Rating: 5 Stars Pub Date: 13-Mar-2023
This WWII thriller, by John Anthony Miller, is an edge of your seat kind of story about a female spy, working for French Intelligence, who is given a near impossible task. I immediately fell into this one and was captivated by the outstanding story telling of the author.
Camille is the heroine of the story. She along with her partner, Roger, in this operation are tasked with stealing industrial grade diamonds from a vault in Belgium. There is one catch, the Germany army has already invaded Belgium and the town in which the vault is located will shortly be overrun by Germans. These diamonds are not only highly valuable, but of the highest importance to the war effort since they are being used for advanced technologies. It will be a race to see who can get there first.
Camille and Roger beat the Germans to the vault, but only barely. They know that the German army is already in the city and hear them getting closer. It will not be long before they reach their location. They work quickly to open the vault and remove the diamonds. As they are making their escape the Germans arrive and Roger is killed. Fortunately, Camille is able to get away with the diamonds; however, her escape car is damaged by the gun fire and she is forced to abandon it along the roadside in a rural part of Belgium.
She must now find another way to get out of Belgium and to England, the final destination of the diamonds. To do so she needs to contact her handler, Nichols, in Paris. Fate seems to be smiling on her when she runs into Dr. Lucien Bouchard, a physician that once saved her life. With his assistance and the help of others in the French Resistance, she heads for Paris where the diamonds will be rerouted to England. However, there are others nefarious players, i. e. the Gestapo and a German spy who is married a high ranking French Official, who also want desperately to have the diamonds.
The plot is full of surprises and unexpected players. In addition, two other things are worth mentioning about the plot. First, is the complexity., There were lots of moving parts and everything had to work just right for Camille to achieve her goal. Also, the romantic development between Camille and Lucien added a lot of depth to the plot, and characters, that made the story realistic which, in turn, caused me to become further invested in the outcome.
Then the danger of what she, and later Lucien, were attempting took my breath away at times. I felt like at any moment some little something, or twist of fate could happen, and all would have been for nothing. This made the tension almost unbearable at times. Whether you call it “nail biting” or an “edge of your seat” suspense, this expertly executed story is one that will stay with me for a long time.
In summary, All That Glitters is much more than your average thriller. It also a story about love and redemption among other things. It will appeal not only to lovers of Thrillers, Historical Fiction, and Romance, but also to a more general audience that enjoys a complex plot and memorable characters. I highly recommend this to everyone.
I received a free copy in exchange for my honest review.