Paris 1802,
In a private French prison, Annique Villiers, a French spy, is about to be tortured over "the Albion plans" - Napoleon's secret plans for the invasion of England. Annique's torturer, the sadistic and villainous Leblanc, fully intends to kill her, but not before he gets those papers - which he plans to use to his own advantage.
In the cell with her are Grey, a British Head of Section who has managed to keep his full identity from Leblanc, and his wounded compatriot, Adrian.
Annique and Grey work together to escape. They escape….each for his own reason, Annique must take the plans to her spymaster and teacher Vauban so that they can plan how to stop Napoleon’s madness without betraying France….Grey wants to escape so that he can take Adrian, Annique and the Albion plans to England and stop Napoleon’s madness. Thus Annique has unwittingly escaped from one prison to another. And thus begins Annique’s attempt to escape again, to escape from Grey, to escape from Le Blanc, to escape from Le Blanc’s cruel deputy Henri, to escape from the French patrols scouting the country for her, to escape from Fouche the head of secret police who would like nothing better than to pimp her. But first she has to escape Grey…..Grey who is as good a spy as she is and keeps outwitting her all the time. Grey who is strong but not cruel, who is kind but not foolish, who is going to make a traitor out of her if she can’t escape!
And thus begins this wonderful story of cat and mouse chase, to say more about the plot would be giving it away….So instead I would like to talk about the two characters and how the entire story looks from end to end.
Annique, a blind French spy, Annique is the daughter of spies, been raised from a child to be a spy, and has learned her job well. Though she is just 19, she has worked for France as a boy, and in battlefields and boarding houses for years, earning an impressive reputation and the respect of all members of the spying community - no matter their nationality. Though she’s become blind due to an accident she is as wonderful as two spies, that is four eyes put together. She also has another gift, a wonderful memory, which can file away a lot of information in a very short period in an alarmingly detailed manner. A gift which the French are exploiting. Or to put it better…..a gift which the French “think” that they are exploiting.
Annique does indeed hold the secret of the Albion plans and the knowledge tears her apart. She knows that the invasion cannot succeed and will only cause untold death and devastation, but can she bring herself to give the plans to the enemy English? The fate of all those lives rest solely upon her shoulders, and the weight of her decision is a burden no one should have to bear. Annique is a wholly unique character and a fascinating one. She is incredibly competent and skillful - a believable master spy - and has stunning resourcefulness and resolve.
Grey is a more straightforward English spy, though also frighteningly competent and pragmatic. He has met his match in Annique, however, and it is fun to watch him try and figure her out and stay one step ahead, failing to do so more than once. Grey's real beauty as a character, though, is his steadfastness. He and Annique engage in many battles of wit, lies and deceptions, but there is never any doubt that he loves her throughout. He never jumps to conclusions about Annique's own feelings about him - seeming to know them better than she does herself - but accepts that her lies are part of the spy game. They are each doing their jobs and that includes lying to each other at times, but they also accept that the love is not a lie and cannot be concealed from the other, though at times they wish it could.
Review – And finally some advice. What can make this book a 9/10 or a 5/10 is the expectations that you start reading it with. If you are expecting a romance with a lot of passion, emotional turmoil, heated arguments, unnecessary pride and pouting, the conventional plots of hero not-wanting-to-fall-in-love and-yet-falling, or a marriage of convenience, this book is not for you. Frankly, do not attempt reading it. To those who are still interested, here’s more…..
The strength of this book is the strength of its characters, primary as well as secondary and a well thought out or shall I say a well-plotted fast-paced plot. As funny as it may sound but the writer treats both the story as well as the readers with respect….she assumes both to be intelligent. Annique and Grey are interesting characters, there chase, battles, collaboration and relationship all keep the reader on the edge, with a what will happen next kind of feeling.
As for the romance in this book Annique and Grey's love is a love of the intellect as well as the body. A meeting of minds as well as the bodies. It's a combination that cannot be beaten and makes this a smart and masterful book.
Rating – If I read it from point of view of a story 9/10….[That is to say that I really really liked this book] .but if you read it from a love story point of view 7.5/10 [That is to say that some may not like this book]
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