I thought the main characters were well drawn and three dimensional but perhaps some of the subsidiary ones were a little two dimensional or WWII cliched (but then you can't develop all the characters in a fairly large cast without slowing things down, can you?). However, I really enjoyed the locations, suspense, pacing, fear-atmoshphere and action. The anticipation of going behind enemy lines, not knowing who to trust or how you are ever going to get out together with really fearing for the main characters (terrifying torture very well written without, I think, being gratuitous) is something that I try to work into my own writing.

Well worth a read even if, like me, you're not really a war fiction devotee.