Jeff Wallace is the author of three novels. The Thousand Year Spy was published last July. It is the 73rd book I completed reading in 2024.

Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own! Due to scenes of violence, I categorize this novel as R.

The story opens in January 1944. The Allied invasion of France is only months away. MI-6 proposes a risky mission to the OSS, but they are turned down. They go outside the chain of command and directly approach the Prime Minister and General Eisenhower. The audacious mission is approved.

A person with special knowledge is needed for the mission. Their best candidate is Second Lieutenant Linnea Thorsell, an American analyst stationed in London. She is unique in her language skills, having been born in Russia but lived for years in both Germany and Sweden. She is fluent to the point of sounding like a native in all three languages.

Thorsell is recruited by the OSS for a vital mission to Sweden. The German Admiral Constantine Diefenbach will travel to Sweden for brief meetings with the Swedes. The British have discovered that he had served the Soviets as a spy. Thorsell’s mission is to approach the admiral as a Soviet agent. She is to reactivate him, but unbeknown to him, he will be reporting to London instead of Moscow.

The mission is particularly dangerous since the admiral will stay in the Delfin Hotel. The Germans suddenly alter their plans to have all meetings there as well. The hotel is run by Nazi adherents in Stockholm. Thorsell must enter the hotel past the guards, confront Diefenbach, and then quickly escape.

The Germans have heard rumors of a British action regarding Diefenbach. The SD’s best spy hunter, Kriminalkommissar Elena Rolke, goes to Stockholm to intercept any British spies trying to reach the admiral. Her presence is an unexpected threat to Thorsell.

It has been said many times that ‘No plan survives first contact with the enemy’. The OSS plan for Thorsell is no exception. Before long, Thorsell finds herself Rolke’s prisoner.

Has this complex plan been for naught? Will Thorsell survive? Will Diefenbach be exposed as a spy?

I enjoyed the 15.5 hours I spent reading this 365-page WWII-era thriller. I found this story to be very slow. There is some action towards the end, and there is an unexpected plot twist. I like the chosen cover art. I give this novel a rating of 3.8 (rounded to 4) out of 5.

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I liked the story and the characters. I think would be loved by WW2 novel fans which I was one of in the past. But, I read so many of them. Maybe a bit too slow and a list of characters would improve it more. Good for WW2 novel fans

3.5 stars rounded up to 4

Overall this was a good book and I would recommend it to anyone interested in WW2 & Spy / Mystery Fiction as the story is captivating and interesting. The “making of a spy” concept was fun, you definitely teeter on believability but it was enjoyable to read nonetheless.
I did enjoy the “ah-ha” moment in the last few chapters that really does tie it all together, and while I was able to predict some of it - I didn’t predict it all, which is always appreciated.

The reasons I didn’t love this book:
- the FMC didn’t fight are argue to not do the mission, and that seemed very out of character based on what we knew about her and how she described herself.
- A lot of repeating. I understand the story is complex but I feel like exact paragraphs were just copied from pages earlier. (This wasn’t too frequent but it happened enough)
- A lot of “background” / or a story that furthered a view point or relationship between people. (I understand story building and relationship development but it felt unnecessarily drawn out)
- Slow pace, you don’t get to the actual “moment” until halfway through the book and the ending felt rushed.
- The ending wasn’t satisfying to me personally, without spoiling I had hoped for a reunion of sorts.
- the interchanging of names. We would be introduced a character with first and last name and then some of the characters would be referenced as one or the other and at times I would forget who was who. I wish the author would stick to just last names or just first names when referencing (I understand military calls for last names but there was a paragraph where the name kept changing in reference to the same person)

I want to thank Victory Editing NetGalley Co-Op for providing this ARC!