Day: March 17, 2018

Happy Saturday, readers and writers! I’m here to bring you my review of Secret Agents by Jason Walker. While not the final novelette in the Down the Rabbit Hole series, Secret Agents will be the conclusion of my Friday night/Saturday morning review spree. As this story is the third in the series, it will contain spoilers for Into France and Escape and Evasion, so proceed with caution if you haven’t read the first novelettes yet.

Secret Agents picks up where Escape and Evasion left off, and things don’t appear to be going well for some of our heroes and heroines. Danielle has been captured and Nancy is on the run, completely unaware of the fate of her contact and her own husband. Fontaine and Nadeau have found refuge with Garrow and other members of the French resistance, but all is not quiet even on that front. The Nazis are up to something, something big, in a cave nearby, and it is up to Claude, Fontaine, and Nadeau to figure out what.

What will become of these brave men and women? Will they ever see peace again? Or will the Nazis take away any hope they have left—and their lives?

Secret Agents is another gripping, exciting tale worthy of the Down the Rabbit Hole title. I read through this book more quickly than the first two, and not just because it’s the shortest of the three at 48 pages; I simply could not put it down because I had to find out what fate has in store for these characters. As only the third novelette in the series, not the last, Secret Agents still left me with many, many unanswered questions—some old, some new—even though others had been answered. It’s just another reason for me to keep an eye out for the fourth installment.

Of course, this increased emotional investment also came with an increased emotional reaction to the tragedies in this story. As with Escape and Evasion, a handful of events were very impactful, both on the characters’ lives and on my reading experience. This isn’t a bad thing. In fact, I would question the quality of this series if, as a war story, it did depict at least some trauma. However, don’t take this novelette on thinking that it’ll be a light-hearted read. There are scenes of torture, violence, emotional turmoil, and death. If such depictions bother you, this book—as well as Escape and Evasion—is not for you, although I doubt you’d read fiction about World War II at all if that were the case.

I was particularly surprised—and pleased—to see that not all of the Nazi soldiers were the cold, emotionless, selfish stereotype in this novelette. Mind you, most still were. As a matter of fact, two new characters stood out as pure evil, not just emotionless and selfish, introducing an interesting contrast as even the other Nazis feared them. However, there were also some signs of humanity on the German side in this story. Some of the signs were small, such as negative reactions to torture. Others were more overt, although I cannot discuss them here without spoilers. Needless to say, I didn’t expect such development by this point in the series, and I’m glad that Walker decided to humanize the enemy somewhat. After all, most of them are still human (although it’s questionable for the pure evil characters).

Walker also surprised me with a twist in the final half of the book which most readers would not expect from these novelettes. I can’t say much without giving too much away, but let’s just say that something a little “paranormal” is occurring in that cave, and prejudice might not have been the only reason that the Nazis captured gypsies.

While I’m very satisfied with Secret Agents and can’t wait for the next novelette, I’m afraid that there were some flaws in it which I did not notice in Into France and Escape and Evasion. The first is an absence of emotional expression in some key moments. While Walker’s work, at least in this series, utilizes minimalist writing almost as a rule, I feel that that style does not really explain some moments which lack emotionally reaction. In particular, one character is essentially told that they are a prisoner where they are. While the narrator tells the reader about any frustration and fear which this character has at that revelation, I didn’t really feel it as a reader. Sometimes this can be a useful tactic, but here I felt that allowing the reader to feel the character’s emotions would have increased the tension tremendously. As it is, that scene falls flat.

Another flaw I noticed here but not in the other installments is an issue with setting changes. Most of the time, transitions from one scene/setting to the next occur smoothly, especially when switching to a new chapter. Still, others did not go so smoothly. Mainly, some in-chapter transitions jarred me. There aren’t too many of these transitions, but some which did happen, mostly in the final chapter, confused me. I couldn’t tell that settings had changed, and it was only after I was couple lines into the new scene that I realized what happened. Some small indicator, such as a line break or “Back In [insert location]”, would have been a great help there.

I also missed a few characters from the first two novelettes which were missing here. To be fair, though, they will most likely return in future installments and so I cannot really call this a “flaw” in the work. Rather, it’s something for me to anxiously look for in the next book.

Overall, Secret Agents by Jason Walker has continued the plot of Down the Rabbit Hole very well. There is tension, drama, and an element of mystery which should be enough for any reader to want to keep going. It’s unfortunate that the next novelette has not been released yet; I can’t wait to get my hands on it. In the meantime, I highly recommend following up Into France and Escape and Evasion with Secret Agents. There’s no way to get the full story unless you continue!

You might find it interesting to know that, in a note at the end of Secret Agents, Jason Walker reveals that these novelettes were adapted from screenplays for a TV series. The proceeds from these novelettes will go to bringing these screenplays into the light, so if you want to help a fellow writer achieve his dream, I suggest at least taking a look at Down the Rabbit Hole.

You can buy Secret Agents by Jason Walker as an eBook on Amazon. Also check out my reviews for Into France and Escape and Evasion, as well as Jason Walker’s website.

Do you know of a book I should read? E-mail me at thewritersscrapbin@gmail.com and let me know!

 

Well, folks, here’s the second review I promised. This one is for the novelette Down the Rabbit Hole: Escape and Evasion by Jason Walker. As the sequel to Into France, this review will contain spoilers, so proceed with caution if you haven’t read the first novelette yet. You’ve been warned.

Escape and Evasion picks up right where Into France left off. Danielle is leading two POW escapees through the sewers of France, presumably to freedom; Mitchell, Babcock, and Patterson, along with Oliver, are attempting a rescue of SAS commander Jim Garner; and, all the while, Vera Atkins is trying to hold the entire operation together from her offices in London. Right on the trail of the escapees and French Resistance are the Gestapo, Nazi soldiers willing to do anything and hurt anyone to capture the POWs and anybody helping them.

Will any of the escapees make it out of France? What will become of the spies? Of Danielle and Bridgette? Most urgently, will any of them survive their separate bids at life and freedom from Nazi oppression?

Escape and Evasion is, admittedly, much more emotional than Into France. Without giving away any spoilers, it especially gets emotional in the four or five chapters. As with any war story, friendships are formed, enemies are made, and death and betrayal abound. For such a short novelette—49 pages, compared to the 66 pages of Into France—this one packs a lot of punch.

Even plot twists which are typical for these sorts of stories—and, in hindsight, Walker heavily hints at earlier in the books—took me by surprise. I became so wrapped up in the story, in the characters particularly, that I didn’t engage in my usual “guess the plot twist before it happens” frame of mind. I simply enjoyed the story, and I’m not too proud to admit that I often forget to do that nowadays.

As with the first book, Walker utilizes a minimalist style of writing for this novelette. Again, this leads to more exposition than I usually like, but that exposition and the minimalist approach also create a storyteller feel which both fits the narrative and captures the reader’s attention. That’s not to say that Walker is all tell and no show. Rather, he reserves descriptions for when they are needed most. In a war/espionage story, that might just be the best approach.

The only minor issue I had with Escape and Evasion—the only worth mentioning—is the sheer number of characters. Given the subject matter, the large cast is absolutely necessary. After all, war is not one by a single man or woman. However, some of the characters blurred for me as the cast grew. I mainly had an issue keeping Fontaine and Nadeau straight. They have distinctly different personalities, yet I somehow had a hard time remembering which name belonged to which personality. Of course, that might just be my jumbled brain and lack of sleep causing issues.

I also feel as though the female characters waver somewhat in their strength in this novelette. It’s probably just a result of the stress they’re experiencing. I mean, I know I would not hold up half as well as they do under similar circumstances. Still, I didn’t feel quite as much of their strength this time as I did in Into France. I suppose, though, that this weakness and vulnerability might just fuel renewed strength in a future installment, making the women more powerful foes to the Nazis than ever before. Besides, a new female is introduced in this novelette who is a very strong female herself, and unfortunately that’s all I can say without giving too much away.

Overall, I think that Escape and Evasion by Jason Walker is a more-than-fitting follow-up to Into France. In fact, I think I might have liked it a little better than the first novelette. It put me through the emotional gamut. While such experiences typically leave me drained, this one has also left me eager for the third installment. As with the first novelette, Escape and Evasion ends on a cliffhanger, one which will have you scrambling for the next book. This story is the perfect quick read, but you might still want to set some time aside for it—you’ll want to start the third novelette, Secret Agents, immediately!

You can buy Escape and Evasion by Jason Walker as an eBook on Amazon. Also remember to check out my review of Into France as well as Jason Walker’s website.

Do you know of a book I should read? E-mail me at thewritersscrapbin@gmail.com and let me know!