Customer Reviews

Desperate Times

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Pat Johnson's book deals with a common AH theme - a Nazi takeover of the UK in the wake of the defeat of France in 1940 - in an uncommon way - there is no SeaLion, but Britain accepts a negotiated peace. The book is told in pseudo-adventure style, with a young British civil servant embarking on a dangerous mission to soon-to-be fascist Britain to retrieve the enigma machine and the recently deposed Winston Churchill, to carry on the struggle against the Third Reich from Canada and other, still-defiant parts of the British Empire. He goes on the mission with the blessing of no less than Franklin Roosevelt, as the US gets more involved in the struggle. As a spy-adventure novel, it is an entertaining book, populated by many historical figures such as Mosley, Churchill, Hitler, Roosevelt, Eden, and Halifax. The action is concise, and well-written, and the setting in normally placid, democratic Britain being converted to fascism is eerie. My problem is with the alternate history behind the novel that led to Britain's plight. There is little indication of what changed; it is implied that Dunkirk went badly, and that the small, but modern German surface fleet controlled the Channel. This is very implausible; the German surface fleet was decimated in the Norwegian Campaign (something that still presumbably happened in this timeline); had what was left ventured out into the Channel, the Royal Navy would've blown it to the moon. All in all, however, an entertaining read.

Desperate Times is a novel about history gone wrong. In this timeline England fails to save the British Expeditionary Force at Dunkirk, where the German army, instead of waiting for England to roll over and give up(as in our timeline), defeats the 500,000 of the UK's best troops before they can escape.
The England in this timeline is not as hopeful as in our's. Their morale is in the pits after the 'failure' of Dunkirk. The German bombing and the U-boat attacks have a much greater effect on the British (adding salt to the wound).
The author does not invent super-weapons nor does he have Hitler replaced by somebody smarter. He decides to work on the people of England. Parents worrying about their kids, leaders worrying about their people and a nation that is hurt and war tired. People who decide they DO want peace at any cost, even their freedoms.
A short spy novel, only 161 pages, with some spelling mistakes, but a great first try for a fiction novel.

An interesting premise - a defeated Britain in WWII - is treated with an entertaining storyline and interesting look into the personalities of the time. Mr. Johnson has created a fictional world within a factual world that is believable and thought provoking. Harry Lloyd is sure to become an unsung hero.

I sincerely hope he continues his saga in future writings