The Clandestine War

Before the triumph of D-Day, there was the tragedy of Dieppe—where a secret operation altered the course of World War II.

The summer of 1942 finds the Allies desperate for a foothold in Hitler's Europe. Operation Jubilee is born in the smoke-filled rooms of the War Office—a daring raid that will test not just military might, but the moral fabric of those who command from safe distances.

Arthur Cutter, a haunted SOE operative barely out of Oxford, is forced back behind enemy lines for one final mission: infiltrate Dieppe's defenses to gather intelligence critical for the raid.

In the skies above Scotland, American-born RAF instructor Ian Faraday battles to prepare his pilots to provide air cover for the operation, even as his own demons threaten to ground him permanently.

In Occupied France, resistance fighter Talia Crevier becomes Cutter's unlikely ally, risking everything to map Nazi positions around Dieppe while battling the prejudice of her male comrades.

American Ranger Malcolm Parker, embedded with British Commandos slated for the raid's first wave, uncovers disturbing truths about Jubilee's planning—an operation compromised by ambition and miscalculation before it even begins.

As dawn breaks on August 19, 1942, four lives converge in a maelstrom of violence. Like pieces on a chessboard, they are moved by forces beyond their control, each forced to grasp the cost of sacrifice and the brutal truths of waging a clandestine war.

Award-winning author Conor Bender delivers a masterful blend of historical truth and heart-pounding fiction in this unflinching portrait of the forgotten raid that exposed the terrible cost of political ambition. Perfect for fans of Lee Jackson and CW Browning.