Dying Days (Anthony Byrt, Affirm Press)

Anthony Byrt’s debut novel, Dying Days, is a fast-paced, assured espionage novel that expertly weaves compelling fiction with real historical events.

Set in Trieste in May 1945, in the immediate aftermath of World War II, the novel unfolds during the violent and tense period known as the Forty Days. Following Italy’s surrender, the city is occupied by both the Yugoslav and New Zealand armies, each claiming the right to control it. A potential crisis emerges when two daughters of the wealthy and influential Burri family and several New Zealand soldiers disappear. Are the men AWOL or victims of Yugoslav kill squads?

New Zealand’s Captain Mark Donnelly seeks the truth, no matter the consequences. British intelligence agent Alex Madigan wants to avoid derailing the fragile negotiations between the two erstwhile allies over Trieste’s future, regardless of the fate of the missing girls and men.

Madigan is a shadowy operator with many contacts throughout the city, ranging from the morally ambiguous wealthy class to Italian partisans to Yugoslav gangs and army men. Through him, we gain a compelling portrait of a city scarred by Nazi occupation and fractured by competing loyalties, resentment and revenge.

Dying Days is a classic espionage novel set against a brilliantly researched history of a little-known World War II episode, told uniquely from a New Zealand point of view. Fans of John le Carré should love it.

Books+Publishing reviewer: Katy Briggs is a marketer with a degree in English and history. She is an avid reader across myriad genres. Books+Publishing is Australia’s number-one source of pre-publication book reviews.

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