
May 1940.
With Nazi forces sweeping across France, an 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.




Hugest of thanks must go to Morgan at Hodder Books for kindly sending me a proof copy of The Last Line.
As my followers know, I’m heavily into World War Two novels and when I saw the blurb for The Last Line, I was immediately interested.
The Last Line is a fantastically written thriller set in Sussex during the early part of WW2. We meet John Cook a Veteran of the Great War, and now a Farmer, living with his Mum and Uncle on his large farm estate. Now I, as usual, do not want to spoil the story in any way, especially because this is an absolute belter of a book! John Cook is a loveable character who, like most men returning from WW1, has his demons and these make him a pretty tough, hardworking and organised chap, who has a short fuse and doesn’t suffer fools! But I adored him from the first page!
There is also a great supporting cast who compliment John, and again without giving anything away, Margaret is also a brilliant character and I adored her!! The Last Line, is a snappy, smart and immersive thriller, the story runs at pace throughout the novel, and I found it extremely realistic, and it is clear that Stephen Ronson has done a lot of research into the activities of veterans during WW2 especially on the Home Front, in the South East of England. And in fact, I learnt several things during this read, as there are elements based on fact in here.
Ive read many novels set during the wars, and I have to say that The Last Line is up there with the best, its just a superb example of how to write a book with passion and love. It is thrilling, easy to read, whip-smart, there’s a lot of violence but that goes hand in hand with the character of John Cook, and I personally love a lead character that’s not afraid to use his fists! But there’s also humour and empathy in The Last Line. The plot is also really well written, with many twists and turns and it builds to a marvellous ending which was really well thought out!
So in summing up, this is an easy 5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ star read, it is the start of a series, and I am already itching to read John Cook book 2! If you like a gripping thriller, set during WW2, with easy to like characters and cast, and a superb storyline, then I urge you to get buying The Last Line. A BookBanger 💥

You can Pre-Order The Last Line HERE
You can follow Stephen Ronson on TWITTER INSTAGRAM
