The Bookworm by Mitch Silver was a mystery and political thriller. I loved the writing style and quickly fell in love with Lara. I loved the historical aspects and found the premise fascinating.

I can say that I read this book in just one day. It is a very good and full of surprises thriller, that keeps you in suspense about the events. I liked a lot its theme and the plot in a degree that I didn't expect it. It combines successfully elements from a political thriller but also from historical fiction. The author combines very well all the events and stories of the book without leaving any gaps. It is well-written and it's a very good read.

This book really does have a little bit of everything, part WW2 historical fiction, part modern political thriller and with a cast of characters that includes Kennedy and Marlene Dietrich. The book opens in current day Russia where a history scholar finds herself caught up in a mystery revolving around a plot to trick Hitler into attacking Russia, and along the way finding out about an ongoing conspiracy to lower oil prices. While there are elements of two good thrillers, putting both into one book meant that at times it felt a little forced. I have to admit I found myself much more engaged in the historical aspects of the book, the idea of using a forgery to trick Hitler was the stronger story , and I wish it had been focused on and elaborated upon a little more.

This book is based around the story of Lara who is listening to recordings of Noel Coward explaining the scheme undertaken by the US during WWII to persuade Germany to invade Russia as a way of making sure they are defeated. This is not expected to go down well with the Russian people due to the many, many loves lost as a result of this decision, Alongside this, there is a conspiracy involving her brother Lev in Alaska. Some of the book was very interesting but I didn't find it very believable- particularly with Noel Coward doing the narration, Her ex-husband is an unpleasant character who I think I was supposed to like, For me, the pace varied a bit too much but I did enjoy the concept.

A thriller with a difference. Present day and world war combined to make anew addictive novel. Enjoyed the thrills and twists and turns of this book which had me hooked right from the start

The Bookworm began auspiciously. World War II and its study is new territory for me as pertains to the work of Russian historians, and Lara Klimt (scholar, academic) was a good character to do the introduction. It was an intriguing premise, with interesting characters that made me want to follow the adventure. The thinly disguised American president and his Russian counterpart (or were they so thinly disguised?) added an even greater feeling of suspense.Modern Russia is well represented and enjoyable to be immersed in.
I must say however, that the last paragraph left me flat. It felt forced and unnecessary. After all that came before, I read in that last paragraph or two a sense of "What? Seriously?"

Gosh. What a lot in one book. From WWII history to romance, political intrigue and mysterious goings-on that involved Winston Churchill, Nostradamus, and Noel Coward to name but a few. Brother and sister, Lev and Larissa are brought together by the death of Lev's colleague in mysterious circumstances and heads off from there. It's a bit of a slow burner and needs more action in the earlier parts of the story. Overall, an interesting concept, with reservations.

I received an ARC from NetGalley to read and review. The below is my honest, unbiased opinion. Thank you, Mitch Silver, the publisher, and NetGalley, for allowing me to review.

Why did Hitler chose not to invade England when he had the chance? Europe, 1940: It’s late summer and Belgium has been overrun by the German army. Posing as a friar, a British operative talks his way into the monastery at Villers-devant-Orval just before Nazi art thieves plan to sweep through the area and whisk everything of value back to Berlin. But the ersatz man of the cloth is no thief. Instead, that night he adds an old leather Bible to the monastery’s library and then escapes. London, 2017: A construction worker operating a backhoe makes a grisly discovery—a skeletal arm-bone with a rusty handcuff attached to the wrist. Was this the site, as a BBC newsreader speculates, of “a long-forgotten prison, uncharted on any map?” One viewer knows better: it’s all that remains of a courier who died in a V-2 rocket attack. The woman who will put these two disparate events together—and understand the looming tragedy she must hurry to prevent—is Russian historian and former Soviet chess champion Larissa Mendelovg Klimt, “Lara the Bookworm,” to her friends. She’s also experiencing some woeful marital troubles. In the course of this riveting thriller, Lara will learn the significance of six musty Dictaphone cylinders recorded after D-Day by Noel Coward—actor, playwright and, secretly, a British agent reporting directly to Winston Churchill. She will understand precisely why that leather Bible, scooped up by the Nazis and deposited on the desk of Adolf Hitler days before he planned to attack Britain, played such a pivotal role in turning his guns to the East. And she will discover the new secret pact negotiated by the nefarious Russian president and his newly elected American counterpart—maverick and dealmaker—and the evil it portends. Oh, and she’ll reconcile with her husband.

THE BOOKWORM has everything a reader of historical conspiracy theories wants: mystery, politics, historical figures, and a conspiracy theory. I enjoyed the writer's description of the settings, and I could really imagine where we were being taken, even though I haven't been to these places. I most appreciated that. However, I didn't find the writing captivating enough. I'm very much a one-siting reader, but I found several parts of this one dragging a bit for my taste. With that being said, every reader is different, and this is definitely one you should give a chance to.

Ooh this is like a literary magic box of tricks. There's a whole host of themes to get your bookish radar twitching - a secret in an ancient tome, Hitler's words on a page, the words of Nostradamus and more. Hsitorical figures creep in and out of the pages until you really don't know what's real or not.
The premise was intriguing and I had no idea of what this bookworm was all about! There's lots of detail especially in the Moscow set sections and it can get a bit overloaded at times so best to read slow and take it all in. This book puts a spin on history as we know it asks how if everything that we can read about is true. What would have happened if an historical hoax had been covered up?

Lara had a job and a half to decipher the myteerious reels and I wasn't quite sure why she should get this job over someone more well known and connected. Nevertheless, she soon finds herself involved over her head and it made for fascinating reading as she transcribed the tapes. There's lots to take in here, but you can tell of the research and the fact that something similar could well have happened. Who can you believe during war time?

The Russian parts of the novel were the most thrilling and had a distinct cold war feel. A city on the edge, cold, suspicious of everything and everyone and silent to most. A wall as thick as the ice in Alaska

Overall, the novel was a little too tightly packed for me - it's not an easy read, but it's a rewarding and fascinating one.

This novel is a mix of different genres. Mystery, history, political thriller, and even romance are all wrapped into this suspenseful story which should appeal to a wide range of readers. Appearances of JFK, Noel Coward, Marlene Dietrich and other historical figures only makes it more appealing. In cameo roles, you'll also recognize two of today's most powerful world leaders.
The non-historical characters are decently well developed and the plot has a fast pace, appropriate for this genre. There were some points throughout the novel where I wondered if the characters' actions made sense, for example the young man giving Lara the audio reels. If they were so important would they just give them to a random scientist? After that point, the story became convoluted and it was hard to follow who was who until the very last.
Still, the novel was an enjoyable read and I'd recommend it to fans of fast-paced thrillers.

This story has a slow beginning but builds in drama to a great ending.

Usually any hint of 'historical' in a novel, leaves me cold, but this one was a fantastic find! I think what probably sparked my interest was the fact that the novel is written in present time, but one of the plot lines relates very much to the past.

Twins Lara and Lev are working in very different careers, one in Russia and one in Alaska. Yet both are to uncover incredible conspiracies. Lara's tale involves world war 2 and the attempt of the west to manipulate the Germans. Meanwhile Lev's story concerns the present day shipping of oil into the United States. Their stories gradually unfold, with lots of twists, turns, threats and even murder. The WW2 storyline is so well described along with actual histocial fact, that I felt as though it could well be true!

Thankyou to Netgalley for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Although the idea of this novel, that there had been a plot to trick Hitler into turning away from an attack on Britain seems highly implausible, the story works. With a cast of famous characters making cameo appearances this story fairly rattles along. A good read.

This book is sort of stuffed one in which has mostly everything, a history fiction, mystery, political, romance and suspense. Story involves many historical people like Noel Coward, Hitler, Kennedy, Nostradamus and so on.

Larissa Mendelovg Klimt is a Geopolitical history professor in Russia who studied at a university in the US. She is one of the smart one that is proved as a soviet former chess champion. The story starts from her asked to translate 6 historical Dictaphone cylinders recordings that has hidden truth of the World War. Noel Coward and Kennedy conspired to artifice Hitler?
At the same time, Larissa's twin brother Lev who is monitoring oil cultivating in Alaska finds his college died in suspect situation. It's just a beginning of them both drawn to the danger.

Well, I have mixed feeling about this book. Some parts are very indulging, though other parts I found myself losing interest. There are many things happen and suddenly story gets boomed and turn to the action and suspense to the end. This book makes me willing to learn the history more. However...this is might be because of my lack of knowledge of history, I felt the things in this book just happen and it's not come smoothly together, it seems inexplicable with not enough connection and motivation to the action in each characters perform.

Thank you Pegasus Books for an advance reading copy of this book.

Really enjoyed reading this book with its "odd" cast of characters and an intriguing plot. Sure, the whole combination is "somewhat off the wall" but, to me, that was definitely part of its attraction. Overall I found the book to be a very easy read and quite engrossing and I had a hard time putting it down, so much so that I read it over 2 evenings.

I would like to thank NetGalley for providing a copy of this book in exchange for a review. In 1940 an old leather Bible was placed on a shelf in a monastery where it was sure to be found by the Germans. Written on the inside was a prediction supposedly written by Nostradamus that would change the course of WWII. In present day Moscow Professor Larissa Klimt is given six cylinders that hold recordings made by Noel Coward while he was working for Winston Churchill. The cylinders contain an explanation of the creation of the prediction and the plan to turn Hitler from his attacks on England to opening the war against Russia.

Larissa's brother works at a testing station on the Alaska pipeline, where irregularities have been detected in the quality readings of the crude being pumped through. When he investigates a supposedly new strike an attempt is made on his life. To save her brother, Larissa must discover the location of Hitler's Bible that disappeared,at the end of the war.

Larissa was a champion chess player at one point and Mitch Silver applies her abilities to analyze a game board to the more deadly game that she has been brought into. This is a fast-paced story that involves history, politics and the manipulation of oil prices and production. From its' opening scenes to Larissa's final checkmate this book was a fascinating read and is a good mix of thriller and historical fiction.

Great fast-paced political thriller! Extremely interesting historical premise. Noël Coward and JFK conspiring to trick Hitler? Count me in! While,the premise may seem far-reaching, the author makes it believable and interesting! The characters are fully developed and interesting. The parallels to our current presidency was also intriguing and well-handled!

I really enjoyed this book which includes most of what I want in a read--action, fresh character driven plotting, interesting main character. When a serious puzzle is part of the mix, I'm completely hooked. Now I'm trying to find a copy of Silver's first book.

----------
"He'd given her very precise instructions, and she intended to follow them to the letter. With just a little . . . punctuation . . . of her own..."
----------

What a great find this was! I am always drawn to books about books and the people who love them, so the title caught my eye right away (as did the gorgeous cover). The story wasn't exactly what I expected, but that was not a problem at all. It's not that the blurb isn't accurate - it is, almost too much so. It is just that there were so many things layered over, under, and through the highlights mentioned in the blurb that the book felt richer and more decadent than the description - tiramisu rather than mere cake. Of course, as with any sweet treat, there were a few moments that felt a little too much - too unreal, too over the top, too convenient. But those moments were balanced out by a handful of characters (most notably for me, Lara the Bookworm herself and, even though he only appears in Dictaphone format, Noel Coward) who felt oddly real even when behaving in ways that seemed contradictory (real people are, after all, prone to such moments, even if we like to think we are not). The other characters (most notably, Grisha, the American and Russian presidents, Maltsev, and Lev) were caricatures but that seemed intentional, and it served them in their respective roles to be so. It allowed them to serve as appropriate foils for Lara as she sought to figure out what was going on around her (in both past and present). The build-up of tension was steady throughout, with excellent pacing for the reveals of the historical and modern conspiracies.

And then it all tied together and ended. Literally. The last 4% of the book revealed everything in a blur of revelations and action.

I must admit that I did think that the ending felt a little rushed and unbelievable. The build was so consistently even, with the tension ratcheting up bit by bit, throughout - then all of a sudden it all fell into place with reveal after reveal. Grisha's and Nikki's endings seemed a bit over-the-top, although they both were flamboyantly aggressive throughout the story, so perhaps that's entirely appropriate after all. And despite the blurb telling me it would happen, I didn't expect Lara and Maltsev to wind up as they did (in literally the last lines, no less). It felt off and unlikely, and I found myself oddly disappointed in her as a result. Not enough to throw off my good feelings about either her or the rest of the book, mind you, it just made me cringe a little and shake my head.

All in all I really enjoyed this one. The writing was engaging and kept me hooked. The characters were well crafted and suited to their respective roles in the story. And I really liked the way Silver managed the shifts between past and present by using the Dictaphone cylinders - it allowed him to lay out backstory without feeling like he was laying out backstory. The incorporation of historical figures and gossipy tidbits by Coward made the history feel more real, which helped sell the concept for me.

From concept to finish--this is a first-rate read. A thriller. A mystery. Noel Coward. Ian Fleming. Wax cylinders. The 1930s Kennedys (Joe Kennedy when he was FDR's Ambassador to the United Kingdom). A modern-day romance. And a bible with a worm-hole in it (the bible contains a prophecy that influences Hitler and changes the course of World War II). A lot of intrigue during which it is difficult to tell the good guys from the bad. And, not to be a spoiler--but an all's-well-that-ends-well ending. All the while, bearing in mind that nothing is what it seems. Again....an excellent read.