This was my first time reading a novel by Mark Mills and I'm wondering why I waited so long. A great spy novel, wrapped around a mystery, this well written book kept me interested right until the end. This genre is not my usual cup of tea, but this author might have made me a convert! ( )

This was an easy read; but my enjoyment was severely constrained by my lack of sympathy towards any of the characters. It is set in the South of France in the mid 1930s and populated by the rich. The leading man is a sort of proto Bond who gets caught up in the ramifications of his past secret life. The writing is old fashioned; possibly deliberately so. I do not think I will follow this writer's other books. ( )

Tom Nash, ex spook, is living the life of Riley on the French Riviera in the years leading up to WW11. However, his past catches up with him as Soviet agents attempt to assassinate him. Great thriller set in the Med. with a twist in the tale. All the threads are tidied up a bit too much and the portrayal of the Brits as the "goodies" and the Russians as Commie "bad" guys was simplistic but guess it goes with the genre. ( )

Great beach book (which is where I read it). Solid historical fiction, a good dash of espionage, a light romance, and more than a few interesting mis-directions in terms of "whodunit". Great rendering of the pre-war French Riviera. ( )

Mark Mills' House of the Hunted is a spy novel/ mystery set in Southern France between WWI and WWII could be one of the best books you could read to pass lazy beach vacation time (or as I did during lazy back porch vacation time)- it takes place during the annual summer holiday of Tom Nash and his friends, all of whom have something else going on but it takes the entire novel to figure it all out. Mills is a great writer - the story is filled with twists and excitement from start to finish but the author never gets lazy because of that - it is well-written all the way to the end. Characters were well-developed and interesting, even ones that had little more than a page or two in the novel, the story was compelling and the scene descriptions made me ever so surprised when I looked up from my plastic chair and did not see the Mediterranean and Paulette was not in my kitchen cooking me a lovely meal. Highly recommended for transportation from everyday life and into what could have been a tremendously fantastic holiday, if not for all the killing. ( )