Published

November 2004 (UK)

Praise

This gripping thriller, like the sinister, still visible structures it describes, makes for good reading but bad memories.

                The Sunday Telegraph

A gripping tale of dark forces, deception and death.

                        The Daily Express

A highly charged tale of intrigue and deception...

Guy Walters’ thriller works

on various levels and not engenders a genuine sense

of fear, but also disturbingly presents a number of ‘what

if?’ propositions to test any conceptions of moral superiority.

The Northern Echo

Here’s one to get the

adrenalin pumping –– a

briskly paced, angsty

thriller packed with cliff-

hanger sequences...This

is an exciting roller-coaster

of a read which rattles

along to a thoroughly

satisfying conclusion.

Bournemouth Daily Echo

This is only Walters’ third

thriller but I do wholeheartedly recommend him. Well written, steeped in historical atmosphere, tense, taut and truly page-turning stuff, he is certainly worth a try.

Sarah Broadhurst, lovereading.co.uk

Walters beautifully captures

the brooding and suspicious

atmosphere of the Channel

Islands during the years

of occupation.

Lancashire Evening Post

An intriguing idea from

the author of this exciting

wartime thriller who

illustrates a remarkable

degree of research in

his writing.

Guernsey Press & Star

This tale combines edgy

fiction, fact-based adventure, creating a great thriller. Chilling to the core.

The Good Book Guide

This is Walters’ third

thriller and they get better

every time. A cracking

page-turner.

Huddersfield Daily Examiner

An edge-of-seat thriller...

The Occupation is a thoroughly gripping read.

The Historical Novels Review

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Guy says

Like many others, I have always been fascinated by the German occupation of the Channel Islands, seeing those five years as a taster of what life would have been like in Britain had Germany successfully invaded. My wife and I have some good friends who live on Jersey, so when we visited them in the summer of 2003, the idea of setting a thriller during the occupation was too tempting to resist. A visit to the Museum of the Occupation in the German Underground Hospital whet my appetite, and I soon immersed myself in the plethora of books concerning the period.

    It soon became clear that the Channel Islanders are slightly touchy about their wartime experience, but they have little need to be. It was impossible for them to form a resistance movement, as there are few places to hide on such small islands. A mixture  of acquiescence and cooperation with the Germans was undoubtedly a sensible stance to adopt, although the line between that and collaboration is a fine one. Undoubtedly some islanders did overstep that boundary, and it was the motives of such people that I wanted to explore in The Occupation.

    As well as visiting Jersey, I also explored Alderney, which was the site of four labour camps during the war, one of which –– Sylt Camp –– was run by the SS. It was therefore the only concentration camp ever to be built on British soil. The ruins of the camp are still visible, and the link to pictures of them, along with other locations used in The Occupation, can be found on this page. I have also put together a minute-long film of Sylt camp, which can also be found below. Around 5MB, it requires Apple’s Quicktime.