No place to hide in Amberlough City

Amberlough by Lara Elena Donnelly Published by Tor Books.

Release Date

7th February 2017

My first ever book review on here so I am going to post a review of my favourite book of 2017, Amberlough by Lara Elena Donnelly.

Amberlough is a truly heart wrenching tale, as Donnelly skilfully blends romance and tragedy, evoking gilded-age glamour and the thrill of a spy adventure, in this impressive debut. A mixture between James Bond and Cabaret in an imagined multinational setting that owes much to pre-WWII Berlin but has its own complicated politics. Our characters are Cyril DePaul a young man of privilege who’s gotten in over his head as an agent for the Amberlough government. Cordelia Lehane who is content to scrape out a living any way she can, whether by fabulous stage performances or black market dealings. And last but not at all least is Aristide Makricosta, Cyril's notorious smuggler lover and the best dancer at the famous club, The Bee.

Cyril, Aristide, and Cordelia each fight to save those they care about and, ultimately, to survive themselves. Cyril wrestles with his cowardice, guilt, and the true depth of his feelings for Aristide as Amberlough is changed forever. A sense of inevitable loss and futility permeates this rich drama. The fascists may never be defeated but only escaped—if the characters are willing to abandon the people they love. That dilemma will haunt them, as it haunts the reader, and still haunts me today.

What sold Amberlough to me was its pitch as a "spy thriller. A double agent tries to protect his smuggler lover, as the world falls apart around him." And I am happy to say this novel did not disappoint me at all but rose to my expectations. I am still thrilled with this novel a year later and have re-read it many times.

Book 2 of the Amberlough series, Armistice, will be released May 15th 2018, so stay tuned for further reviews.