Her Last Betrayal

An enjoyable WWII spy story, second in a series. I like Pam Lecky’s other books, though I had not read the first in this series. I found I didn’t need to have read it to understand this one because Lecky gives enough of the background. Sarah faces danger and personal tragedy as she helps MI5 track down her father, who is involved in an IRA plot that overlaps with German war aims. The plot moves quickly, and Sarah’s relationship with her new partner is intriguing. The ending relies on quite a coincidence, but a thoroughly enjoyable book overall.

NOTE: I received early access to this manuscript in exchange for writing an impartial review. Thank you netgalley and Avon Books. Scheduled Publication: November 1, 2022.

One of the most suspenseful and engrossing historical fiction books I've read in years.

HER LAST BETRAYAL is Irish author Pam Lecky's sequel to HER SECRET WAR (2021), which I have not read yet. But will now. Each book stands alone though I did discover a lot of what happened in the first book by reading the second. I recommend reading #1 BEFORE #2 because I wish I could have witnessed the story unfolding sequentially. Now, though difficult, I will make sure my review below AVOIDS spoilers -- for BOTH books.

The entire book takes place between mid December 1941 and mid February 1942 -- most of action over the last 18 days. At the center of this historical novel about World War II is Sarah Gillespie, the adult daughter of a dedicated Irish Republican. Sarah is asked to help the British government's war effort by participating in some espionage work.

Unfortunately, she winds up being partnered with a nightmare of a more experienced American naval officer, Lt. Tony Anderson. A chauvinist at heart, he doesn't miss a single opportunity to question Sarah's competence or demean her. So, establishing trust between the two as they head into potentially dangerous work looks like an impossible goal.

As the plot unfolds, and despite their personal issues, Tony and Sarah are both dedicated to getting the job done. Their story is fresh and mostly unpredictable, with imaginative twists and turns. Because, after all, in espionage work, you can't always know WHO you can trust?

A fast, enjoyable read I recommend, especially to all World War II enthusiasts.

I really enjoyed this WWII historical fiction novel. It is a the second in the series, though I never read the first. Despite not reading the first I felt I was able to follow the story and I think it read decently as a stand-alone. I really enjoyed reading more about women getting involved in the war effort and working with the British spies. It wasn’t the typical novel of that era focused mainly on Nazi Germany, but instead focused on the IRA and Nazi sympathizers in Great Britain. Throw in a surprise twist at the end and it made a great read.

Her Last Betrayal was a very exciting read! If you are into WWII Historical Fiction and also love a good thriller, then this is definitely a book for you.

This book tells the tale of Sarah Gillespie, an Irish woman living in London after her world fell apart in Ireland thanks to her evil father, a leader of a sector of the IRA that is working to aid the Nazis. Upon arriving in London, Sarah gets a unique opportunity to revenge herself and her family against her father - but has no idea the series of events that are about to unfold. The author, Pam Lecky, does a profound job at taking us, the readers, on an extraordinary journey through London and Wales while we embark on an exhilarating journey of espionage, war, murder, spies and a little bit of romance.

The banter amongst the characters is one of my favorite things about the book. The author also is very descriptive and makes it easy to envision the book in your mind. It was also very interesting to see a perspective from the Irish about WWII because it is not very common to have that and in doing so, makes this book very unique.

Sarah is a spy for the Allies and she gets assigned to be partnered with a guy named Anderson, an extremely egotistical and racist man. He hates "her kind" (the Irish) and isn't afraid to show it. It also doesn't help that her father is Jim Gillespie, an IRA member who heavily supports the Nazis. But Sarah's one mission is to take her father down after he betrayed her and left her and her sister for death.

When one of the members of her team are revealed to be a mole, the Anderson and Sarah must learn to trust each other in order to survive and complete their mission successfully.

This book had an extremely slow start. I'm pretty sure it took until page 150 or so to start getting really interesting. But once it started getting interesting, I couldn't put it down. I liked the romance between the two main characters and how suspenseful it was whether or not there was another mole in the team. I would recommend this to anyone who likes spy or WWII books.

Thank you to NetGalley, Pam Lecky, and Harper 360/Avon for providing this e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

What a great story!! A real page turner! First off, I did not read the first book in the series, but I was able to follow along very easily. Lecky gives enough background that makes it easy to pick up and go. I always enjoy a good story about women in the war effort. I feel like you usually only get the man’s point of view with the war scenes, but this was a total 360 from that. I would highly recommend this story to anyone who enjoys historical fiction or spy novels.

This review will be posted to my Goodreads and Amazon accounts immediately and to my instagram account (@ginganinja333), and to my newly created bookstagram (@paulas.book.nook) upon publication on 11/1/2022.

Love historical fiction books set in this time period and loved the added excitement in this book. The setting is perfect for this book and the character of Sarah is what pulled me in and had me reading every chance I had. Women as spies during the war are not typically portrayed, although many women did risk it all and saved many lives. Looking forward to the next installment.

Recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley, Avon Books, and the author, Pam Lecky for granting me a copy of this book in return for my honest opinion.

Her Last Betrayal
By: Pam Lecky
Review Score: 4 Stars

Five Key Feels

-This book is engaging from the start, and really keeps you in the story.

-Sarah is such an interesting character.

-The descriptions in this book were so well done, I felt like I was part of the action.

-I enjoyed learning about the IRA’s involvement in World War 2.

-The plot surrounding De Gaulle is so intense!

———

Her Last Betrayal was kindly provided as an ARC by Netgalley and Harper 360. Thank you for allowing me to read this wonderful book!

Release Date: 11/1/22

Yall, Her Last Betrayal was such a good book. This book covers espionage, and has a “spy novel” outline to it, but it reads like an intense historical fiction book that you just cannot put down.

I really enjoy the IRA aspect of this book, and how they were trying to work together with the Nazis. That is something I feel like isnt written about all that often, and I enjoyed stepping into that part of history.

Sarah and Tony are such different characters, and yet I still enjoyed the evolution of their relationship.

There were so many good twists and turns in this book. Honestly, this would make a great action movie.

I definitley suggest you check out Her Last Betrayal. You wont regret it.

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Lecky gets it. What a strong, satisfying read. Sarah and Tony make an interesting pair of covert operators. Lecky picks an underused WW2 theme with the IRA and MI-5 and it works. Such an interesting series and a wonderful read! I am looking forward to more installments of this series.

Her Last Betrayal is an intriguing WW2 British spy novel featuring capable but overlooked Irish woman Sarah Gillespie and rather unlikable American Tony Anderson as they attempt to uncover a spy ring and locate an IRA agent. With quite a few twists and turns, it’s an enjoyable look into the unsung heroes of the WW2 effort.

This novel dealt with the involvement of the Irish Republican Army with the Nazis and against British interests during WWII. I knew nothing about this topic before reading this novel and learned some interesting history while following the story. The story pits the daughter of an IRA operative, who now works for the British government as a spy, against an American GI who has been sent to the UK to collect intelligence and learn the ropes of the British spy organization. I liked that the heroine of the novel made lots of newbie mistakes along the way and was not the polished spy for whom everything always goes right, as we see in most novels of this genre.

I had not read the first book in this series, but it did not seem to matter.

Sarah Gillespie has survived a year of wartime tragedy. Her sister died in a German air raid which she later learned was facilitated by her own father, an IRA operative who faked his death to continue secretly collaborating with Nazis in return for their aid with the Irish republican cause. As if that suffering and betrayal weren’t enough, her fiance’s ship is attacked by the Nazis, leaving him missing in action.

When MI5 approaches Sarah for her help undermining her father’s spy mission and bringing him to justice, she can’t say no. Unfortunately, they pair her with insufferable American operative Tony Anderson, suspicious of her due to her Irish heritage and dismissive of her espionage skills. An undercover mission takes them to Wales to track down Sarah’s father, but German moles have infiltrated their operation and as Sarah’s sparring with Anderson gives way to attraction, she will need to decide whether the surly American can be trusted–or whether he might be the sinister double agent they’ve been hunting.

Twisty with just a touch of enemies-to-lovers romance, HER LAST BETRAYAL is a quick, fun read for fans of the historical thriller genre. Lecky packs her story with colorful secondary characters and enough red herrings to keep you guessing to the climax. The second in a series, an open ending teases more adventures from Sarah Gillespie in the future.

WWll historical thrill, yes, sign me up!! This book had it all. I didn't read #1 in this series and I cannot wait to get my hands on it. Pick this one up and you won't put it down until you are finished. Spies, some romance, suspense - and that's just the start!

As a fan of novels that take place during World War II, I think this is the first time I’ve read about an Irish woman with a father in the IRA. Reading this book makes me want to go back and read the first book in the series. This seems a little more romance than suspense, but still engaging and a good read!

This book is based in 1941 and the WWII war. This book is the 2nd book in the series, but I didn’t know that until I started writing this review. Great stand-alone book. I will go back and read the first book, Her Secret War.
Sarah Gillespie is from Ireland and joins the MI5. She ends up being partnered with the dashing American LT Tony Anderson.
While historical fiction of this time frame tends to be very deep and heavy, this one was a bit lighter. The banter between the characters made it seem less heavy.
Thank you to NetGalley and to Harper 360 for my free copy.

I loved all the interactions with Sarah and Tony in this well written spy book. I don’t think it matters how many times I read a book of this time period with the same type of trope, person’s family killed so person joins somewhere to battle those responsible They are all different people, different places, different circumstances and everyone tears at my heart. I will never get tired of reading them and talking about them. This book is definitely in that category.

I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book provided by NetGalley.