The Running Lie by Jennifer Young

Wednesday 6^th to Tuesday 12^th May

I’m lucky to be participating in two Damppebbles Blog Tours this week!

The Running Lie is the second of the Max Falkland trilogy by Jennifer Young. This is slightly new era for my historical thriller reading, but as I’d only gotten into 1950’s vintage pinup culture last year, I was eager to read it.

Book Blurb:

In Cold Crash, when Archaeologist Max Falkland, the Anglo-American daughter of a British peer, meets American John Knox in London in April 1952, her already troubled life takes on mystery. As the Cold War thriller progresses, Max finds herself in increasing danger, but three weeks after the events of Cold Crash, the point at which The Running Lie begins, Max has found an archaeological dig in London and John Knox has entered her life. But even now, can he be trusted? Max encounters both skulls and sexism on the dig site at the bombed out shell of St. Bride’s Church in London. A family request sends her to the Berlin International Film Festival, away from the dig and her growing relationship with John Knox. But after she sees John in Berlin with another woman, Max forces him to confess he is an American spy. When his current case collides with her family life, Max has to find a way to navigate layers of lies. As fireworks explode for the Fourth of July party, Max must make a dangerous choice if she wants to save both John and her family. The Running Lie is a page-turning Cold War spy thriller that reboots old school cloak and dagger Max Falkland is the James Bond of the 21st Century.

I truly loved this book, and cannot wait for the finale to be published in 2022. The Running Lie had all the things I like in a good thriller, likeable and hateable characters, twists and turns of plot, action that made my heart race,  and an ending that left me aching for more.

This is an interesting book. Unlike most historical thrillers, you experience the story from Max’s point of view; that of an educated and sophisticated woman who has to battle the patriarchy both in her field and at home. Max has a PHD in Archeology, which in 1952 is still overwhelmingly male, and as an heiress, she has the pressure to marry. She is smart, tenacious and tough, but Max is also very much a woman of her times and struggles to find her place.

Max’s relationship with John Knox is one of the most realistic I’ve seen in fiction. It’s confusing, in that Max is confused. There is romance, but it’s complicated in very real messy ways. She loves John, but can she marry a man whose life is full of lies and danger? How can they find common ground when their backgrounds are so disparate? Can she trust John when the nature of his work means he may have to leave for unknown periods of time or have relations with other women? When danger threatens her family, will their relationship survive the storm?

The author, Jennifer Young will be holding an online launch party at 6pm on 13th of May on Zoom. Here’s the link: The Running Lie Zoom Launch

Rating: 4/5

• Title: The Running Lie (Max Falkland #2)
  
• Author: Jennifer Young
• Publisher: Cinnamon Press
  
• Released: April 22, 2020
  
• Language: English
• Format: Ebook
  
• Pages: 319 pages
  

Jennifer Young was born in a small textile town in North Carolina, USA, and moved to the UK in 2001. She has since completed a PhD, become the daughter-in-law of a Catholic priest, and gained British citizenship. Her degrees are from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, Cardiff University and the University of Southampton. She is the Head of Writing and Journalism at the University of Falmouth. Jennifer lives in Cornwall with her daughter.

Her novel Cold Crash won the Cinnamon Press Debut Novel Prize.
Follow Jennifer at http://www.maxfalkland.com or on Twitter @maxfalkland.

Social Media:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/maxfalkland

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ArchaeologyandEspionage/

Website: https://www.maxfalkland.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maxfalkland/