Black, white and 'noir'

As a husband and wife team, we aimed to write a book that we would both enjoy, and feel the story has many elements that will appeal to both sexes, not least the aspirational initially-reluctant heroine and hero and the dark glamour of the sinister Fascist presence, described in carefully researched technical detail. We are both addicted to fiction and films set in the 1930s, and this period has long had a wide appeal, particularly with the current spate of interest in the mid-1930s, with such nostalgia offerings as The King’s Speech, South Riding and Upstairs Downstairs, to name a few. 

It was, in part, inspired by what I think of as the original Nordic noir, as portrayed in the delicious mystery films ‘Dark Journey’ (1937) and ‘The Spy in Black’ (1939) with the inimitable Conrad Veidt. 

The story is no drawing room drama, but combines the intrigue of polar exploration and the development of nuclear science. Both these aspects have a solid basis in fact, which we hope would hook a more technically-minded WW2 fan-base, while perhaps adding some intriguing insights into what was really happening in scientific laboratories at that time. We added fast action, an emotional journey, a dastardly villain, a double-twister ending and satisfactory conclusion for any fans of atmospheric thrillers. Things will get even more sinister with the sequel, we promise, as the action moves to Berlin.