BOOK TOUR STOP x RANDOM THINGS TOURS: The Great Deception by Syd Moore

May 1940. As the Nazis overrun Denmark, Britain counters by invading Iceland. Secret agent Daphne Devine is dropped into occupied territory to assess a clairvoyant in Reykjavik, who may be passing information to the enemy. Alone, Daphne must navigate her way through this strange, frozen landscape, where the Allies aren’t always welcomed with open arms.

When a new lead takes her North into Strandir, the land of sorcerers, she encounters fresh peril and discovers that now she, the hunter, has become the hunted. Daphne must use all her Secret Service training to outwit the enemy agents in her midst.

Review:

The simple fact of the matter is that Syd Moore is a witch. Back hundreds of years ago, she would’ve intimidated and scared men with her creativity, her ability to weave words and stories, her boldness and command of feminine power. Let’s be honest, men are probably still intimidated by her but we’re not locking people up in Colchester Gaol for witchcraft anymore.

Her writing is quite simply magical — it’s vivid, transporting you to other times and places in such visceral ways that are so captivating and inescapable. In the Great Deception, Moore reimagines one of the most devastating periods in human history in a world with hidden, secret powers to create an eerie, uncomfortable kind of blur between fiction and reality, drawing on the real-life panic about psychics and witches that always seems to rear it's head again in wartime.

Moore has nailed a historical wartime style, mixing an almost formal way of narrating with stunning detail and an emotive punch — but added her own flair, a way of bringing a fullness to characters, of having an air of mystery hanging over even the most mundane of scenes. Blending simple linear prose with snippets of media, it really captures the time period and the fear of the era. If this is your first introduction to Moore's wartime series or you're a repeat reader, this is one to watch this year.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

I was gifted a reviewers copy of this title in return for a review.

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