Blitz: 3 (Rook Files)

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Blitz Kids recounts some powerful reminiscences from people who have got through it – a lesson to a generation that has inherited but largely forgotten its debt. I’m about halfway through Blitz by Daniel O’Malley, which is the third book in the Chequay series about a supermatural quasi-governmental organization. Readers new to O'Malley's world, unsure why they should care, may get tired of the unfocused narrative, myriad anecdotes, and backstories. This book was his first and sprang from the BBC documentary, Battle for Malta , that he also wrote and presented. Juliet Gardiner blends memoirs, official accounts, and personal experiences, many derived from Mass Observation, to present a gripping and emotive history of the Blitz and illustrate the strength and resilience of the civilians whose lives were torn apart in its indiscriminate violence.

I think there are things in this book that set up possibilities for future books, but I’m not sure I’m interested enough to read them, and that’s kind of disappointing. I was so excited to get an early copy of the third book in one of my favorite series, and I am ecstatic to say that it gave me the exact delight I was looking for.As air raids sound, and the war feels closer than ever, the community has to stick together to survive bombings and bereavement. I had never heard of Mass Observation, a real war-time 'Big Brother' that made regular reports on citizens morale and were not averse to criticising some of the dafter procedures that were in place in the early days. As Lyn fights off powered thugs and her own vengeful colleagues, she will find that the solution to the murders and to the mystery of her own past lies in the events of World War II, and the covert actions of three young women during the Blitz.

The novel takes place in post-WWII London, where Lovejoy, a young girl whose mother has pawned her off on strangers, plants a hidden garden in the shelter of a bombed-out church.Like previous entries in The Checquy Files, Blitz is fun, humorous, original, and has great female characters. Until Pamela, the most sensible of them, breaks all the rules and brings down a Nazi bomber with her bare hands. Low gas pressure for cooking, low or no water pressure, - these are things that never surfaced before on my radar. Chamberlain was still Prime Minister, but had seen all his efforts to negotiate peace with Hitler shattered.

Finally this is once again a well timed action mystery with awesome fight scenes, some of the weirdest damn magic/abilities/creatures/monsters in writing, and a truly perplexing mystery that ends with a damn good commentary on how much of a difference a "normal" person can make in the world. No one would ever have guessed that Paulina Paine was deaf, and that her ability to lip-read was astonishing. Particular focus is placed on underage volunteers in the armed forces, including ‘boy sailors’, underage airmen and 14 year-old boys running away from home to join the army. The Checquy is an old organization with a long history so it was a lot of fun to live out some of that history especially since we get to learn more about Lord Wattleman.While the tabloid and right-wing press - the Sun, The Times, the Mail and the Express - are constantly criticised for dangerous bias, outlets like the BBC and the Guardian are trusted by their readers to report in the interests of the public. You see, it was good at the beginning but although the blurb may sound very exciting but it isn’t too thrilling. In March and April 1942, more explosives were dropped on the tiny Mediterranean island of Malta - smaller than the Isle of Wight - than on the whole of Britain during the first year of the Blitz. In Blitz Families Penny Starns takes a new look at the children whose parents refused to bow to official pressure and kept their beloved children with them throughout the War. Booking is now open, all you have to do is visit the Learning and Development Platform and filter the course catalogue to Scotland to find the booking form.