Under a War-Torn Sky

Review of Under a War-Torn Sky by L.M. Elliott

Overview from www.barnesandnoble.com: When Henry Forester is shot down during a bombing run over France,the World War II pilot finds himself trapped behind enemy lines. In constant danger of discovery by German soldiers, Henry begins a remarkable journey to freedom. Relying on the kindness of strangers, Henry moves from town to town—traveling by moonlight, never asking questions, or even the names of the people who help him along the way. Each day brings him closer to home, yet every step in enemy territory invites new dangers.

Even as Henry fights for his own life, he quickly grows to realize the peril that surrounds all of the French people, and to admire the courage of the freedom fighters who risk death to protect him. Suspenseful and achingly true, this critically-acclaimed and deeply beloved novel explores the heartbreak of war, the strength of human spirit, and one young man's struggle to protect the things he loves.

My Review:

File this one under a recommendation from a fellow writer who was critiquing my own work. My story comes from the same era (World War II) and involves speakers of a foreign language but that is where the similarities end. Still I was intrigued.

This story is also in the YA or Young Adult genre which includes pretty much any genre that you can find for adults, just written for a younger audience. So in this case we have a YA Historical Fiction story.

Our main character is a young American pilot named Henry. He comes from a farm somewhere in Virginia. The war of course is a change of pace for him but what changes his life most dramatically when his plane is hit and he parachutes out in the middle of Switzerland.

After being treated in the hospital he is given the choice between spending the rest of the war in Switzerland or trying to escape through France. He chooses the latter and that is when his new adventures begin.

Dependent on the kindness of strangers, he must play an unwitting game of hide and seek with the SS who would love nothing better than torture and intimidate him into giving up those who helped him.

I enjoyed this story quite a bit. It was well-fleshed out as were the characters in it which surprised me somewhat as those characters were constantly changing as Henry tries to make his way North and hopefully to England or the Allies.

Henry was my favorite and he carried the story well. I can honestly say that reading this one was one of the few times where I could remember a story that could not be filed under the heading of Christian fiction and yet had such a positive and consistent character main character who claimed himself as a Christian. I found it refreshing.

The only downside for me was the crazy amount of dialogue that was mostly in French. The author did translate things that were important but some pieces of dialogue were left untranslated. I was able to figure out some of it based on my limited knowledge of French as well as my Italian but sometimes trying to figure it out slowed me down.

On the other hand, it did give the dialogue a bit of authenticity. I am just thinking that maybe it was a bit overdone.

As you might have guessed, it didn’t stop me from reading it to completion. Ms. Elliot’s story is an exciting one that I would have no hesitation in recommending to younger readers as well.

Contains: some war violence

Tuscan Rose

Review of Tuscan Rose by Belinda Alexandra

Overview from www.barnesandnoble.com: FLORENCE, 1914. A mysterious stranger known as The Wolf leaves an infant with the sisters of Santo Spirito. A tiny silver key hidden in her wrappings is the one clue to the child’s identity. . . . FIFTEEN YEARS LATER, young Rosa must leave the nuns, her only family, and become governess to the daughter of an aristocrat and his strange, frightening wife. Their house is elegant but cursed, and Rosa—blessed with gifts beyond her considerable musical talents—is torn between her desire to know the truth and her fear of its repercussions. All the while, the hand of Fascism curls around beautiful Italy, and no citizen is safe. Rosa faces unimaginable hardship: her only weapons her intelligence, intuition, and determination . . . and her extraordinary capacity for love.

My Review:

First off, I must apologize for not putting out a review last week. The book I am reviewing was long and it took me a while to finish it. Which by the way is no reflection on the book itself, although there were some points where I was tempted to stop (more on that later), as much as it was on my schedule for that week. I am currently registering for school as I am returning to university for some graduate work in Technical Writing. Applying to be considered a resident student was more difficult than a thought it would be.

But without any further ado, let’s get to this week’s story. As you can imagine, this week’s story takes place in Tuscany and our main character is a girl/woman named Rose. As an infant, a man appears at the convent of Spirito Santo to leave her to be raised by the nuns.

The story starts and the very beginning and goes at least half way through her life I think but all the elements of a good story are there. We have first the mystery of Rose’s origins. The man who has left her at the convent left his charge with only a key as a hint to her birthright.

She grows up there surprisingly happy until she is told by one of the nuns that she must leave. And that is when most of her troubles begin.

The Marchese of the Villa Scarfiotti has hired her as a governess for his daughter Clementina and from the get-go it is clear that his wife, the Marchesa, intensely dislikes her along with almost everyone else. And there seems to be a very evil force at work. A force that eventually gets her labeled as enemy of the new Fascists state and compels her to leave her beloved Clementina.

As World War II progresses things get gradually worse for both Rosa and the majority of the Italian population who live and sometimes die at the whim of Mussolini and his black shirts. It seems that she goes from one problem to the next but manages to keep her style and dignity while trying to discover the history of her past.

I liked most of the story as I said earlier because it was in Italy and I appreciated that it covered a part of Italy’s history that I previously knew little about. I did not realized exactly how much the citizens of Florence suffered under the Mussolini government as well as under German occupation.

I liked Rosa for the most part but there were times when the things that she did bothered me. I mean I know people aren’t perfect but sometimes it was hard to like her. It probably had a lot to do with the love triangle part of the story since I have never been a fan of love triangles.

The other characters had their intended feel I am guessing. The Marchesa and Osvaldo creeped me out while I couldn’t help but also like Clementina.

This story also relied on the supernatural quite a bit as we discover early on that Rosa has the ability to sense the origin of items, especially those that once were alive such as the fur coats. That was an interesting twist to the story as well and it fooled me a bit as to which direction the story was going.

There is some language in the story but most of the words are in Italian so I don’t know if that will offend anyone. There are also two sex scenes which account for the two times that I almost stopped reading. One in particular bothered me a bit but I kept reading in an effort to find out the end of both the story of Rosa and the city of Florence.

So in the end, I am recommending it but with the above caveats. It is a unique and interesting story. Give it a try.

Hornet Flight

       


Review of Hornet Flight by Ken Follett


Overview from www.barnesandnoble.com: "It's June 1941, and the low point of the war. England throws wave after wave of RAF bombers across the Channel, but somehow the Luftwaffe is able to shoot them down at will. The skies - indeed, the war itself seem to belong to Hitler." "But on a small Danish island across the North Sea, Harald Olufsen, a bright eighteen-year-old with a talent for engineering, stumbles upon a secret German installation. Its machinery is like nothing he has ever seen before, and he knows he must tell someone - if he can only figure out who." "With England preparing its largest aerial assault over, what Harald has discovered may turn the course of the war - but the race to convey the information could have terrible consequences for everyone close to him: For his older brother Arne, a pilot in the grounded Danish air force and already under suspicion of the authorities. For Arne's fiancee, Hermia, an MI6 intelligence analyst desperate to resurrect the foundering Danish resistance. And most of all, for Harald himself, because as the hour of the assault approaches, it will all fall to him and his friend Karen to get the word to England. And the only means available to them is a derelict Hornet Moth airplane abandoned in a ruined church, a plane so decrepit that it is unlikely ever to get off the ground." Pursued by the enemy; hunted by collaborators with almost no training, limited fuel, and no way of knowing if they can even survive the six hundred-mile flight, the two will carry with them England's best - perhaps only - hope to avoid disaster.

My Review:

I am happy to say that I am back with a Historical Fiction offering this week. Although I like to read a wide range of genres, Historical Fiction is my favorite. The only way to make it better is when authors sometimes combine the two.

However, that is not the case in the Hornet Flight by Ken Follett which is what I am reviewing this week. Our story begins in June of 1941 when it might have seemed that Britain stood alone against Hitler’s Nazi party which was bent on world domination.

The story seems to give almost equal time to all of the main characters therefore it is hard for me to pin it down to one protagonist. We start however with Digby Hoare. He works on the staff of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. And he along with the Prime Minister is trying to figure out how it is that the Germans have been able to annihilate them with such precision recently.

Enter the mission. The mission begins with Hermia and Poul. Hermia works in England while Poul is in Denmark, the country Hermia had just escaped from when the Nazis invaded. But when Poul is discovered Hermia must find someone else to take his place and she can think of no one else other than her fiancé Arne who she previously thought to be too happy go lucky for the job.

Arne’s younger brother Harald discovers the plot and realizes he can help since he has seen the German installation that the British are interested in. He demands to be included and gets his wish at great cost to himself and everyone he trusts.

Meanwhile Peter Flemming, a Danish policeman out to make a name for himself under the new regime, discovers the brother’s involvement. Having borne a grudge against the family for years, he is elated to now have a reason to strike his revenge. But will he stop them in time to prevent the British from gaining the upper hand in the war?

My verdict on the story is mixed. The main plus of course besides the interesting characters is the plot itself. The action kept me turning the pages and anxious to see if each character will live as the baton is passed to the next as Hermia herself scrambles to try to figure out who has it. It was very entertaining.

On the negative side, I had my doubts about the historical accuracy of the story and a quick Internet search did not help.  I am however still recommending it to those who are ok with a few f bombs and the sexuality that was in it. For me it was a bit much but not enough that I stopped reading the story.

China Dolls

                


Review of China Dolls by Lisa See


Overview from www.barnesandnoble.com: It’s 1938 in San Francisco: a world’s fair is preparing to open on Treasure Island, a war is brewing overseas, and the city is alive with possibilities. Grace, Helen, and Ruby, three young women from very different backgrounds, meet by chance at the exclusive and glamorous Forbidden City nightclub. Grace Lee, an American-born Chinese girl, has fled the Midwest with nothing but heartache, talent, and a pair of dancing shoes. Helen Fong lives with her extended family in Chinatown, where her traditional parents insist that she guard her reputation like a piece of jade. The stunning Ruby Tom challenges the boundaries of convention at every turn with her defiant attitude and no-holds-barred ambition.

The girls become fast friends, relying on one another through unexpected challenges and shifting fortunes. When their dark secrets are exposed and the invisible thread of fate binds them even tighter, they find the strength and resilience to reach for their dreams. But after the Japanese attack Pearl Harbor, paranoia and suspicion threaten to destroy their lives, and a shocking act of betrayal changes everything.

My Review:

Lisa See’s China Dolls was something I wanted to read ever since its first release. The setting is San Francisco, just a few years before the start of World War II. Three girls stumble into a nightclub just outside of Chinatown cleverly named “The Forbidden City.”

Grace is run away from the Midwest who goes to San Francisco to escape an abusive father and cruel “Occidentals” as well as to follow her dream to become a dancer. Shortly after her arrival, she meets up with Helen, a traditional Chinese girl. Grace drags her along on her audition where they meet up with Ruby. Thus begins their life-long friendship, if you can call it that.

I hesitate to call it that because it does seem like any friendship that I have ever experienced. And most friends I know of who have treated each other the way that these three do usually don’t remain friends very long. I realize that this is the cutthroat world of show business but I have to admit that the behavior of Ruby and Helen in particular left me think of that old saying. “With friends like these, who needs enemies?”

Grace was the character I identified with most though she can be thoughtless and insensitive at times. Yes, she shouldn’t have forgotten them the way she did but for the most part her ignorance stemmed from her lack of street smarts and her friends refusal to let her know how badly she had hurt them.

The girls each carry their own secrets close to their hearts and appear equally unwilling to share them with the other two girls. This seemed odd to me since they were supposed to be best friends. If you can’t share your secrets with your best friend, who can you share them with?

They struggle through the war and the ugly prejudices that were directed at them, in many cases, by their own customers as well as by the U.S. government and the jealousies of their fellow performers.

They vow not to let a man come between them yet one does. They promise to look out for each other, yet on occasion they can’t seem to resist stabbing each other in the back. Will they hold their friendship together in the end? To find out, read the book.

I liked it well enough yet besides the backstabbing there were other things I didn’t like about the book. The sexual content was more explicit than I remembered reading in See’s previous books (such as Shanghai Girls and Dreams of Joy) and of course I loved the characters in those other two books so much more.

The detail about the time period was extensive at some points such as the details about all of the laws regarding Japanese Americans and the laws that prohibited Caucasians marrying Asians. Yet later in the story when such marriages occur that involve some of the main characters we are not told how this is suddenly possible. I assume the law must have been revoked later but I don’t know for sure and wouldn’t that be just as important for the characters later in the novel as earlier?

Anyway, I will leave it for the rest of the readers to judge for themselves whether they agree or not. Feel free to let me know what you think.

Contains: sexuality, profanity, war violence

The Book Thief

 


Review of The Book Thief by Markus Zusak


Overview from www.goodreads.com: It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will become busier still.

Liesel Meminger is a foster girl living outside of Munich, who scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can’t resist–books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement.

In superbly crafted writing that burns with intensity, award-winning author Markus Zusak, author of I Am the Messenger, has given us one of the most enduring stories of our time.

My Review:

I think it would be something of an understatement to say that The Book Thief is a book like no other. Yes, it covers the Holocaust to some extent and life in Nazi Germany but that life is portrayed from the point of view of the underbelly of that society.

We begin with a small girl who essentially becomes an orphan and loses her only sibling on the way to live at a new home. This is where our narrator starts to insert himself in the story. He sees the book thief when he comes for her brother and is captivated by her but not, I think, in a romantic way. As we soon discover our narrator is Death himself, aka The Grim Reaper.

As the years pass, he follows Liesel’s (the book thief) life in between soul collection and later is able to fill in the gaps of her story by reading some of the things she has written.

But when we begin, Liesel is mostly illiterate. She comes to the Hubermanns by car from the train station. Her first car ride ever and she stubbornly refuses to get out. Finally Hans Hubermann, her new foster father coxes her out. This would signal the life-long attachment that would later grow between them while getting close to the wife, Rosa, would be a bit more challenging.

Life would be hard but they would grow to love one another. Liesel would learn to read so that she could read her first stolen book. A tome called “The Gravedigger’s Handbook” that she had taken during her brother’s funeral for a memento; all that she had left of him.

As time goes on the story gets more complicated as we add more characters. There is a small blond boy who wants to be Jesse Owens. The mayor’s wife who provides the book thief with more books to steal. Then there is the man who arrives in the middle of the night putting all their lives at risk.

As the tide begins to turn for Nazi Germany, life at the Hubermann house gets even more and more difficult. Before the changes the book thief’s new family was more likely to die of malnutrition than bombs dropping. Now the man who was living in the basement will have to leave and fend for himself while Liesel and her family wonder how many air raids they can survive. When Death finds her, what will he say to Liesel and her to him? Can she even hope to survive?

The movie based on this book is now on video and I am anxious to finally see it now that I have finished the book. I wonder if they have changed any major plot points. I hope not. Perhaps I will post a review of it later, though I might have to reveal some spoilers in my comparison. In the meantime, I hope you will buy or check this book out at the library. Happy reading.

Contains: language, violence, and book burning

Unbroken

Review of Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand


Overview from www.goodreads.com: On a May afternoon in 1943, an Army Air Forces bomber crashed into the Pacific Ocean and disappeared, leaving only a spray of debris and a slick of oil, gasoline, and blood. Then, on the ocean surface, a face appeared. It was that of a young lieutenant, the plane’s bombardier, who was struggling to a life raft and pulling himself aboard. So began one of the most extraordinary odysseys of the Second World War.


The lieutenant’s name was Louis Zamperini. In boyhood, he’d been a cunning and incorrigible delinquent, breaking into houses, brawling, and fleeing his home to ride the rails. As a teenager, he had channeled his defiance into running, discovering a prodigious talent that had carried him to the Berlin Olympics and within sight of the four-minute mile. But when war had come, the athlete had become an airman, embarking on a journey that led to his doomed flight, a tiny raft, and a drift into the unknown.

Ahead of Zamperini lay thousands of miles of open ocean, leaping sharks, a foundering raft, thirst and starvation, enemy aircraft, and, beyond, a trial even greater. Driven to the limits of endurance, Zamperini would answer desperation with ingenuity; suffering with hope, resolve, and humor; brutality with rebellion. His fate, whether triumph or tragedy, would be suspended on the fraying wire of his will.

In her long-awaited new book, Laura Hillenbrand writes with the same rich and vivid narrative voice she displayed in Seabiscuit. Telling an unforgettable story of a man’s journey into extremity, Unbroken is a testament to the resilience of the human mind, body, and spirit.

My Review:

Much like Louis (or Louie) Zamperini, the world around him was always on the move. As a young child of Italian immigrants, Louie was always in trouble. He liked to steal things and cause a general havoc wherever he went. He seemed destined for a mental hospital or worse but then his brother Pete had a great idea. Louie would become a runner. Pete trained him until he became one the best there were and for a while it seemed as though his troubles might be over but they were only just beginning.

Unbroken tells us the story of the first part, which I just summarized as well as what happened next. We have all heard the troubled kid makes good story before and usually when that kid turns himself around, the story ends.

But of course life goes on and so must Louie. He continues running at school, winning meet after meet. Then just when all seems lost he gets himself a spot on the 1936 Olympics, the same one where Jesse Owens won four gold medals.

After that one moment in the sun, war breaks out and Louie’s dreams are cut short when he goes off to the Pacific to fight. To say that he endured terrible things there would be a gross understatement. He survived a plane crash, being lost at sea on a raft for forty-seven days, and then the terrible horrors of a Japanese prison camp.

The same courage and stubbornness that got him in trouble with the law when he was young, that kept him going when he was floating out on a raft in the Pacific, gave him the courage to survive and defy the brutality of his Japanese soldiers. He just wouldn’t let go, give in or give up.

His incredible true story kept me on the edge of my seat. It also kept me wondering: How much more can this guy take?  When my father and I were discussing this book he told me that he too was thinking, “enough already.” What more can he go through?

This book has been made into a movie directed by Angelina Jolie though I have no idea when it will be released. I only hope that she does it justice. In the meantime, I recommend this book wholeheartedly. I guarantee it will make your problems seem small in comparison and encourage you to go forward. It did for me anyway.

Orphan Train

Review of Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline


Overview from www.bn.com: Between 1854 and 1929, so-called orphan trains ran regularly from the cities of the East Coast to the farmlands of the Midwest, carrying thousands of abandoned children whose fates would be determined by pure luck. Would they be adopted by a kind and loving family, or would they face a childhood and adolescence of hard labor and servitude?

As a young Irish immigrant, Vivian Daly was one such child, sent by rail from New York City to an uncertain future a world away. Returning east later in life, Vivian leads a quiet, peaceful existence on the coast of Maine, the memories of her upbringing rendered a hazy blur. But in her attic, hidden in trunks, are vestiges of a turbulent past.

Seventeen-year-old Molly Ayer knows that a community-service position helping an elderly widow clean out her attic is the only thing keeping her out of juvenile hall. But as Molly helps Vivian sort through her keepsakes and possessions, she discovers that she and Vivian aren't as different as they appear. A Penobscot Indian who has spent her youth in and out of foster homes, Molly is also an outsider being raised by strangers, and she, too, has unanswered questions about the past.

My Review:

This book is part historical fiction and part semi-contemporary. (The contemporary part takes place in 2011.) It was suggested by someone who posts free books on the Barnes & Noble blog and sounded intriguing.

The story alternates between telling the experiences of Vivian Daly and Molly Ayer. We start off with Molly, a seventeen-year-old foster child who is defined mainly by her Goth persona, until she meets Jack.


When Molly is caught doing some unauthorized borrowing of the oldest of the three copies that the school’s library has of Jane Eyre, she is threatened with time in Juvie. But Jack has a plan. Molly will do some community service at Mrs. Vivian Daly’s house, helping her clean out her attic, in exchange for being spared from Juvie. Sounds like a good plan.


But then everything changes when Molly and the ninety-one year discover that they have more in common than they ever realized. Molly goes from foster home to foster home, trying to blend in while still keeping up with her vegetarian diet.


Vivian also got shuttle from home to home but her litany of bad experiences began just before the Great Depression with a ride on the “orphan train.” She too knows what is like to try to fit in and not complain—to feel like she has to apologize for whom she is and the burden that she has unwittingly placed on her caregivers.


The book seems to effortlessly weave these two women’s stories together. Not much has changed since Vivian rode the orphan train and was forced to reinvent herself. Like Molly, she has paid a heavy price just to survive and although she is successful now, she still remembers the time when she had nothing.


I liked this story a lot. I don’t think I would say I loved it but I really liked it. My favorite parts were mostly in Vivian’s story as I mostly identified with her. Though Molly was not as bad as her foster parents thought she was, she did have a bad attitude at times that made it harder for me to sympathize with her. Also the f-bombs were all mostly in the Molly part of the novel and that also turned me off to her character somewhat. Still, she didn’t deserve to be treated the way that Dina and some of the other adults had treated her.

I am recommending this story with the caveat that you want to avoid it if the f-bombs tend to bother you a lot. For me, it never got to the point where I stopped reading but I think someone who is very sensitive to them might be offended.

Contains: foul language, some sexuality (not all of it positive)

Home Front Girl

Review of Home Front Girl by Joan Wehlen Morrison

Overview from www.bn.com: This diary of a smart, astute, and funny teenager provides a fascinating record of what an everyday American girl felt and thought during the Depression and the lead-up to World War II. Young Chicagoan Joan Wehlen describes her daily life growing up in the city and ruminates about the impending war, daily headlines, and major touchstones of the era—FDR’s radio addresses, the Lindbergh kidnapping, Goodbye Mr. Chips and Citizen Kane, Churchill and Hitler, war work and Red Cross meetings. Included are Joan’s charming doodles of her latest dress or haircut reflective of the era. Home Front Girl is not only an entertaining and delightful read but an important primary source—a vivid account of a real American girl’s lived experiences.

My Review:

This one is a hard one to review but I decided that I just had to do it since I think it is such an interesting book. It is basically tells the story of the life of a young girl from the 1937-1943.

Her name is Joan and she lives in Chicago. This is her diary and we are witness to her private thoughts both about her personal life and what is going on in the world at the time she is writing. The diary takes her from age 14 to 20 and is often padded with entries from her school journals when the regular diary has missing periods.

I have been reading partly for research on a novel that I have been working on that also features a teenage girl as narrator. I thought it might help me with some tone and dialogue problems that I am having but it so much more than that.

Joan is still relatable today, even if some of the expressions she uses are not. And actually even a few of them surprised me, such as her use of the word “uh.”

Like most of us, she is full of contradictions. On the one hand, she gets excellent grades and considers herself the “intellectual” type but her spelling is terrible in some places. We also hear from her own pen that she is not so good at Geometry or German. I can relate to the Geometry part and was relieved to hear that some smart people have trouble with it too.

The German classes surprised me also since, from my research, I have also found that the government tried to convince people with blood of the Axis powers in their veins from speaking the Axis language. So why were they ok with non-Germans learning how to speak German when they wanted German Americans to stop. Hmmm.

Not sure what else to say since there really is no main storyline to talk about. But I knew that I just had to bring this book to your attention since I think it is well worth reading and will probably surprise you as it did me.

The only downside I found was her reference to Winston Churchill as "pigface" but I reminded myself that she was a teenager and maybe that is what he looked like to teenage girls once upon a time.

I think I will just end with a quote. Here it is: “Oh well…someday I’ll be a genius. Bruce wants to be a psychiatrist (I can’t even spell it!) but I wouldn’t let him examine my brain though Frazier said I wouldn’t miss it. (Grrrr.)” That says it all, right?

No Less Than Victory

 

Review of No Less Than Victory by Jeff Shaara

 

Overview from www.goodreads.com: After the success of the Normandy invasion, the Allied commanders are buoyantly confident that the war in Europe will be over in a matter of weeks, that Hitler and his battered army have no other option than surrender. But despite the advice of his best military minds, Hitler will hear no talk of defeat. In mid-December 1944, the Germans launch a desperate and ruthless counteroffensive in the Ardennes forest, utterly surprising the unprepared Americans who stand in their way. Through the frigid snows of the mountainous terrain, German tanks and infantry struggle to realize Hitler’s goal: divide the Allied armies and capture the vital port at Antwerp. The attack succeeds in opening up a wide gap in the American lines, and for days chaos reigns in the Allied command. Thus begins the Battle of the Bulge, the last gasp by Hitler’s forces that becomes a horrific slugging match, some of the most brutal fighting of the war. As American commanders respond to the stunning challenge, the German spear is finally blunted.

Though some in the Nazi inner circle continue the fight to secure Germany’s postwar future, the Führer makes it clear that he is fighting to the end. He will spare nothing–not even German lives–to preserve his twisted vision of a “Thousand Year Reich.” But in May 1945, the German army collapses, and with Russian troops closing in, Hitler commits suicide. As the Americans sweep through the German countryside, they unexpectedly encounter the worst of Hitler’s crimes, the concentration camps, and young GIs find themselves absorbing firsthand the horrors of the Holocaust.

My Review:

This is the last of the novels featured in the Three Novels of World War II set. I think the author does have one more but it is not part of this set.

This book does not bring us to end of World War II though it does take us pretty much all the way through the end of European theater. The Allies still have some unfinished business in the Pacific.

Also we get to see more of Hitler’s inner circle in this one. Now the majority of those who are left are yes men, or are they? Von Rundstedt, the only one who sometimes dared to tell his Fuhrer what he didn’t want to hear, is sent on a forced retirement. But he is ready. He is tired of fighting with the man, hoping to convince him to do what is right for Germany.

Model is still around but is becoming less and less convinced that Hitler knows what he is doing though he dares not say anything. Speer begins to have his doubts as well after he encounters a small boy during an air raid.

“The boy said, ‘Do you know the Fuhrer?’

‘Yes, I do. I will see him…’

‘Tell him we want this to stop.’

Speer looked at the mother, saw the first tears, and she stepped forward, took the boy’s hand, said, ‘Very sorry. Please, I beg you not to report us. He doesn’t understand.’”

Only Goebbles seems to be under the impression that everything is still going along smoothly yet meanwhile he reveals to Speer that he has plans to commit suicide with his wife should things go awry. He will later have his chance to act on that.

Of course the American side of the story is just as fascinating. We are introduced to a man named Benson, a strange private who chooses to go back out to the front lines while his unit is reassigned to guard German POW’s. He does this to show his support a fellow soldier named Mitchell who seems to take more joy than most in killing Germans but is supported by Benson nonetheless.

While I liked Benson, I had a hard time liking Mitchell. He seemed far too mean to his fellow soldiers at times. He struck me as one of those people who probably would have ended up in prison if he hadn’t joined the army.

Their story eventually leads them to the concentration camps, making Benson loose his lunch though this time it is not related to his motion sickness. After this he and others make it their mission in life to end the war and make the Nazi’s pay for their inhumanity. He tries his best to move on with his life after the war, but I get the feeling that the images he saw that day at the camp will be with him always.

The bittersweet ending is a good wrap up to the story. Hitler gets his just desserts while the Russians get a piece of Germany and the Allied soldiers head for home, or maybe the Pacific.

Contains: war images and violence, foul language