With Hitler striding toward power in 1934, photographer-turned-spy Elena Standish is sent to Germany to extricate a scientist who's made a significant breakthrough in germ warfare before he's forced to share his knowledge with the Nazis. Alas, the head of Germany's germ warfare division is making things difficult; he's an old enemy of Elena's grandfather Lucas, the former head of MI6, and is out for revenge. Following the LJ-starred A Darker Reality.

Set in 1934, bestseller Perry's underwhelming fourth novel featuring photographer turned spy Elena Standish (after 2021's A Darker Reality) finds Elena tapped by Peter Howard, her boss at MI6, for a vital mission. Howard plans to smuggle two German biochemists involved in creating a deadly bioweapon and its antidote out of Germany and bring them to England. Elena is to travel to Berlin to exfiltrate one of them. Though the Germans are aware that the biochemists' research is known to MI6, illogically they don't expect an effort by the Brits to either extract or kill them. Sections focused on the vicissitudes of Elena's assignment alternate with the actions of a morally conflicted Nazi, a clichéd secondary character with whom the reader spends too much time. Having the potential use of an atomic bomb briefly discussed in 1934 by Elena and Howard is also a jarring anachronism, given that nuclear fission had not yet been discovered. The combination of thin characters, plot contrivances, and not sweating the details makes for a forgettable outing. Perry is capable of better. Agent: Donald Maass, Donald Maass Literary. (Sept.)

Octogenarian Perry continues to produce quality historical fiction, and her latest, featuring British MI6 agent Elena Standish, is another winner. It's the beginning of WWII, and Elena's mission is to go to Berlin and extract a German scientist who's working on Hitler's germ-warfare program, which could produce a powerful war weapon for Hitler and be a catastrophe for the British if it's unleashed. But as soon as Elena reaches Berlin, things begin to go wrong, and it's only with the help of her American journalist friend, Jacob, and through her own ingenuity that she's able to avoid capture by the Gestapo. In a parallel thread, German lawyer Hans Beckendorff has been recruited into the Gestapo and assigned to General Paulus, a powerful and thoroughly despicable man. But with Paulus' support, Hans can rise quickly, fulfil his parents' ambitions, and protect his wife and new baby daughter. When he's forced to make a terrible moral choice, will he opt for a decision that will keep him in Hitler's favor, or will he choose what he knows is right? A riveting tale for devotees of wartime espionage.