Dying Days

Award-winning writer delivers a pulse-pounding espionage thriller. Missing soldiers, MI6 secrets and European partisans collide in a deadly game where the lines between lies and reality are fast disintegrating.

In the dying days of the Second World War, a new conflict is about to ignite.

May, 1945: After fighting to liberate Europe from the Nazis, Tito's Yugoslav Army and Allied forces have come to a tense standoff in the city of Trieste. Every day, locals with fascist and Nazi ties are disappearing, arrested by Yugoslav soldiers. Meanwhile the Allies watch on, reluctant to become mired in yet another conflict.

But when rumours circulate that New Zealand soldiers are among the missing, the stakes begin to rise.

A British MI6 agent and a New Zealand intelligence officer must uncover the truth behind the rumours. But the schisms in the city are becoming harder to cross, and one wealthy family keeps getting in their way. In a mission where moral lines are hopelessly blurred and violence is a necessity, deciding whether they can trust their sources – or even one another – becomes a matter of life and death.

‘An intriguing plot, complex characters you want to journey alongside and a mystery whose unravelling keeps you glued to the page. A fascinating window into the twilight years of World War II.’ DANNY BEN-MOSHE

‘Tense and atmospheric ... Dying Days reminded me of some of the best of Alan Furst’s novels, where the focus shifts from the great sweep of armies and bombing campaigns to the individuals on the streets and in the intelligence services. It has a complex plot and is set in a complex time, but Byrt handles it with ease, gently leading the reader to the edge of the limestone hole to reveal the awful truth, that in the aftermath of war ideas take a long time to die, compromises must be made, and the winners quickly lose their heroic lustre.’ PIP FIORETTI, author of Skull River and Bone Lands

‘Incredibly well written, with compelling characters brilliantly centred in time and place. A wonderful retelling of an interesting and still-relevant period of history.’ HEATHER MORRIS, author of international bestselling The Tattooist of Auschwitz

‘A spine-tingling thriller ... as vivid as a spy novel yet as unnerving as a fairy tale made real.’ CATHERINE CHIDGEY, author of Commonwealth Writers' Prize winner The Book of Guilt

© 2026 Wavesound from W. F. Howes Ltd (كتاب صوتي): 9781004265084

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كتاب صوتي: 17 سبتمبر 2026