Deadly Secret of the Lusitania
Ivan Light’s debut novel Deadly Secret of the Lusitania joins the long shelf of books about the sinking of the civilian passenger liner Lusitania in May 1915. 1,195 people died, including a hundred children – and 128 Americans, which had the long-term effect of changing the American mindset and bringing the United States into the First World War.
The German authorities insisted that the Lusitania was secretly carrying explosives and therefore a justified target of war, and Light weaves all the facts and theories about the incident into an espionage thriller starring an insurance investigator and his fiancée. The couple quickly find themselves caught up in a complex web of threats and counter-threats involving half-a-dozen interested parties, from German to British spies, to American gangsters.
The novel conveys vast amounts of fascinating details about the Lusitania tragedy while also managing to tell a gripping adventure story.
