Audiobook narrated by Rachel Capel.
Released 19th August 2022.
From the cover:
Spies, military secrets, and a personal crusade for freedom....Rome, 1942.
Cordelia Olivieri is a determined young hotel owner desperate to escape Mussolini’s racial persecution. But as Fascist leaders gather in Rome, Cordelia is suddenly surrounded by the world’s most ruthless and powerful commanders.
In an effort to keep her Jewish heritage a secret and secure safe passage out of Italy, Cordelia forms a dangerous alliance with the British army who want to push the Axis out of North Africa once and for all.
Going undercover, Cordelia begins obtaining and leaking military intelligence to a British agent, hoping the intel will secure her freedom. But the more Cordelia uncovers, the greater the risks—especially for one handsome German Afrika Korps officer.
How far must Cordelia go to protect her identity and secure passage out of Rome?
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Rome, 1942: For young hotel owner Cordelia Olivieri trying to keep body, soul, and business together during wartime is becoming increasingly difficult. It does not help that she lives in constant fear that her half-Jewish lineage may be discovered at any time with Mussolini's Black Shirts becoming ever more diligent in enforcing the race laws brought in to curry favour with Hitler.
Cordelia hopes to escape from Rome with the help of her friend Father Colombo, who has secretly been working in league with the British from behind the safety of the walls of the Vatican, but just when she thinks the time has arrived for her to flee, fate intervenes.
British spy Lucifer has successfully been working undercover at Black Shirt Command and passing information to the Allies about vital shipping convoys between Italy and North Africa, but he is no longer able to get his hands on the documents he needs. Field Marshall Rommel, frustrated by how the British seem to know so much about Nazi operations, has sent his trusted second in command Lieutenant Colonel Friedrich Shaeffer to take charge of supply matters. Shaeffer has established his base of operations in Cordelia's hotel for undisclosed reasons, well away from the headquarters of the Black Shirts and Lucifer's prying eyes.
Cordelia must now get the details of the supply routes Rommel is relying on to achieve his military goals, if she is to obtain the papers she needs to leave Italy, but the risks are high - and the longer she stays in Rome, the more she finds herself attracted to Friedrich Shaeffer. Cordelia must use every ounce of her ingenuity to complete her mission and save herself, but can she also protect her heart too?
Lucifer's Game is an immersive wartime adventure that takes you from the baking desert of North Africa, where the battle for military success hangs in the balance, right into the heart of a Rome pulled in different directions by political tension and ambition. Cristina Loggia weaves multiple strands to this story, starting with Rommel's need for supplies that sends Shaeffer to the hotel of a woman he has longed to meet. In telling her tale, based in part of the stories of her own grandfathers, Loggia encompasses so much, bringing in far reaching threads about the reality of war, and the more human factors that dictate how history unfolds.
The story is told through the eyes of multiple characters, mainly Cordelia herself, but also Lucifer, Shaeffer, Father Colombo and a few other intriguing characters we meet along the way - including the deeply unpleasant monk Father Blasius, who would like to see Shaeffer disgraced for very personal reasons of his own. The characters come at you thick and fast at the beginning of the book, and there is a lot of flipping back and forth in time as Loggia guides you through the relationships between the them, and helps you understand what motivates them to act as they do. Although this is a bit confusing at first, you soon get into the rhythm of it, and the background this gives forms a solid base for what follows.
Loggia writes well, weaving threads of intrigue and adventure that serve to up the tension, and I got really caught up in the story after a while, especially when it came Cordelia's destiny. The theme about espionage was very enjoyable, and the way she uses the darker human desires of greed, ambition and revenge to advance the plot was cleverly done. I was less convinced about the love story, but it does add passion to the mix, and it makes for a good story device in showing that decent people were caught up in the conflict on both sides.
The narration by Rachel Capel is rather slow in pace, even at my habitual playback speed of x 1.5, but I was very impressed with the way she handles all the voices of the multiple characters. It is a job well done when there are so many different sorts of characters to turn your voice talents to, and you can manage this without resorting to caricature, which Capel does with aplomb.
My absolute favourite thing about this book is the way Loggia fits her story into the grand scheme of things historically speaking. I really enjoyed how she uses what happens in this book to blend fact and fiction to explore how and why Rommel failed in his bid to win the war in North Africa, as this worked beautifully.
This is an intriguing debut, displaying a real ability in Loggia to craft a gripping story, and shed light on a less examined theatre of World War II, which I found fascinating. I look forward to Cristina Loggia's next book with interest.
Lucifer's Game is available to but now in paperback, ebook (from Lume Books), and audio formats.
Thank you to Cristina Loggia for sending me an audio copy of this book in return for an honest review.
About the author:
Cristina started her career as a newspaper reporter for L'Eco di Biella and La Provincia di Biella, in Piedmont, Italy. After a spell running the press office of an MP, she moved to London, where she worked for several years as a public affairs and media relations professional, advising major multinational corporations on communications campaigns. Cristina read English Literature and Foreign Languages at the Catholic University of Milan, Italy. Writing and reading have always been her greatest passion. Lucifer's Game is her first fiction novel. She currently lives with her husband in Berkshire.
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