The Enigma Game

Code Name Verity Cycle Series

Author: Elizabeth Wein

Book 2 in the Code Name Verity Cycle series

Pages: 320

Published: 2020

Age: 12+

An exhilarating, unmissable thriller that finds three very different young adults united to decode a secret that could turn the tide of World War II.

Facing a seemingly endless war, fifteen-year-old Louisa Adair wants to fight back, make a difference, do something--anything to escape the Blitz and the ghosts of her parents, who were killed by enemy action. But when she accepts a position caring for an elderly German woman in the small village of Windyedge, Scotland, it hardly seems like a meaningful contribution.

Still, the war feels closer than ever in Windyedge, where Ellen McEwen, a volunteer driver with the Royal Air Force, and Jamie Beaufort-Stuart, a flight leader for the 648 Squadron, are facing a barrage of unbreakable code and enemy attacks they can't anticipate. Their paths converge when a German pilot lands in Windyedge under mysterious circumstances and plants a key that leads Louisa to an unparalleled discovery: an Enigma machine that translates German code.

Louisa, Ellen, and Jamie must work together to unravel a puzzle that could turn the tide of the war--but doing so will put them directly in the cross-hairs of the enemy.

Featuring beloved characters from Code Name Verity and The Pearl Thief, as well as a remarkable new voice, this brilliant, breathlessly plotted novel by award-winning author Elizabeth Wein is a must-read.

About the Code Name Verity Cycle Series

Books in series order

  1. 1.The Pearl Thief(2017)
  2. 2.The Enigma Game(2020)
  3. 3.Code Name Verity(2012)
  4. 4.Rose Under Fire(2013)

Reading age: 14+ years

When "Verity" is arrested by the Gestapo, she's sure she doesn't stand a chance. As a secret agent captured in enemy territory, she's living a spy's worst nightmare. Her Nazi interrogators give her a simple choice: reveal her mission or face a grisly execution. They'll get the truth out of her. But it won't be what they expect.

As she intricately weaves her confession, Verity uncovers her past, how she became friends with the pilot Maddie, and why she left Maddie in the wrecked fuselage of their plane. On each new scrap of paper, Verity battles for her life, confronting her views on courage, failure and her desperate hope to make it home. But will trading her secrets be enough to save her from a merciless and ruthless enemy?

Harrowing and beautifully written, Code Name Verity  and its companion novel, Rose Under Fire, are filled with danger, resolve, and survival, revealing just how far true friends will go to save each other. The bondage of war will never be as strong as the bonds forged by the unforgettable friendship in these extraordinary tales of fortitude in the face of the ultimate evil.

Note: Books 1 and 2 were written after books 3 and 4, however they are listed here in event chronological order. They feature different characters and can be read out-of-sequence.