Review: KYIV by Graham Hurley

 Starting this review with a trigger warning: there is a very graphic rape scene in this book, so please take care if this affects you. I try not to reveal key points in my reviews unless necessary, but I felt it was important to put a warning in about this. 

Having read and reviewed “Last Flight To Stalingrad”, I was really pleased to have the chance to review Hurley’s latest novel. 

The grand outline of this novel is about Operation Barbarossa, in which Nazi Germany invaded the Ukraine in their larger bid to conquer the Soviet Union and destroy communism. 

But, as seen in Last Flight to Stalingrad, Hurley focuses as well on his characters and their part in the whole, as he does with the research that sets the stories in their place. 

Bella Menzies, previously MI5 but now a defector to the Soviets, on account of her inspiration of the communist ideals, finds herself in a dilemma. Instinct tells her not to go to Moscow, but instead hitch a ride into Kyiv, Ukraine. Very quickly she finds herself hunted by both sides, and discovers the Soviet plot to bomb Kyiv in seemingly random patterns over a period of time, to frustrate and demoralise the Nazis. 

Meanwhile, her lover, Tam Moncrieff, is still with the British intelligence services, knowing Bella’s situation and not giving up on her. He starts to investigate Kim Philby, one of the real-life Cambridge Spies. I’ll leave you to predict how that turns out.

Hurley writes with panache and confidence, thanks to the incredibly detailed research that has been done before putting own to paper. Between them, the cast of characters are charismatic, enigmatic, terrifying, naive, terribly clever, and sympathetic. It’s a novel about the Second World War, so you can make an educated guess about the ending, but the arcs for each character are well, if painfully, resolved. 

Hurley proves himself once again to be a master of historical fiction that enlightens, entertains, and shocks the reader in necessary ways, both from how he creates his characters and storylines, to the real life events and atrocities he weaves in that are essential for the reader to know (you’ll find out what I mean when you read it). 

A fantastic novel, and well worth picking up 

for fans of early 20th century historical fiction.