Customer Reviews

Lying with the Enemy: A Novel

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

What a pleasure. A mystery that's beautifully written. The writer's love of words, phrases, construction of plot and sensual headiness of book-making is contagious and warranted. I, too, was perplexed by the many omissions of words, grammatical eye-stoppers and at times archaicisms. I was glad to see your first reviewer picked up on it, too. If only there were more hours in the day, it would be intriguing to find the cause of such puzzlingness.

It is 1943 and the German army maintains its relatively peaceful occupation of the British island of Guernsey. How do citizens react to such life when their only real hardship seems to be a lack of certain foods? Surprisingly many women become collaborators, and indeed do "lie" with the enemy. The most evident male vice during these times seems to be greed, as they industriously establish a black market industry, and again collaborate with the enemy as they do so. No one much seems interested in emulating the nearby French Resistance. A prime example of Guernsey sabotage is when one local mows the grass landing strip extra short so that plane wheels won't get quite so good a purchase on the ground.

The book involves a murder, which flows through the book more as an undercurrent than as the prime plot. Much of this tale involves getting to know the characters, German as well as British. I quite enjoyed this story of what life might have been like in a backwater setting during this global catastrophe. That is not to say that I wasn't also a bit disappointed. We get to know a few of the women who become intimately involved with German officers, but we never are led to an understanding of what motivates them. One gets the feeling that they simply lacked much choice among the Guernsey men, but the population of the island isn't that small. Getting to know people isn't necessarily the same as understanding what makes them tick.

Thriller lovers beware; this book bears no resemblance to a Jack Higgins escapade. It's a well-written book that moves along at a leisurely pace.

World War II is raging on all fronts in Europe. The Nazis have set up camp on the tranquil Island of Guernsey off the coast of England. The island people have succumbed to the enemy, and exist to the best of their ability during a time of food rationing, shortages, and at times occupation of their homes. Adaptation is a necessity and the black market is in full gear.

Our story revolves around a gruesome murder. The possibilities are endless as the author introduces you to the many characters on the stage he sets. There is much fraternization with the Nazis and many people on the island hold grudges. The story turns into a tangled web of espionage and intrigue that culminates in a satisfying finish.

I would rate this book a 3.5 if I had that option. In the reading of it I found some chapters to be fragmented and disjointed making for a loss of that smooth transition I enjoy when an author writes from the perspective of many different characters. Kelsana 6/14/01

I picked up the British edition which is called "Island Madness" and thoroughly enjoyed this novel. The Nazis are presented as fully developed characters, not just the "bad guys" because bad guys exist on both sides in this book. Now go read "The Book of Ebenezer LePage" by G. B. Edwards, the memoirs of an old Guernsey man recounting over 80 yrs of Guernsey life in a circular and fascinating way.

This novel is an interesting story set on the Island of Guernsey circa early 1943. When the British evacuated from the island in 1940, many residents stayed behind. They are now in dire straits. The German occupiers limit their food rations to the point that residents are driven to desperate measures to survive. There is a thriving black market. Attractive women, and even some not so attractive, augment their food rations by consorting with German soldiers, particularly officers who can supply their needs.

There is a split in the German command. Major Lentsch is an administrative officer, but has no control over the construction operations fortifying the island, and no control over the head of the German police. Ned Luscombe, a British police officer trapped on the island when he stayed behind during the evacuation, has been made the local police inspector after mass arrests of members of the police force. When Lentsch's woman friend Isobel is murdered, and her body dumped in a German fortification off limits to the Guernsey civilians, Ned is given the job of investigating the case (Isobel had at one time been a love interest of Ned).

There is a large cast of characters hard to keep track of - native islanders, Germans, and forced laborers brought in by the Germans to build the fortifications. Everyone has his or her own agenda. The story is interrupted by a large number of flashbacks to explain past events and relationships. It is a slow read, and it is sometimes difficult to maintain an understanding of a plot element.

The Germans are losing the war, having suffered big defeats at Stalingrad and in North Africa. Some, like Lentsch, see the handwritten on the wall. Others remain rabid Nazi's loyal to Hitler. In the meantime, the murder case in turning over stones exposing other crimes. There is a somewhat surprising ending.

I've had a copy of LYING WITH THE ENEMY in a stack of books next to my reading chair since it was first published in 1998. I finally read it to prove to myself that my addiction to book buying is justified. When I bought the book and read the information on the dust jacket, I thought it would prove to be one of those delicious treats one sometimes experiences reading works of fiction in late summer and it has. These days, I tend to find nonfiction and history more fulfilling than fiction, and when you reach my age and the "so many books, so little time" problem becomes evident, you don't want to waste time on an inferior book. Lately, I've found reading mysteries disappointing lately because the current penchant for forensics can only take one so far. Plot is still as important to me as is character development, though many writers of mysteries have difficulty developing a plot.

I used to be able to count on British mystery writers, but many of the good ones are dead, and the few I admire don't tend to crank out a book a year, thus I run out of fiction fairly rapidly. Tim Binding's novel is therefore welcome, and I can honestly say that I don't feel that I wasted my time reading his book. I hope his protagonist Ned will turn up again in later books, not only because Binding left a number of loose ends remaining at the end of his book, but because Ned is a likeable fellow who is good to his mum. More importantly, Binding knows how to develop a tight and believable plot.

Binding has selected a tumultuous era for the setting of his story, and done a great job of describing life on one of the channel islands during the Nazi occupation. I don't know a lot about these islands, except that they are the last remnants of the British holdings in France dating from the days of Agincourt. His title is a double entendre involving lying as a form of making up untrue stories and lying as something you do in bed.

Any illusions one has about the Nazis is dispelled by Binding's characterization of their behavior on Guernsey Island. Unfortunately, some of the local girls (including Ned's old love) find the Nazi officers attractive - to the point of virtually prostituting themselves. Undoubtedly, these girls will be treated by their countrymen as collaborators after the war. Most of the islanders are starving so it might be understandable that some women turned to prostitution for the purpose of acquiring food for loved ones. Smuggling and making a profit at the expense of those in dire straights is harder to understand, however. According to Binding, some of the girls who became involved with the Nazis may have thought of their relationships as a `step up' and/or a chance to escape the tedium of island living. Perhaps some of them thought they were "in love."

The novel reads well with hardly a glitch. The only criticism I have is this, what mother would accept her son's involvement with a girl she detested before the war as a positive outcome after the girl had served as a Nazi concubine, even if the girl in question learned to cook! Binding may be good to his own mother, but I think he has a way to go before he understands women, at least women of the WWII era. Otherwise, this book is a good summer read.

The island of Guernsey in the English Channel between England and France is the setting of this mid-World War II whodunit. This is probably the most subtle mystery I have ever read. I had no idea who the killer was until the last few pages (no peeking!)

Scotland Yard trained Ned Luscombe stayed on Guernsey to bury his father rather than retreat to England and escape life under Nazi occupation. When Isobel, the young beautiful daughter of a Nazi collaborator and the lover of Nazi Major Lentsch, is found murdered, Ned is called upon to solve the crime.

Tim Binding has written a terrific book. It is unique in the relationships among the Germans, the roles played by the islanders and, again, the subtlety of the plot. You gotta read it!

It is 1943 and the German army maintains its relatively peaceful occupation of the British island of Guernsey. How do citizens react to such life when their only real hardship seems to be a lack of certain foods? Surprisingly many women become collaborators, and indeed do "lie" with the enemy. The most evident male vice during these times seems to be greed, as they industriously establish a black market industry, and again collaborate with the enemy as they do so. No one much seems interested in emulating the nearby French Resistance. A prime example of Guernsey sabotage is when one local mows the grass landing strip extra short so that plane wheels won't get quite so good a purchase on the ground.

The book involves a murder, which flows through the book more as an undercurrent than as the prime plot. Much of this tale involves getting to know the characters, German as well as British. I quite enjoyed this story of what life might have been like in a backwater setting during this global catastrophe. That is not to say that I wasn't also a bit disappointed. We get to know a few of the women who become intimately involved with German officers, but we never are led to an understanding of what motivates them. One gets the feeling that they simply lacked much choice among the Guernsey men, but the population of the island isn't that small. Getting to know people isn't necessarily the same as understanding what makes them tick.

Thriller lovers beware; this book bears no resemblance to a Jack Higgins escapade. It's a well-written book that moves along at a leisurely pace.

How did Dorothy Sayers' couplet go? -- "As I grow old and totter toward the tomb, The less I care who sleeps with whom"? Well, she wouldn't have cared much for this bed-hopping yarn. Too bad, Binding writes with a fine knowledge of the place and period and keen insight into humankind. And there's ultimately a murder to be solved here...but he doesn't get to it until page 111, for Sherlock's sake! By that time, watching the young women of Guernsey make sluts of themselves has become tiresome.

Suberbly written and fascinating, this novel is a wonderful mystery as well as a study of human nature during wartime. The characters are well developed and complex and the situation they find themselves in is finely described. One of the better novels I've read in some time and one that left me thinking about just what enemy occupation can do to one's soul.