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V2

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V2

By: Robert Harris
Narrated by: David Rintoul
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.
THE TOP RICHARD AND JUDY BOOK CLUB PICK FOR SUMMER 2021
___________________________
'Immersive' Guardian
'Stunning' Daily Express
'Riveting' Telegraph
___________________________
Victory is close. Vengeance is closer.

Rudi Graf used to dream of sending a rocket to the moon. Instead, he has helped to create the world's most sophisticated weapon: the V2 ballistic missile, capable of delivering a one-ton warhead at three times the speed of sound.

In a desperate gamble to avoid defeat in the winter of 1944, Hitler orders ten thousand to be built. Graf is tasked with firing these lethal 'vengeance weapons' at London.

Kay Caton-Walsh is an officer in the Women's Auxiliary Air Force who joins a unit of WAAFs on a mission to newly liberated Belgium. Armed with little more than a slide rule and a few equations, Kay and her colleagues will attempt to locate and destroy the launch sites.

As the death toll soars, Graf and Kay fight their grim, invisible war - until one final explosion of violence causes their destinies to collide...
___________________________
'A riveting read with a corker of a twist' Daily Telegraph
'Supremely readable' Observer
'Delivers one hell of a punch' Express
'Captures the real nature of war. Gripping' Ben MacIntyre

© Robert Harris 2020 (P) Penguin Audio 2020

 20th Century Espionage Genre Fiction Historical Historical Fiction Military Spies & Politics Thriller & Suspense War & Military Exciting War Belgium England Fiction Air Force

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Critic reviews

A riveting read . . . with a corker of a twist.
[I]mmersive and engaging.
V2 is a stunning achievement; a gripping page-turner that remains highly thought-provoking.
An immersive thriller set against a tense historical backdrop . . . For all its pace - you will zip through it in no time - the rewards are in the meta-story. But Harris's deceptively effortless prose means you barely notice. The effect is one of total immersion: you can feel the cold, taste the bacon sandwiches and imagine the trolleys squeaking across the floor.
I want to be the first to say it: Robert Harris scores a direct hit with V2. I was enthralled.
Harris renders the historical detail with his customary verisimilitude.
Harris's books are always supremely readable - he has practically trademarked the term 'master storyteller'.
This is a lively read, as propulsive as the rockets of the title, and it masterfully captures the bleak, jaded atmosphere of the Second World War's death throes.
Robert Harris has always been ingenious at finding ways to write about the Second World War [...] It's highly readable . . . thrillingly tense.
Harris finds the poetry in physics and the soul in engineering. He makes the V2s come to life as vividly as any of his human characters . . . His prose can be wonderfully vivid... Harris has the great gift of readability; there is no living novelist whose books I am likelier to gobble up in one sitting.
All stars
Most relevant
I’ve read all Robert Harris’s books and I’m not saying this is dull but I kept waiting for something to happen.

In common with most male authors he isn’t that skilled at making female characters come alive - probably not PC to say that these days but I’d say the same about female writers and male characters, with the honorable exception of PD James and Insp Dalgliesh.

The main female character in this story was a bit bloodless and not very interesting despite David Rintoul’s best efforts. He’s an excellent narrator and did his upmost but she was charisma-free and needlessly enigmatic.

The cynicism of the Americans in luring Nazi rocket scientists like Von Braun with promises of the good life in New Mexico post-war and a space programme was well made, with few references to the hundreds (thousands?) of innocent Londoners killed by V2 rockets in the last months of the war.

Bit underwhelming

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This is the third 5* book published on 15 September I have read and the umpteenth by Robert Harris.
He is a master story teller who manages to draw fascinating characters in compelling situations. If you have not read him before this is the perfect introduction. Just about the perfect novel.
I listened in part to the audiobook which was read magnificently.

Another 5 star

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This book is set in the dying days of WW2 and looks at the impact of the V2 Rocket from both the German and British perspectives. It is a fascinating view from whatever perspective you look at it. What I found most interesting was the way Wernher von Braun and his colleagues evaded punishment and were permitted to develop their ballistic missile technology in the USA, thereby paving the way for space exploration.

Fascinating Insight into the V2 Rocket

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The meticulous research and expert story telling combine to create a fascinating and engaging account.

History brought to life

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My great uncle lost many of his childhood friends in the Woolworths/ New Cross V2 attack. He had left them there because he did not have money for a cup of tea.

Thanks for the story, I enjoyed and appreciated it.

Good mix of storytelling and history

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