The blurb says

It is 1943. British SOE agent Captain John Lockhart is in Crete, fighting with the Resistance. Captured by the Germans, Lockhart faces a stark choice, between death and betrayal of his country. Concealing his true motives, Lockhart makes a bargain: in return for the life of his imprisoned wife, he will work with the Germans. When his mission is revealed, Lockhart is stunned. He is to lead a unit of the Waffen SS made up of British fascists and renegades culled from POW camps: the British Free Corps, Lockhart takes command, but he has an audacious plan to free his wife and other innocent victims of the war – whatever the personal cost.

 

THE TRAITOR

Published

September 2002 (UK)

May 2003 (Holland)

November 2003 (Japan)

April 2004 (France)

July 2005 (USA)


Praise

Based on a true story, this classic page-turner revolves around treachery in wartime Britain.

                                          The Times


Walters delivers a fast-paced, exciting story filled with action, intricate plot twists, deception and betrayal. Best of all is his gripping rendering of the fine line Lockhart must walk in order to keep his life and his honor.


Publishers Weekly


This brilliantly plotted novel

is well researched, and impossible to put down...

The result is World War II from a fresh perspective.


Historical Novels Review


With plots of revenge for being forced into becoming a traitor, and clues of Nazi secret weapons there to be picked over, Lockhart is on a collision course with trouble, a crafty whore and other escapades. Guts and glory – tally-bloody-ho!  8/10


                                     Front Magazine


Successfully delivering a relentless build up of action and tension, Walters cleverly uses insights from the adult Amy Lockhart, and swaps between years to paint in background detail. Day-to-day banalities intermingle with the horrors of war, factual bases with the fictional narrative. Walters strides confidently in the steps of ‘Fatherland’.


                            The Good Book Guide


I very much like this type of novel which skillfully blends a little known history with a fictional adventure rich in action, with very strong characters, especially the hero, and above all his sworn enemy, the German Strasser, whose nuanced character is very successful.


                           Alibis issue 12 (France)


For fans of John Buchan and Len Deighton, Lockhart, the hero of this book, will keep you enthralled. There’s action, betrayal, the SS, and just a little romance as Nazi spies infiltrate Britain.


                           www.scottishreaders.net



Sample

Click here to read Chapter One of the The Traitor on Simon & Schuster’s website.



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Guy says

The Traitor is my first novel, and as such, I’m immensely fond of it. I started writing it a few days after I left The Times in the Summer of 2000, although I’d had the idea kicking around for a long time. I was alerted to the existence of the British Free Corps by Adrian Weale’s superb Renegades, which is a history of the Britons who helped the Nazis. With such appealing subject matter, it was tempting to get bogged down with the research, but I disciplined myself to get on with the business of writing the fiction. I managed to sell The Traitor and The Leader on the back of the first three chapters, which was largely thanks to my excellent agent, Tif Loehnis at Janklow & Nesbit. What proved tricky to pull off was making Lockhart sympathetic enough ––– after all, he is a traitor. However, I hope I succeeded. Looking back at it, there are a few elements I’d like to change ––– it’s a little long, and I’d like to have made the characterisation more subtle in places, but on whole, I think it still does what it set out to do, which was to provide a historically meaty piece of upmarket airport reading. Some say that it’s a little too Boy’s Own and unbelievable. Such criticism is probably fair, but I hope it doesn’t spoil what’s meant to be a good romp! For those who want to know more about the British Free Corps, then click here to visit my old website.

French edition

(Presses de la Cité)

US edition

(Touchstone)

Dutch edition

(De Fontein)

Japanese edition

(早川書房)