you do, don’t get attached to anyone. The body count is high and the human costs of Occupation are graphically captured. Usually you can reassure yourself that it will all come well at the end, but I kept turning the pages worrying about who would die next.

The book ends without the irritating cliff hanger that too many authors put at the end of the first book in what is clearly going to be a series. (OK, someone survives. But I’m not telling you who.) The fact that there will be a Book Two leaves the end of The Silk Code mildly anticlimactic. There is still a war. There will be more deaths. But briefly, until the next book starts, we are allowed an interlude of something almost like peace.

This is a brilliant book, one of Swift’s best. I can’t wait for the next one.

Was this review helpful?

Readers who liked this book also liked: