Rising Tide, by Alan Bardos

Alya Magness-Jarvis

Rising Tide, set against the backdrop of the Pearl Harbor attack, perfectly captures the creeping swell of panic.
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Rising Tide, by Alan Bardos, is the first novel in the Daniel Nichols Spy Thriller Series – the author’s second historical fiction series. Bardos’ first book, The Assassins, was received with great acclaim – this trend was then continued throughout the rest of his Johnny Swift series. Exploring many major events of the First World War, the completion of the Swift spy series has led Bardos to hold a magnifying glass to a key moment in the Second World War in this new novel. The new series, which will excite fans of his previous work, centres on Daniel Nicholas, lieutenant in the British Fleet Air Arm who becomes our dynamic special operatives agent.

Rising Tide launches us straight into 1940s Italy, at the heart of the attack on Taranto, where we meet Daniel Nichols for the first time. We join Nichols on his aircraft carrier as he finds himself immediately in the midst of danger at the hands of the Italians in the Harbour at Taranto. Through Nichols’ daring and death-defying escape he manages to get to safety, the injuries he sustains from the attack end of his days as an aviator.

Though safely on the ground – for now – the injury sends Nichols into the inner depths of the intelligence services; it seems that there is no limit to the threat of danger facing our flightless operative. Rumoured to have ‘gone soft’ after the Taranto raid, Nichols is eager to prove his commitment to the war effort, in any way that he can.

Tasked with an intelligence mission that forces him into the sphere of notorious German and Japanese intelligence agent, Sandor Braun, Nichols swiftly becomes embroiled in a far greater conspiracy than he would have imagined. As a Japanese delegation tours the site of Taranto months after the attack, suspicions are abound that a similar attack is underway. But exactly who will be targeted? And where will the attack take place? And will it be possible for Nicholas to warn of the attack, and intervene, before it takes place?

Rising Tide is framed alongside Pearl Harbor, and is a wonderfully descriptive and vibrant version of the lead up to, and attempts to prevent, the attack. Fantastically written , Bardos captures the miscommunication between concerned parties, refusal to take warnings seriously, and rejection of the signs and harbingers of attack, the novel mimics the absolute chaos and carnage that was international, wartime communications. Bardos’ writing is so fast-paced, it’s possible – and enticing – to completely run through the book in an afternoon. With characters that ooze charisma, intrigue, and depravity, Bardos paints a compelling depiction of late 1941 which perfectly captures the creeping swell of panic.

Rising Tide by Alan Bardos is out now and published by Sharpe Books.