Available Formats
Paperback
Published: 20th March 2024
Hardback
Published: 9th April 2024
Paperback
Published: 26th November 2024
The Last Line: A gripping WWII noir thriller for fans of Lee Child and Robert Harris
By (Author) Stephen Ronson
Hodder & Stoughton
Hodder & Stoughton
20th March 2024
United Kingdom
General
Fiction
Espionage and spy thriller
823.92
Paperback
336
Width 152mm, Height 232mm, Spine 30mm
400g
'John Cook is the Jack Reacher of 1940's Britain' - Damien Lewis
*****May 1940. With Nazi forces sweeping across France, invasion seems imminent. The English Channel has never felt so narrow. In rural Sussex, war veteran John Cook has been tasked with preparing the resistance effort, should the worst happen. But even as the foreign threat looms, it's rumours of a missing child that are troubling Cook. A twelve-year-old girl was evacuated from London and never seen again, and she's just the tip of the iceberg - countless evacuees haven't made it to their host families. As Cook investigates, he uncovers a dark conspiracy that reaches to the highest ranks of society. He will do whatever it takes to make the culprits pay. There are some lines you just don't cross. THE LAST LINE is a blistering action thriller combined with a smart noir mystery, played out expertly against the taut backdrop of the British home front.A brilliant noir thriller set in the darkest days of the Second World War * Stephen Leather *
Ronson delivers a cracking yarn, convincingly told. John Cook is the Jack Reacher of 1940's Britain * Damien Lewis, author of THE MINISTRY OF UNGENTLEMANLY WARFARE *
Stephen Ronson grew up in Sussex, and spent a large part of his childhood exploring the woods and fields around Uckfield, many of which were still dotted with reminders of WW2 - pill boxes, tank traps, nissen huts, and graffiti left by soldiers awaiting D-Day. He is a passionate student of local history, and when he learnt about Auxiliary Units - groups of men who were instructed to lay low during the predicted nazi invasion and lead the fight back, he knew he had to write about a Sussex farmer, one with a love of the land, and a natural desire and ability to get the job done. Many of the locations and characters in the John Cook series are inspired by real places and real people. In particular, Stephen was inspired by his grandparents, Eric, Bessie, Peter and Vera, each of whom did their bit on the home front.
Nowadays, Stephen divides his time between Vermont, USA, and Uckfield, East Sussex. When he's not writing, he can be found renovating his house, or walking the woods and the fields.