From back cover:
Munich, 1938
Evelyn Brand is an American foreign correspondent determined to prove her worth in a male-dominated profession and to expose the growing tyranny in Nazi Germany. To do so, she must walk a thin line. If she offends the government, she could be expelled from the country-or worse. If she does not report truthfully, she'll betray the oppressed and fail to wake up the folks back home.
Peter Lang is an American Graduate student working on his PhD in German. Disillusioned with the chaos in the world due to the Great Depression, he is impressed with the prosperity and order of German society. But when contacts within the Nazi party-to feed information to the shrewd reporter he can't get off his mind.
As the wold marches relentlessly toward war, Evelyn and Peter are on a collision course with destiny.
I really enjoyed this book! I have read all of Sarah Sundin's books and this one is a little different as it is set prior to WWII and is not based around the military. I knew this was probably going to have a little different feel to it but I was surprised at just how much I enjoyed this book!
I liked both Evelyn and Peter. I appreciated the fact that Evelyn was a strong independent woman who struggled with finding her way in a male-dominated field. I liked that she wasn't angry (although there were moments when she did get angry but it was justified! I just mean she wasn't one of those mad-at-the-world types.) and used humor and intelligence to stand up for herself. She was a risk-taker, but was very smart and knew when to step back and not to put herself in harms way. I have a HUGE issue with a lot of Christian fiction and the fact that so many times the women are so stupidly 'independent' that they put themselves into bad situations just so the 'hero' can rescue them. That's not to say Evelyn was perfect, she did have her own flaws and struggles.
Peter was an interesting character. I wasn't sure about him at first as he seemed to, on the surface, agree with some of the Nazi ideology. It was interesting to see him work his way through what he was hearing and being told versus what he was seeing and experiencing with the escalation of brutality and violence. Peter was able to take in this world that was very quickly changing around him and see the truth of what was really happening.
I liked that Peter was protective of Evelyn but also really respected her as a person. He trusted her instincts and helped to support her rather than boss or bully her into submission. Together, Peter and Evelyn are a great balance as they are two very different people but learn to work very well together.
There were some very interesting parallels to the current state of the world. There were a couple of instance where I had to pause and mull over what I had just read as it so closely resembled things I had seen recently in the news. Especially with Evelyn's job as a news correspondent and how her stories were being manipulated.
It was interesting to me to read a story set in Germany just before WWII and to see how things escalated as they did. The situation grows more and more dire for Peter and Evelyn-especially when Evelyn learns something shocking about herself. We know some of the events that take place, but it's interesting to experience these events through two characters with opposing viewpoints.
This story was so well written with the scenes and descriptions that it almost felt as though it were a movie running through my head. I could so easily envision everything going on. There is just the right amount of descriptions without overdoing it. This story contains a lot of action and suspense which made it hard to put down. And the romance takes a secondary role in this story which made it feel more natural instead of forced.
Overall I really enjoyed this story and am anxious to see what comes next!
I received a complementary copy of this book from Revell. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
That sounds like such a great book!
ReplyDeleteIt was! I really enjoyed it!
ReplyDelete