Labyrinth was followed by Sepulchre in 2007, and again, I loved it and have anticipated the release of Citadel for such a long time. It is also steeped in a passion for the region, its history and legends, and that magical shadow world where the two meet. Citadel likes to talk about itself, and boy, it had certainly had its share of adventure sto relate.

That said, the climax, which required a supernatural occurrence, was very disappointing and rather anticlimactic. Hij liet zijn blik over het place des Armes glijden naar de cathédrale Saint Michel, die oplichtte in de gouden avondzon. I enjoyed reading about Carcassonne and greatly enjoyed the history involved in the creation of the novel. It was easy for me to get a grip on him and what he was all about; wicked to the bone and dangerously religious.He goes on the run, aided by Sandrine and her sister, Marianne, who is already working with the resistance. With her Languedoc trilogy Kate Mosse has firmly established herself as the go-to girl for blockbuster time-slip romantic adventure . The secondary story involving the Codex was essential to the main plot and a major driving force behind it, but I did not like its fantastical nature. The novel takes place largely between 1942 and 1944, between the occupation and liberation of southern France.

I do wish I'd known that Kate Mosse weaves the supernatural in to all her books before I started reading this. So I was very excited to get Kate Mosse’s new book, ‘Citadel’, which is a lovely, big, thick thwack of a book. But once again I was drawn quickly into the tale and the location, which Mosse paints so beautifully with her words.She has a particular knack for creating vivid action scenes — the blood, debris and panic of a bomb attack, or a skirmish – but she describes with equal precision the small, daily hardships of life under occupation: the endless paperwork, the difficulties of communication, the twitching curtains next door.

I've read through non-fiction books, France, is not open and free with all their paperwork on those who were involved in the Resistance, nor in French citizens who were involved with the Nazi's. Mosse brings to life the women and men who refused to stand still when France fell to the Nazis, and she does this in the context of a coming-of-age story, as readers watch Sandrine fall in love and transform from a somewhat sheltered girl into a take-charge woman. In conclusion, the work of the resistance fighters during World War II, does not need additional hoopla, on its own the stories of bravery and disregard for their own welfare, outshines any mystic fiction. I think this would make a good holiday read - well apart from when the Gestapo are involved - it is pacy and made me question again what I would do if my country was invaded as France was, and how I would respond to torture, but in my opinion it isn't quite as good as her other work, perhaps because instead of telling a more straightforward tale of the resistance, Mosse attempted to press the story into the same shape as the first two Languedoc novels. It is clear that both time strands are set in the same place, the countryside of the Languedoc, the forests, the mountains, its people and language, and the weather, anchors the reader firmly in southern France.Ultimately, I was puzzled over the entire point of the story as the ending felt very much 'let's just wrap this up' which is sad. It was as if she was holding back on this because ultimately she thought she might need them to change sides later, but wasn't quite sure so just left them in an ambiguous zone that was unhelpful and eventually served no purpose. The Indiana Jones films are pastiches of 1930s adventure serials, and Citadel is similarly, if perhaps less knowingly, packed with melodramatic cliche – as characters are repeatedly jolted awake, feel their blood run cold, feel their hearts thudding in their chests and so on. I needn't have worried as I enjoyed it even more as an audiobook, especially as Finty Williams was a perfect narrator, really bringing this book and it's characters to life. Like their ancestors who fought to protect their land from Northern invaders seven hundred years before, these women — codenamed Citadel — fight to liberate their home from the Germans.

internationally bestselling author comes the third heart-stopping adventure exploring the incredible history, legends and hidden secrets of Carcassonne and the Languedoc. World War II stories whether they are fiction, or non-fiction, are contained with selfless acts of bravery. Unfortunately, it was probably 200 pages too long and had a couple of side-stories that didn't make a whole lot of sense.This is the first time I have written in a review on this blog reference to Scripture, but I do not apologize, it would be wrong of me as a reviewer to not state something in a book I see as incorrect, even if the book is fiction.