Book Title: Traitor’s Game
Series: Soldier Spy, Book #1
Author: Rosemary Hayes
Publication Date: 26th September 2024
Publisher: Sharpe Books
Pages: 134
Genre: Historical Fiction
Traitor’s Game
Soldier Spy Book One
by Rosemary Hayes
Blurb:
'Right from page one you know you are in the hands of a talented storyteller... An exciting tale of espionage and adventure in the classic mould.'
~ R.N. Morris, author of The Gentle Axe
1808.
Captain Will Fraser has just returned from the Front in the Peninsular War. He is disgraced and penniless, the victim of a conspiracy led by a jealous and influential officer. Fraser has been falsely accused of insubordination and cowardice and dismissed from his regiment.
Fraser and Duncan Armstrong, his wounded Sergeant, arrive in London to seek out Will’s brother, Jack, who works for King George’s Government.
But Jack has disappeared. He vanished from his lodgings a week ago and no one has seen him since. Friends and colleagues are baffled by his disappearance as is the young woman, Clara, who claims to be his wife.
Then Will is viciously attacked, seemingly mistaken for his brother, and only just escapes with his life. When news of this reaches Jack’s colleagues in Government, Will is recruited to find his brother and he and Armstrong set out to follow a trail littered with half-truths and misinformation.
For their task is not quite what it seems.
Will closely resembles his brother and it becomes evident that he is being used as a decoy to flush out Jack’s enemies. These are enemies of the State, for Jack Fraser is a spy and his colleagues believe he has uncovered evidence which will lead to the identity of a French spymaster embedded in the British Government.
Will’s search leads him to France but in this murky world of espionage, nothing is straightforward.
The soldier turned spy must unmask a traitor, before it's too late.
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Author Bio:
Rosemary Hayes has written over fifty books for children and young adults. She writes in different genres, from edgy teenage fiction (The Mark), historical fiction (The Blue Eyed Aborigine and Forgotten Footprints), middle grade fantasy (Loose Connections, The Stonekeeper’s Child and Break Out) to chapter books for early readers and texts for picture books. Many of her books have won or been shortlisted for awards and several have been translated into different languages.
Rosemary has travelled widely but now lives in South Cambridgeshire. She has a background in publishing, having worked for Cambridge University Press before setting up her own company Anglia Young Books which she ran for some years. She has been a reader for a well-known authors’ advisory service and runs creative writing workshops for both children and adults.
Rosemary has now turned her hand to adult fiction and her historical novel ‘The King’s Command’ is about the terror and tragedy suffered by a French Huguenot family during the reign of Louis XIV.
And Traitor’s Game, the first book in the Soldier Spy trilogy, set during the Napoleonic Wars, has recently been published.
Author Links:
Website: www.rosemaryhayes.co.uk
Twitter: https://twitter.com/HayesRosemary
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rosemary-Hayes/e/B00NAPAPZC
Book Excerpt:
Chapter Seven
Later that evening, in a different part of London, another meeting took place.
There was no need for the two men concerned to meet in secret. They were both in the same line of work, albeit one more junior than the other, and their paths crossed frequently. This meeting, however, was different. Everything had changed between them and the atmosphere of menace in the room was palpable.
The older man, shrewd, impressive and utterly ruthless, was in a rage, though to observe his outward appearance, a casual onlooker would not have known it. He stood tall, his hands clasped behind his back, and stared impassively at his companion.
‘I shall ask you again,’ he said. ‘How, in God’s name, could you have allowed this to happen?’
His companion tried not to flinch. Although more frightened than he had ever been in his life, he held his ground.
‘I hardly think it fair to accuse me of allowing it to happen, sir. After all, it was you who sent the letter.’
The older man narrowed his eyes. ‘As you very well know,’ he said, his voice unnervingly quiet, ‘I was out of London at the time. It was the only way I could communicate with you.’
The younger man’s voice was full of bitterness. ‘I still contend that it was not necessary to send a letter. You had already conveyed your wishes to me verbally and you had left me in little doubt that, if I valued my life, I had no choice but to betray my country.’
The older man waved his hand in dismissal of this logical reply, and continued.
‘I needed to make sure you understood your obligations clearly.’ He hesitated. ‘But you already had your suspicions about Fraser, did you not.’ It was a statement, not a question.
‘No, I had no idea …’
‘Liar!’ The word was uttered explosively and a tiny globule of spittle followed it and settled on the cuff of the younger man’s sleeve.
He did not reply immediately but busied himself in wiping at the spittle with a handkerchief. It irritated him that he could not stop the trembling in his hand.
‘No sir, I am no liar,’ he replied at length. ‘And nor am I convinced that Fraser has any knowledge of your identity.’
‘Of course he does, you fool! Why else has he vanished together with that letter? There is not a fraction of doubt that he took it. He knows that if I were to be unmasked then it would put an end to all my work, and what an achievement that would be for him, eh? And that letter is all the proof he needs. Indeed, it is the only proof.’
His companion cleared his throat. ‘We do not know that it was he who intercepted it, sir. And even if he did, he would not be able to decipher it. He has no knowledge of the new chemicals needed to bring the secret writing to light.’
For a moment the older man looked thoughtful.
‘Yes, it is entirely possible, I suppose, that he has not yet deciphered it, but he is a clever man. It is only a matter of time before he does – or finds someone who already knows how to do so.’
‘No one on this side of the Channel knows the ingredients necessary to unlock its secret.’
‘Except you and I.’
‘Except you and I.’
‘Then, my friend, you must find Fraser forthwith - before he has a chance to read its contents.’
The younger man nodded, his face ashen. Then he looked up.
‘Would you truly carry out your threat to reveal …?’
There was a short silence before the other replied, his voice very quiet as he came close to the younger man and leant over him. ‘You cannot deny that you are guilty.’ Then when the other shook his head, he continued. ‘If you do not kill Fraser and destroy that letter, then I swear to you that I shall have no compunction in revealing to the world your filthy secret, for if I am unmasked, then I will make it my business to unmask you, too.’ Then he patted the other’s cheek and the younger man flinched and drew away. ‘And,’ he continued, ‘you would not survive such a revelation, would you? Which is why I know that you will do my bidding.’
Then, suddenly, he pushed his companion to one side and, without a backward glance, strode over to the door where he hesitated and turned once more to look at the younger man.
‘Find Jack Fraser and kill him. And destroy that letter.’
And then he was gone.
The younger man’s fragile layer of bravado collapsed as soon as the door slammed shut. He had been leaning against the wall and he slid down to the floor. Sitting there, his head in his hands, he wept, his shoulders shaking with convulsive sobs observed only by the unfeeling furniture of the room.
It was blackmail and his choice was stark. Become a traitor or have his secret life revealed to all. He closed his eyes, imagining the reaction of his father, a man of wealth and standing. There was no doubt that his father – his whole family - would reject him out of hand and cut off his inheritance.
How sudden it had been, his recruitment to the enemy side. How could he have let himself become tricked into it by this unscrupulous man who had lured him into his trap?
At length he rose to his feet, wiped his eyes and walked unsteadily to the door. He opened it and shut it behind him quietly before going out into the street.
The oil lamps in the passageway outside the building were still lit and the wind was up. The Autumn leaves were being blown from the branches and swirling around the street, lit up briefly as they passed through the arc of light. But the man did not notice them as he made his way home. The only image in his head was that of the gallows - and he’d witnessed enough hangings to know that it was not an easy end. He’d seen the poor wretches twitching and gasping in agony as onlookers jeered.
He shuddered. That would be his fate – or worse – if he did not carry out this assignment.
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Thanks so much for hosting Rosemary Hayes, with her riveting new novel, Traitor's Game. Take care, Cathie xo The Coffee Pot Book Club