Sarah Sundin's skill in weaving a lifelike historical novel is topnotch.

This is different from most of Sundin’s works from what I know, in the fact it is stand alone (I haven't heard of a series as of yet, anyway.) And that the characters don’t have quite the same tasks as her other characters have had.

The way that this story follows a plot that isn’t so common with WWII stories is what is making it a big favorite of mine. This is such a short review because there is SO MUCH I’ll spoil if I’m not careful.

Bottom line, READ THIS BOOK.

Recommended: 16/18

Content: There is lots of romance and some suggestive comments between a man and his wife.


I voluntarily received and reviewed a complimentary e/copy of this book which I received from the author/publisher. All views expressed are only my honest opinion.
( )

Americans living in Germany in the late 1930s had front-row seats as the country sped toward war. Evelyn Brand is a foreign war correspondent living in Munich, her hands tied as a woman in a man's world. Or maybe there's more than just her gender causing her boss to edit her stories to death. Peter Lang is a graduate student working on his dissertation and teaching American students how to speak the German language more fluently. He sees the benefits of the current German regime, as he values the order it brings to a country once chaotic and destitute. But he soon learns the price that this order demands.

I really wanted to give this book 5 stars while I was reading it. For the story alone, it's worth 5--the characters are engaging, the romance well-done, and the suspense is pulse-pounding. I sped through the book compared to my normal speed, wanting to see what the outcome would be. And the ending did not disappoint, wrapping up all storylines satisfactorily. But I had a few issues while reading it, and I felt they were worth a point detraction and that others should know about some of them.

The book made me a little uncomfortable or caused me to blush a few times in the second half with descriptions of physical or visual contact between the main characters. Nothing graphic by normal standards, really just skirting the line of what I am okay with in a Christian book, but I think there are some who would prefer to be aware of this in advance. The romance was overall well done and while certainly a big part of the story, not so in-your-face like most with the tag of romance. I liked it, but it was just a little descriptive here and there.

There were a few issues with perspective--in a book like this that has established the alternating perspectives between two characters, only changing when there is a scene or chapter break, a couple of times the perspective changed from one to the other mid-scene, which was jarring. Also, characters were speaking German, while we were reading it in English, yet the author continually sprinkled German phrases into the dialog. They were never more than I could understand from my years of German in high school and a little in college (except a few times that were also basically translated for us), but they were unnecessary given the context. Maybe they were just supposed to remind us that the characters were speaking German without having to constantly state it in the narration, but I personally would have preferred the simple reminder now and then.

Back to the positives, because I so loved the characters and story, I found Peter's starting viewpoint about the Nazi regime enlightening, as it shows how it's possible for intelligent, moral people to be pulled in by a bad ideology. His history, both personal and as it relates to Germany, as well as his position in the country at this time, allow him to see the positives...at least for a while. I also loved some of the side characters, the way the Americans' lives overlapped with the Germans', and the fact that the bad guys weren't only the Germans.

All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Even with the few issues that I noted, I kept coming back to it in the last half, unable to put it down more than necessary. I'd previously read the Sunrise at Normandy trilogy by Sarah Sundin and loved it, so I'd say Sundin is effectively on my instant-read list. I definitely recommend this book to anyone who likes historical fiction from this time period in the Christian romance genre.

Thank you to Netgalley and Revell for providing me a copy of this book to review. ( )

Wow! This was one of those books that will just grab your heart right out of your chest! The story starts out good, getting the feel of the main characters, Evelyn Brand and Peter Lang. Digging into their lives now in Germany and finding out bits and pieces of their back story and how that has affected their thoughts and actions now was good. Then…POW! It gets so exciting and I felt like I was there with them during all the events that were happening. This story held my attention from beginning to the end.

This is a very powerful story of how easy it is to slowly change peoples thoughts and actions. It shows how easy it is to manipulate people and how easy it is to just turn our eyes away from what is happening to others. This is pre-WWII Germany and reading about the progression of events was heartbreaking. I was totally immersed in the story and it played in my mind like a movie. I highly recommend this novel.

Clean story, no bad language or sex.

While this quote is not in the book, it came to mind: “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” John F. Kennedy ( )

This stand-alone novel is a bit of a departure from Ms. Sundin’s prior series dealing with GIs in WWII. This story is set in Munich just before the start of WWII, when the Nazis have solidified their power and are ready to proceed with their conquest of Europe and “Final Solution” for the Jews. The protagonists are Evelyn Brand, an American report for a wire service who is fighting for recognition in a man’s field, and Peter Lang, a Harvard doctoral candidate in German Language studies who is finishing his final dissertation abroad. Evelyn is staunchly anti-Nazi, and learns in the course of the story that despite being raised Christian, much of her family background is Jewish. But she needs to proceed cautiously, lest the government expel her from the country. Peter has a longer ethical journey. Initially, he is attracted by the Germany he sees. His own father had been killed in the US as part of a Depression Era labor riot. Similar conditions had existed in Germany post-WWI, and he now sees civic pride and order, and economic prosperity, and hopes something similar could happen in the US. But gradually he sees the price paid for such order, and the danger to Jews and dissidents who do not fit into the Aryan vision. We also have the personal story. Peter and Evelyn are attracted to each other, but Evelyn is gun-shy, having been treated abusively in the past by domineering boyfriend and sworn off romantic attachments.

As the novel progresses, the suspense ratchets up, building to a tense bid for escape by Peter and Evelyn. It’s nail bitingly effective, and put me in mind of movies of the 1930s and 1940s dealing with the Nazi threat, such as “Watch on the Rhine” and “The Mortal Storm”.

Overall, an excellent read I would highly recommend, though not quite in her usual style.

I received a copy of the book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. ( )

3/5