Another great spy story from Tom Williams starring his spy, Burke and the sergeant, William, who helps him in his missions. I had not heard of the fortifications at Torres Vedras before picking up this book.

I love this series as it combines history with intrigue and exciting stories. This one was no exception. It was more of a slow burn than a minute by minute danger zone, but was very enjoyable. Our hero is tasked with rooting out spies in the Portugal city of Lisbon and the surrounding area. It wasn’t going to be quick and it wasn’t going to be easy. The pacing was slower than the last book, but as a fan of the series, I can see how that was necessary for the plot. While every minute of a spy’s day is dangerous due to the nature of the work, the actual tedium of doing the groundwork to root out the spy being sought might not be moments of breathless excitement.

Poor William caught the brunt of the issues in this adventure. I felt sorry for him. Poor guy.  But as usual, he didn’t let it bring him down.

The respect Burke shows to one of the adversaries near the end of the book was intriguing and admirable even though I was a bit surprised. He’s a good man and I love the way the author has taken a real historical figure and made him someone we in this modern era can relate to even if we sometimes can’t relate to the tactics that were used in those days in the Army and the art of war.

In short, this was another success and I recommend it for those who enjoy historical fiction with a lot of realistic scenes of danger and violence as each side of a war try to win. Man’s inhumanity to man is definitely on display in this one. Five stars.