The Winter Warriors

When the Soviet Union invaded Finland in November 1939, they were not expecting the Finns to fight back – much less to prevail. Olivier Norek's riveting, heart-pounding, epic historical thriller is a story of barely imaginable courage, astonishing resilience, and the best sniper the world has ever seen.

'Impeccably researched and beautifully written, The Winter Warriors is perfect for fans of Ben Macintyre and Robert Harris' Paula Hawkins

'A novel you will not put down. Maybe never' Richard Ford

'There are echoes of Vasily Grossman in this gripping, chillingly urgent story of the horrors and heroism of war' A.D. Miller

'A fascinating and gripping novel about a forgotten corner of the Second World War. Remarkable and revelatory' William Boyd

***Over 270,000 copies sold in French***

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November, 1939. A conscription officer arrives in the peaceful farming village of Rautjärvi. The Soviet Union has invaded, and for the first time in its history as an independent country, Finland is at war.

Setting off into the depths of winter to face the Red Army, the small group of childhood friends recruited from Rautjärvi have no idea whether any of them will ever return home. But their unit has a secret weapon: the young sniper Simo Häyhä, whose lethal skill in the snow-bound forests of the front line will earn him the nickname 'The White Death'.

Drawing on the real-life figures and battles of the Finnish-Soviet Winter War, The Winter Warriors is a riveting, heart-pounding, utterly epic historical thriller from one of Europe's most acclaimed crime writers.

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'A well-researched, heart-rending account of a tragic war' Sunday Times

'Horribly topical and wholly immersive, with descriptions vivid enough to make you shiver, this astonishing book is not only a testament to bravery and resilience, but a powerful indictment of the cruelty and needless suffering that result when ideology comes up against reality' Guardian

'Young men fighting for their country have rarely been so movingly portrayed. As the temperature falls and the body count rises, the echoes of this powerful historical page-turner can be seen in Ukraine today' Daily Express

'A sniper's life, a thriller of the highest quality, as timely as it is gripping, by a very fine writer' Philippe Sands

'Over and beyond the vivid visceral writing, character-driven narrative and a chillingly immersive atmosphere, The Winter Warriors is epic in scope. Both moving and thought-provoking, it is literary adrenaline which hooks you from page one' Book Blast

'Grim, funny, poignant, always vivid, this is the best military novel I have read for a long time' Historical Novel Society magazine

'The plot revolves around a small group of village lads who are conscripted together, one of whom, Simo, becomes the so-called White Death, one of the world's most deadly snipers … What makes it tick is the urgent, vital narrative as the Russians surge across the border and the Finns fight back with little more than grenades and rifles' Bookbrunch

'Brutal, violent and heart-rending. Small revealing scenes build a rich emotional landscape, engaging the heart as well as the head. This is a dark tale that powerfully advocates belief, camaraderie and endurance' European Literature Network

**Olivier Norek's thriller Between Two Worlds was The Times & Sunday Times Crime Novel of the Year 2024**