I’m delighted to welcome you today to my stop on the blog tour for fantastic debut crime thriller Liberation Square by Gareth Rubin. Thank you to Jenny Platt and Michael Joseph Books for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.
About the book:
It’s 1952 and Soviet troops control British streets after winning the Second World War.
After the disastrous failure of D-Day, Britain is occupied by Nazi Germany, and only rescued by Russian soldiers arriving from the east and Americans from the west. The two superpowers divide the nation between them, a wall running through London like a scar.
On the Soviet side of the wall, Jane Cawson calls into her husband’s medical practice, hoping to surprise him. But instead she detects the perfume worn by his former wife, Lorelei, star of propaganda films for the new Marxist regime.
Jane rushes to confront them, but soon finds herself caught up in the glamorous actress’s death.
Her husband Nick is arrested for murder. Desperate to clear his name, Jane must risk the attention of the brutal secret police as she follows a trail of corruption right to the highest levels of the state.
And she might find she never really knew her husband at all.
About the author:
Gareth Rubin is an author and journalist who has written for most British national newspapers. He lives in London, and Liberation Square is his first novel.
My Review:
Liberation Square is a fantastic crime thriller that is a mixture of both murder mystery and alternative history. Gareth Rubin has written an impressive debut that takes you on a rollercoaster of a journey, with many twists and turns that keep you guessing throughout.
His alternative version of London is brought vividly to life in a very believable and realistic way, with the tension cranking up as the main character, Jane, finds herself embroiled in a murder mystery that causes her to doubt the motives of her own husband. I liked Jane from the outset, and the emotional turmoil she goes through is palpable as we’re swept away on this journey of discovery right along with her.
This book was a fascinating read, with the alternative history aspect of the story completely believable and easy to understand. What would have happened if Britain hadn’t won the war? What would life have been like if Britain had been occupied by Nazi Germany? The answers to these questions are brilliantly and imaginatively portrayed in this murder mystery that is full of suspense and intrigue.
The story focuses on the lives of an ordinary couple who are trying to get on with their lives in the best way they know how. But then something terrible happens that forces Jane to reevaluate everything she thought she knew, and she unwittingly finds herself caught up in a dark and dangerous world of murder and mayhem. Will she be able to clear her husband’s name? Can she trust him? Can she trust anyone?
What follows is a taut and tense thriller, with a tangled web of corruption and lies at its heart. Once started I could not put this book down. With a protagonist you quickly come to care about, Liberation Square is a heartstoppingly good murder mystery that I highly recommend.
An outstanding debut.
Liberation Square by Gareth Rubin is available to buy now: Amazon UK
Check out what these other fabulous bloggers have to say about this book:
Cal Turner Reviews 