A review by d_audy
Europe at Midnight by Dave Hutchinson

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

An excellent sequel to Autumn in Europe that pulls the rug from under your feet right from the start by not picking up the story where the cliffhanger finale of the first book left us, but instead throwing you again, in media res, in another area of the same fractured Europe (or perhaps it's somewhere in the mysterious Community?) and leaves you figure out where, with whom and when exactly you are. Two arcs, one at this Campus, one in London, two main characters both from the Intelligence world, two mysteries, a ton of questions, new intrigues and old ones expanded, and twists and turns. Once more Hutchinson immediately creates with great success an enveloping and oppressive atmosphere like the masters of Cold War espionage like Le Carré excelled at. The plot, confusing for a while and not too obviously linked to the first book, surreptitiously grabs you and brings you into the rabbit hole, and the more you go, the more it makes sense and you begin to see where it's going and how it all fits together. Engaging, challenging, complex. The finale doesn't let you down again with a good final twist (no less satisfying for seeing it coming a little ahead) and one last hook for the third and penultimate volume to what is proving to be a unique, very entertaining series that blends to near perfection the classic espionage genre and near future science-fiction.