The Dynamite Room

Starred review from March 30, 2015
In Hewitt's strong debut novel, set in England during WWII, 11-year-old Lydia has run away from her wartime foster family to return home, only to find her seaside town abandoned and Grayfriar, her family home, desolate and empty. Heiden, a German soldier, arrives in the same night to occupy the house, and he imprisons the young girl there. Over five days, Heiden keeps Lydia hostage while turning the house upside down for official documents and other suppliesâitems, he explains, that will be useful for a pending German occupation. Over time, however, it becomes clear that there's more to Heiden's preparations than he is revealing, and more brought him to Grayfriar in particular than just his orders. Hewitt's novel is well-crafted and engrossing. In the confines of a house that can feel at once claustrophobic and expansive, he artfully explores family and identity, and how war changes the lives of both soldiers and civilians. Agent: PJ Mark, Janklow & Nesbit.

February 1, 2015
In a remote English house during World War II, innocence and experience fuel the cat-and-mouse game played out between an imaginative child and a conflicted German soldier.British actor-turned-bookseller Hewitt's debut is a claustrophobic psychological thriller, as powerfully visualized as a screenplay, that swaps between the points of view and back stories of its two central characters. First to appear is 11-year-old Lydia, who has fled back home to Suffolk from her rough, bullying evacuation billet in Wales only to find the family house and its surrounding area strangely deserted. Then, in the middle of the night, a wounded stranger arrives: meticulous German special ops commando Heiden, who turns Lydia's home into a prison and half persuades her that the German invasion has already begun. Over the course of six sweltering summer days, the two plan, watch and test each other while becoming peculiarly interdependent. Between abrupt slices of the here and now, Hewitt sandwiches multiple flashbacks to both pre-1939 and wartime days. Lydia's family background is revealed: There's an older brother who's gone to war, affectionate parents and an adopted refugee boy, Button, whom Lydia abandoned in Wales. Heiden's more morally compromised memories include his musical career; his intense, ultimately tragic involvement with his girlfriend; and, in particular, a grueling military operation in Norway. Hewitt handles this complicated narrative with assurance, juggling the reader's sympathies while adding crumbs of information, all the while pitting Heiden's tarnished ideals against Lydia's vulnerability. A sense of theatricality pervades the contemporary scenes-small cast, stifling domestic setting-but these are usefully crafted in the closing pages to deliver a jolting finale. An unusual, intricate drama delivered with accomplishment.

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Starred review from March 15, 2015
Eleven-year-old Lydia is supposed to be in Wales, safely evacuated from the threat of German bombs that are pummeling England in 1940. But, anxious to escape the abuse heaped on vackies there, she sets off for home, sneaking behind evacuation lines, only to find her village abandoned. Her father and brother left in service a while ago, but where is her mother? Determined to wait for her mother's return, Lydia settles into exhausted sleep, but is awakened by a frightening stranger. Heiden is an enemy soldier trapped with her in her home, sure to kill her unless she follows his orders to stay inside and out of his way as he prepares for an imminent German invasion. But isolation and loss have stretched them both to their breaking points, and as Heiden reveals why he's turned up in Lydia's house, of all places, they become deeply dependent on each other for survival. In this fine balance of taut suspense and tragedy, Hewitt has created an emotionally charged character study in which he explores the loneliness, fear, hope, and shame that war visits on ordinary people. Mystery and general-fiction book groups will enjoy dissecting these characters and their nuanced story; highly recommended to fans of Karin Fossum as well as to readers of character-driven historical fiction.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)