Corpus: A gripping spy thriller

Product Information

Having now finished A Prince and A Spy, I can say I actually really enjoyed it. The plot follows Professor Tom Wilde on a mystery solving mission around England, Scotland and Sweden. It's full of twists and turns and the pace never really slows down so my attention was held throughout the whole book. I didn’t realise at the time of reading ‘Nemesis’ that this is actually part of a series. ‘Corpus’ and ‘Nucleus’ are the first two books to feature in the Tom Wilde series but I found ‘Nemesis’ entirely capable of being read as a standalone. So begins Rory Clements’ new spy thriller, establishing that what is about to follow in this very British university town is directly linked to the tragic turmoil engulfing Europe. The rest of the action, with brief visits to the Suffolk coast and Windsor takes place in Cambridge and its environs. It is an ideal setting for the conspiracies and crimes that come to light during the course of the story, for if anywhere exemplified the polarisation of politics in Britain during the 1930s, it was here. Lingering beneath the narrative and characters’ partisan choices are the effects of the Great War, the Depression and its effect on the working population, plus the idealism that led many into communism and fascism as a means of achieving a better tomorrow, and sent young men to Spain to fight in a foreign Civil War. And amidst all this, splitting friendships and families, is the Abdication Crisis – when a British king wanted to marry a divorced American commoner, putting the role of the monarchy into jeopardy. Tom Wilde is asked to investigate on behalf of the Americans as the British are trying to hush up the situation and Roosevelt wants to know what is going on.

Corpus is quite rich in history and detail within the plot, so there are many threads to follow. The author has done a great job of weaving it together cohesively and the end result is a highly intriguing read.' * Bibliophile Book Club * Nemesis is full of suspense from the very first chapter, and the thing I loved the most about it was that the chapters are quite short, and always leave you hanging, hungry to find out more. Every word that Rory Clements types had a meaning and a purpose in this book, and that was the bit I admired the most.Clements juggles his story's disparate ingredients very skilfully, without - as far as I could tell - distorting facts. This book is the first in a series - good! * Literary Review * This was hard work. When a publisher advertises a novel 'for fans of Robert Harris' I expect more. Harris is a master at taking historical events, building believable characters, bringing dialogue to life and creating real suspense - even when the reader knows the outcome. Rory Clements doesn't. This was a super book that I read in 24 hours, with so many twists, turns and an international conspiracy, that I really didn’t know what to expect next. Even though I read this just before Christmas, I still get the shivers thinking about the villain and the things that happened. This is definitely the best in the series so far, and I can’t wait for the next book, even though I have to wait another year! The new character of Marcus Marfield is central to this story and although it’s impossible to go into detail about why without risking plot-spoilers, the contrast between a character with a “voice from heaven”, a chorister in the King’s College Chapel Choir, and someone hiding dark secrets, created much of the tension which ran throughout the novel.

An excellent continuation of the Tom Wilde series. Touching on unsolved mysteries and, as the author says, difficult issues. When confronted with the story of the Nazis’ mass murder of the Jews (and others) Tom Wilde’s reaction was not unusual - he simply didn’t believe it and had to be convinced. Wilde is the intellectual spy - a Cambridge professor and a man of action so can handle thugs as well as interrogation. There is the love interest - not only his long term partner, Lydia, but the beautiful and alluring spy Harriet ( and whose side is she on?). Great new character, upbeat pace, low cunning plot, a fine read'. -- Jon Wise * The Sport newspaper * There is clearly a great deal of research which goes into the book and I particularly enjoyed the notes at the end of the book.

Publication Order of John Shakespeare Books

I will definitely read more books by Rory Clements, as I really enjoy the writing. If you enjoy thrillers and if you are a fan of Dan Brown, you will probably enjoy Nemesis a lot! I always find myself drawn to books that are set in and around the period of World War Two and this book focused on angle I haven’t previously seen focused on before. I can’t tell you what that angle is as I don’t want to give away too much of the storyline. But think spy’s, espionage, double-crossing and political motives and you can get a sense of what this book is all about. This is a wonderful blend of fact combined with superbly written fiction. I have had the pleasure to read all the books so far in the series, and it just keeps on going from strength to strength,