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The Last Line

John Cook (Book 1)

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What to expect

In Britain's darkest hour of the war a veteran left behind from the fighting discovers evacuee children haven't been arriving at their destinations.

May 1940.

With Nazi forces sweeping across France, invasion seems imminent. The English Channel has never felt so narrow.

In rural Sussex, war veteran John Cook has been tasked with preparing the resistance effort, should the worst happen.

But even as the foreign threat looms, it's rumours of a missing child that are troubling Cook. A twelve-year-old girl was evacuated from London and never seen again, and she's just the tip of the iceberg - countless evacuees haven't made it to their host families.

As Cook investigates, he uncovers a dark conspiracy that reaches to the highest ranks of society. He will do whatever it takes to make the culprits pay. There are some lines you just don't cross.

THE LAST LINE is a blistering action thriller combined with a smart noir mystery, played out expertly against the taut backdrop of the British home front.

(P) 2023 Hodder & Stoughton Limited

Critics Review

A brilliant noir thriller set in the darkest days of the Second World War
Stephen Leather
Ronson delivers a cracking yarn, convincingly told. John Cook is the Jack Reacher of 1940s Britain
Damien Lewis, author of THE MINISTRY OF UNGENTLEMANLY WARFARE
A vivid sense of place with tension on every level, The Last Line dripped with historical detail and authenticity. I absolutely loved it
Marion Todd, author of SEE THEM RUN
A tough, taut wartime thriller that reads like a cross between Alastair MacLean and Lee Child and atmospherically conjures up the spectre of war, the threat of Nazi invasion and other evils uncomfortably close to home. Dad's Army, it ain't!
Robbie Morrison
Thrilling and intriguing in equal measure. Like Jack Reacher on the Home Front in WWII
Mason Cross
The pace is quick and the action keeps coming. With well-chosen prose, the author gives the reader a snapshot of English countryside during wartime, with victory gardens, makeshift landing strips in farmers' fields and railway platforms full of evacuated children. It was a page-turner and I couldn't get enough
SaltyGalReads
Addictively readable
Irish Independent
Author Stephen Ronson
Narrator Orlando Wells
Series John Cook
Duration 8 hours and 54 minutes
Release Date
ISBN 9781399721264
Format Audiobook
Publisher Hodder & Stoughton
Genre Espionage and spy thriller, Historical fiction
Availability AU, GB, IE, US

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