A spy thriller set in Hollywood during the Great Depression/Nazi era? Yes please. This was right up my alley. It features a badass FMC - single mother, spy…I mean what more could I ask for?!

Well as it turns out it isn’t what MORE I needed but instead what I needed LESS of. And that would be religious overtones. I get it. It’s Christians vs Jewish peoples so there will be religious tones, but this was excessive. I don’t need the “well god gives us choices and sometimes we make the wrong ones” speech in a book like this for it to still resonate. Instead, the overtly religious nature of this book ruined it for me. I was not prepared for it to be as heavily religious as it was. Considering I read a lot in this general category, this is the first time this issue has really struck me. 

Maybe religion (specifically Christianity) is a trigger for me, but I definitely enjoyed this less and less each time it got overly religious. It’s also pretty slow build and like many historical fiction books, doesn’t seem to go anywhere but it isn’t stagnant either. It’s a story of a mother doing what she needs to do to provide for and protect her family during a time of struggle in the world. If you can handle the religious nature of it, it’s a solid read. 

Thanks to NetGalley for the audio copy.