Corpus by Rory Clements

          This is quite a confusing book - not helped by the fact I was reading a second book at the same time that was set in a similar time period and dealt with similar themes so I sometimes got a tad confused with the cast of characters.  They certainly inhabited the same rarefied airspace so that isn't surprising.

However, the biggest problem I had was Corpus has such a large cast of disparate characters, in many countries and they are introduced at seeming random into the plot.  Just as soon as you think you have a handle on what is happening than a new chapter starts and suddenly we are in Munich, Berlin, Spain, Moscow, Rural England, Windsor and eventually back to the comfort of Cambridge.  Not that there is much comfort to be found by the Cam, certainly not for Tom Wilde or Lydia Morris.  The juxtaposition works well but it does mean you need to keep your wits about you throughout the book and this isn't always easy as it does have a tendency to become bogged down in minutiae from time to time.

I did like that you are never exactly sure what each character's agenda actually is.  Are they a Communist, a Fascist, a Patriotist or a bit of all three or playing all three against each other whilst behoving to belong to each.  Lots of complex intrigue and tricky little sub-plots here from Baldwin, Stalin and Hitler led factions with a little bit of White Russian Rebellion thrown in for good measure.  1936 certainly sounds like an exciting time but I am sure it was much more mundane, even in the higher echelons of power than it is fictionalised into being.

The main characters are well-developed but once you move away from Tom, Lydia and Philip Eaton everyone else is a little bit of a two dimensional attempt.  The nearest we get to fully formed is Comrade Kholtov and even he smacks a little of caricature.  Fortunately, I had read the second in the Wilde series first so I know how good the writing from this author can be and I know that I will be eagerly waiting for the third installment.

My recommendation would be read this book and persevere with the series - book two is much tauter but Book One does give some added insights into Mr Wilde, Ms Morris and Mr Eaton that did give me a lightbulb moment about their actions in Nucleus.