The Last Line

by Stephen Ronson Book 1 in the John Cook series.

First published 2023

Amazon

4.2(1,622)

May 1940. As German forces sweep through France and invasion of Britain appears increasingly possible, Sussex farmer and Great War veteran John Cook volunteers to fight. Instead, he is recruited into a secret stay-behind organisation whose members are expected to vanish into the countryside and resist from behind enemy lines if German troops land. Among his fellow operatives is Lady Margaret, whose background could hardly be further from Cook’s own.

While the network prepares for invasion, Cook becomes troubled by the disappearance of an evacuated girl. The case widens into evidence that other children have failed to reach their assigned homes, forcing Cook and Margaret to investigate a threat already operating inside Britain. Their search turns a story of invasion preparations into a home-front conspiracy, with the uncertainty of May 1940 tightening around every decision.