A young British nurse experiences the devastating Spanish Civil War and the dark side of the espionage game in this gripping World War Two thriller from Graham Hurley.

1936. Anglo-Breton translator Annie Wrenne is working in Madrid when the Spanish Civil War breaks out. Annie becomes a nurse on the front line, but after falling in love with a patient, she ends up pregnant - and abandoned - by a man she thought she knew.

Annie passes the rest of the war in a haze, her only consolation her relationship with mysterious Republican fighter Carlos Ortega. Annie finds herself caught up in Ortega’s world, a web of intrigue, which leads to her recruitment into MI5.

On her first mission, Annie must pose as Ortega's wife and head to Algeciras. Hitler’s Operation Felix - his plan to control the Mediterranean and force Churchill to the negotiating table - has been set into motion, and the 'couple' must help prevent the Nazis from seizing Gibraltar.

But Ortega has secretly been working for the Nationalists, part of Madrid’s Fifth Column. If it falls to Annie - and Ortega - to save the day for the Allied cause, can she trust a man who has changed sides yet again?

From award-winning author Graham Hurley, the latest thrilling instalment in the Spoils of War Collection, a non-chronological series of novels set during World War II and featuring some of the most momentous stories and figures of the era.

Hurley directs his cast with verve, deploying his historical knowledge and research with just enough detail * Financial Times *
A narrative brimming with shifting loyalties and hazardous espionage * Sidmouth Herald *
The novel unfolds against one of the less-well-known episodes of the war, and Hurley manages to get a lot of information across while still providing an exciting narrative * Literary Review *
Hurley expertly spins together the threads of fiction with historical fact * Aspects of History *
People in Hurley’s world don’t always believe very passionately in their causes, but they always believe believably, and it’s that, as much as the meticulous historical research, which makes his thrillers so absorbing. * Morning Star *
A good thriller, mixing real-life and fictional characters, with a powerful sense of place and a complex plot full of double-dealing and Hurley’s trademark violent action * Historical Novel Society *
An exhilarating read... Graham’s research is thorough... I am intrigued as to what comes next in the series and cannot wait. * The Last Word Book Review *

Graham Hurley is a documentary maker and a novelist. For the last two decades he's written full-time, penning nearly fifty books. Two made the short list for the Theakston's Old Peculiar Crime Novel of the Year, while Finisterre – the first in the Spoils of War collection – was shortlisted for the Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Award. Graham lives in East Devon with his lovely wife, Lin.

Follow Graham at grahamhurley.co.uk.