Paris, March 1941. Mathieu leads a small resistance cell that hides downed British and Polish airmen, supplies them with false papers and moves them toward routes across the Pyrenees. The work depends on railway employees, innkeepers, forgers and couriers whose ordinary occupations allow a clandestine chain to function under occupation.
German security officers intensify their efforts to penetrate the network, using surveillance, informers and pressure on arrested suspects. As losses accumulate, Mathieu must decide which contacts remain trustworthy and how much danger the cell can ask civilians to accept. The novel concentrates on the practical organisation of an escape line and the discipline required to continue after betrayal.
Jacqueline Winspear
20 books
James R. Benn
26 books