The Swiss Courier is a great story well told. But before I oohh and ahhh over the intelligence of the plot and the believable characters, let me tell you some back story. I’ve been working for several years on a novel set in Bayreuth, Germany –specifically related to the famed opera house and Wagner’s opera series. One day–on face book– I noticed that a fellow writer was discussing a book she was writing set in Bayreuth and the opera house. After my shock (I’d been told my story would never sell because of the setting and the simple fact that no one wants to read a book set around an opera festival) I messaged Tricia Goyer and told her we had probably done similar research. And since I’d actually lived in Bayreuth, Germany for a few years and had attended the opera festival and I did have leg-up on the research–although, that was my only leg-up. (She’s a research wunderkind.) We then arranged to talk on the phone (crammed a week’s worth of conversation into about thirty minutes) at which point I could see where her novel was going to fly off bookstore shelves. In part because hers was part of a WW II series and she already had an audience. But also, it sounded like a great plot. Of which I can take credit for one teensiest bit of character motivation. 🙂 She told me so. With their weirdest of sighs, I wished her well.
As a thank-you for the help on the Bayreuth story, she sent me a copy of her hot off the press release, The Swiss Courier, a novel she wrote with Mike Yorkey. I do love a good spy novel. This story, set on the heels of an assassination attempt on Adolph Hitler (remember the movie, Valkyrie?) spins fast. Hitler is after anyone of even the remotest Jewish ancestry and the focus become zeroed in on a scientist with an affinity for constructing an atom bomb. Meanwhile, a covert group of undercover spies in Switzerland go to work protecting and transporting people across enemy lines. There were a lot of characters (I’m not going to lie–it got confusing) and a lot of settings (I’m not going to lie–it got confusing) but it was so well-researched and the characters were so believable and that it became more of a page-turner than anything else. There were a few surprises at the end, always a treat. And issues of faith and trust were linch pins to this story. A great read!! Look for the rest of her WW II stories for your summer pleasure.
