CODE NAME: LISE The True Story of the Woman Who Became WWII's Most Highly Decorated Spy

This chronicle of WWII espionage in France is part thriller, part history, and part romance. Kate Reading does a solid job as narrator. She voices Odette Sansom, the French-born British agent, with French-inflected English and pronounces French and German names, places, and titles with ease and clarity. She is less strong with male English voices, but it is a small weakness. The pacing is good, especially in the later chapters when Odette and her supervisor, who are in love, are pursued by a French policeman in the mold of Inspector Javert of LES MISRABLES. The scenes of Odette's imprisonment and torture are harrowing. Reading rightly offers no false theatrics in these passages, letting the words speak for themselves. R.C.G. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine [Published: JANUARY 2019]