New York Station

A multifaceted protagonist who’s a refreshing change from formulaic genre leads lifts this gritty spy thriller from Dudley (St. Kilda). In 1940, Roy Hawkins, an American spy who has been working for the British in Paris, wants to help in the resistance against the Germans, who occupied the city in June, but his orders are to leave France. Hawkins is dispatched to New York City, where his chief of station enlists him to stop a traitor from sharing shipping schedules with the Germans that could be used to guide U-boat attacks. A more complex assignment soon follows. Radio host Walter Ventnor—who refers to the Roosevelts as the Rosenfelds, preaches a focus on Fortress America, and spouts pro-Hitler propaganda—has allied himself with Dr. Hans Ludwig, a representative of the Nazi government. Hawkins must make sure that Ludwig doesn’t get his hands on a secret U.S. Navy system, sonar, which America has refused to sell to embattled Britain. Fans of Alan Furst and Joseph Kanon will find familiar pleasures. (Jan.)