Chanticleer Book Reviews

Tag: World War II

TRAITORS for the SAKE of HUMANITY: A Novel of the German Resistance to Hitler by Helena P. Schrader – Historical World War II Fiction, Political Fiction, World War II Fiction

Traitors For the Sake of Humanity by Helena P. Schrader may be more terrifying today than when first released in 2008 as An Obsolete Honor and re-released in 2012 as Hitler’s Demons.

The chilling story reveals the means used under the leadership of Adolph Hitler to spread insidious Nazi socio-political ideology before and throughout WWII. Although a work of fiction, the grim, dehumanizing social transformation the tome reveals brings to mind the caution in George Santanya’s oft-quoted posit, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

Schrader masterfully utilizes the setting as an unseen, omnipresent character. Scenes imbued with equal parts of detached cruelty, greed, and hunger for power – acting as a control agent affecting everyone within its grasp.

By Christmas, 1938, when the story begins, the Nazi Party dominates the German Parliament for nearly six years, and its influence alters the nation’s face. Within that period, during which Hitler becomes Chancellor, both welcome and unwelcome changes occur and spread beyond Germany’s large cities into and throughout the countryside.

The German citizenry is conflicted.

Many poor, disenfranchised citizens consider forfeiting their faith, culture, and free will for materially improved living standards and restoring their national pride as an acceptable trade-off. Others grow dismayed by the denigration and annihilation of traditional values, virtues, and mores. Residents find the mandated, unfettered obedience to the state’s authority and the flourishing of Machiavellian values an abomination.

Within this setting, we meet the aristocratic, well-educated, and cultured Baron Phillip von Feldburg. Phillip, the eldest of three children, is an officer in the prestigious German General Staff and has been imbued from childhood with the importance of honor, integrity, and allegiance to his country.

In the first chapter, Baron von Feldberg is juxtaposed with his immediate family, characters Schrader utilizes to reveal some of the varying socio-political views prevalent in Germany.

Christian, his handsome, devil-may-care Luftwaffe fighter pilot brother, lives in the moment, exhilarated by his conquests and the thrill of adventure. Theresa, an envious, entitled, and defiant “youngest child,” marries an uneducated, self-made man with a knack for doing business in the Nazi regime and little use for breeding, manners, or culture. Their widowed mother, the Baroness, gracious, kind, and concerned – but not enough to make waves—completes the family circle.

Phillip’s sense of honor and duty dominates his life, both personally and professionally.

As he advances within the military and is given more and more leadership responsibility, he begins to have troublesome questions about the decisions coming “down,” along with the ongoing, less-than-honorable actions and events he witnessed while serving on the front lines against Russia. Not until he meets the astute and savvy secretary with connections, Alexandra Mollwitz, that he begins to act upon his inner conflict, and his life begins to change in ways he could never have imagined.

Presented in multiple points of view of the von Feldburg family members, cohorts, and supporters, Schrader breathes life into some of the historically documented events occurring in Germany before and including WWII that forever changed the world. Each of their voices reflects their social status, belief systems, and loyalties—and their angst and fears as change turns evil and evil turns deadly.

Traitors For the Sake of Humanity, based upon documented historical events and personal memoirs recounted to the author by individuals who lived through that time.

In the end, the importance of this book cannot be underestimated. Traitors for the Sake of Humanity rises as a critical, provocative, and timely book that perhaps we would all benefit from reading. The Glossary and documentation alone impress.

Helena P. Schrader puts a human face on some “monsters,” and exposes the monster faces of others. Kudos, Dr. Schrader.

August 11, 2021
OUR DUTY by Gerri Hilger – Friendship, World War II, Military Romance

Our Duty opens with a group of nursing students sunbathing on the roof of their apartment. Pauline Garrity, aka Polly, has a little bit of fun and decides to sunbathe sans robes. While this stirs some of the girls up a bit, others know Polly is only being Polly. When a fighter plane does a fly-by on a training mission, Polly has a little more fun.

Here’s a story of World War II with a slightly different bend. Rather than focus on the horrors of what was happening in the trenches, Gerri Hilger centers her novel around Polly and her close-knit group of friends who are attending nursing school together. Our Duty is a novel for fans of lighthearted historical fiction with a sprinkling of cozy romance and a thread of Christianity.

The first part of the novel follows Pauline Garrity, aka Polly, alongside her close friend Aggie and their schoolmates as they navigate their studies and personal lives while attending nursing school in the early 1940s. There are inter-peer rivalries to contend with, gossip that occasionally falls into the mean-spirited category, and the looming presence of the war which begs the question—which of the young women will choose to enlist after graduation?

Polly and friends persevere through nursing school and graduate with their degrees, and then each promptly goes her own way. Aggie enlists in the service while Polly stays in the States and works in a maternity ward, often calling on the Lord to give her strength as she helps new mothers whose husbands have enlisted. Life continues on, however, despite the war, and Polly soon finds herself becoming more and more involved with a charming young man named Johnny.

In Our Duty, Hilger tackles the hefty topic of why some people enlist while others try their hardest to stay home. It should be noted that all of the characters’ reasons for avoiding war have everything to do with family responsibilities and less to do with worrying about whether or not one may die as a result of enlisting.

Our Duty is largely based on the lives of the author’s family and ends with Hilger discussing what happened to the characters after the story’s end as well as her family’s ties to one another and the war. And while the book focuses on the nurses, the war is never out of the minds of our characters, as letters and news come in detailing the horrors and heartaches of life and death on the battlefields of war. In the end, Hilger has gifted us with a WWII historical fiction with a lighthearted side and an enjoyable sweet romance on the side.

December 19, 2018
MURDER BESIDE the SALISH SEA by Jennifer Mueller – Mystery, Thriller, World War II, Pacific Northwest

Brock Harker, World War II fighter pilot returns home to the Pacific Northwest on leave. He’s searching for a little peace once he finds his half Japanese wife who vanished while he was away. What he finds is Murder Beside The Salish Sea by author Jennifer Mueller, who artfully pulls Brock into an intriguing plot that hides the darkest of secrets.

Working as a pilot for the Flying Tigers in China, Brock earned the distinguished Order of the Cloud and Banner from the Chinese. After Pearl Harbor, he joins the Air Corps as a bomber pilot. Brock would say that flying was the one good thing his dad taught him, and he’d learned it so well he swore he could dogfight when he was ten years old. He should have been dead many times during these World War II years, but what has him frightened most is Amy’s disappearance. Half Japanese/American women have to watch themselves now. His heart broke when her letters stopped, and the letters he sent went unanswered. Now he’s determined to find her or find out what happened to her.

The search begins at his father’s home, the only family he has left. They parted years ago on the worst of terms, in large part because of his racist father’s hatred for Brock’s beloved Amy. Now, will his father greet Brock after all these years, or throw him away again? Brock reacquaints himself with his hometown of Bellingham, friends and other people he had known before, and meets military personnel on the nearby base. Several of these people become suspects in the ensuing murders. Brock is also accused by the police in his father’s murder. Brock applies wartime tactics and a little help from his friends to track and capture the murderer. Only then are devastating secrets revealed that may be unbearable for this war hero.

This thrilling, historical mystery that’s steeped in sweet romance tugs at a sense of adventure. The story travels across plot twists like an army jeep driving the diverse, Pacific Northwest landscape, from the Cascade Mountains to sandy beaches, and along the Straits to the Ocean. Hang on because just when the reader thinks the plot ahead is recognizable, there’s another curve and the view completely changes.

With Murder Beside The Salish Sea, Jennifer Mueller brings to life an important time in history, while weaving in poignant, personal drama. As Brock’s beloved wife Amy once said to him, “We endure what we cannot change.”

April 26, 2018
The JøSSING AFFAIR by J. L. Oakley – Norwegian Historical Fiction, World War II, Thriller

At a time when true identities are carefully protected and information can get you killed, heroes emerge to fight the evils of Nazi-occupied Norway in J.L. Oakley’s highly suspenseful and beautifully penned historical fiction novel, The Jøssing Affair.

In a quiet Norwegian fishing village during the Nazi occupation, risk lurks everywhere. Most residents are patriotic members of the resistance, “jøssings,” but there are “quislings,” too. Those who collaborate with the Germans and tout the Nazi propaganda of Nordic brotherhood between the nations. Mistaking the two is a matter of life and death.

At the heart of the narrative is Jens Hansen who is an exceedingly mild-mannered handyman and a deaf-mute. Jens helps his friend Kjell on this fishing boat but mostly keeps to himself, communicating with paper and pencil when asked a question.

But Jens has a secret. His real identity is that of Tore Haugland, a man who will risk his life repeatedly as a British-trained member of the resistance. He and Kjell coordinate the transport of weapons and agents via the “Shetland bus,” a fleet of small fishing boats and a few American submarine chasers, that make excursions from the coast of Norway to the Scottish Shetland Islands.

Haugland and Kjell also assist the young Norwegian men who fled enlistment in the German army and are starving in the woods. Armed with the knowledge that war is ugly and men often break under brutal interrogation and tortured before their deaths, Haugland and Kjell share the scantest details about themselves with each other.

There are many heart-stopping moments in this novel, deeply affecting episodes told with poignant precision and a sense of awe for the real-life counterparts Oakley’s characters portray.

Amidst the intrigue and suspense occurring on the seas, daily life in the village may seem calmer, but Oakley deftly demonstrates the pervasiveness of suspicion and danger during wartime. Villagers snub Anna, a beautiful young widow whom they mistakenly believe to be a quisling. As the Allied Invasion progresses through Europe, liberating towns and countries alike, the residents of Fjellstad fear that the German forces will hang on until the last bitter moments in their beloved Norway. How many will die before that time comes?

Oakley clearly did exhaustive research when writing this book. A voluminous amount of details is provided on all aspects of the Resistance in Norway. No stone is unturned and the reader benefits. In addition, the reader learns a great deal about Norwegian life and customs, about an exceptionally hearty people who annually experience four phases of winter and midnight sunshine during summer. They are not a people to be subjugated, and this book showcases how they fought the German occupation with every means available to them.

The Jøssing Affair is a highly enriching experience, a fascinating and profound work of historical fiction penned by, J.L. Oakley, one of the best in the business. A certain testimony to the underground heroes of WWII who put aside personal safety for a cause much bigger than themselves. Their courage is acknowledged in this superbly gripping novel.

June 3, 2017
The Other Side of Life by Andy Kutler – World War II/Civil War, Time Travel

The Other Side of Life by the first-time author Andy Kutler will take you by surprise. This time-spanning book covers two major wars in United States history: World War II and the Civil War – but not how you might think. Kutler pulls this off with an intriguing storyline and well-orchestrated action sequences that put us in place and time.

The story opens on the deck of the battleship Nevada, part of the U.S Naval fleet on December 7th, 1941. The Japanese fighters rip apart the battleships moored in place. During the attack, Commander Malcolm (Mac) Kelsey is severely wounded – and this is where the story gets interesting.

Kelsey encounters a certain Mr. Leavitt who offers him a choice: stay right where he is in his broken condition; or, go somewhere else – a place known as The Other Side of Life – where all of his memories are wiped clean. A do-over, if you will.

Kelsey chooses the latter, but this other side of life is no better – and in some respects worse – than before. He’s fighting for the Union Army in the Civil War. But something has gone wrong: he has retained all of his memories, making him a man outside his own time.

For four years Kelsey fights for the Union Army, and throughout this period, he struggles (understandably so) with trying to make sense of why he is where he is, and how this all come to be. Upon the conclusion of the war, Kelsey encounters Mr. Kelsey again and faces another choice.

That choice is perhaps the most interesting and most jarring aspect of the book. The author never does explain quite where it is that Kelsey has gone. A brilliant move! Any reader having even the slightest bit of religious background or spiritual awareness will quickly associate this with heaven – or maybe purgatory – or even nirvana. Using this ambiguous device enables readers to ponder questions like, what would they do in a similar circumstance – the same thing, or maybe something different?

A captivating historical military story that blends genres and crosses through time and space. Kutler has a flare for describing situations at hand – his descriptions of the Pearl Harbor attack are impeccable – and he brings in multiple characters to help the story unfold. The story may be a bit unwieldy at times, but in the end, Kutler manages it well even providing an unexpected twist making The Other Side of Life is a satisfying and worthy read. Highly recommended.

March 2, 2017
WAIT FOR ME by Janet K. Shawgo – WWII Historical Romance

Second in the three-book Look for Me series, Wait for Me has the strength to capture readers as a stand-alone story with its new characters and historical setting. References to characters in Look for Me, the first book set during the Civil War, give sufficient back-story for the generational story of the White, Bowen, and Keens families.

After the prologue shows Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, establishing the World War II setting, the story begins on September 23, 1940 in New York.

“Jean Anne White-Shaw was reading the newspaper, listening to Glenn Miller on the radio and waiting for her son to come downstairs.” Songs from the Glenn Miller era become a powerful sensory cue for many scenes, some may say too many, while others may enjoy the trip down memory lane.

However, the author excellently executes with the dialogue, bringing readers into the events and the characters’ emotions. The dialogue, coupled with excellent characterization, carries the story. It is strong, realistic, and shares considerable insight into the families. Readers connect to the people, and quickly find themselves engulfed in their story.

Larry White is a reporter, a great nephew of Samuel White, a reporter during the Civil War; Susan Bowen is a nurse, a great niece of Sarah Bowen, a nurse during the Civil War; and Dealer Johns connects to the Keens family, going back to Mack, Sarah’s friend in the Civil War.

“These were Samuel’s last handwritten notes from Gettysburg. Phillip…carefully removed his mother’s Bible and placed it in front of him. In the Bible was an envelope that contained two items he needed to give to Lawrence. … the necklace and note that were in Samuel’s possession when his body was brought back from Gettysburg.”

Readers, watching the characters’ paths intersect, will eventually learn the connections to the characters in the first book whose similar paths these characters now follow. The plots and sub plots at times get a bit confusing, but as readers continue, they will make the connections, finding a finished story that is both cohesive and very good.

The often-unknown role of women in wartime as travel nurses and pilots, as well as the use of herbs for natural healing, adds interesting and relative historical content to the story. The WASP pilots and their active role in the war effort was particularly fascinating reflecting Shawgo’s vigilance with her medical and military history research. Readers may find it interesting that Shawgo, along with being an award winning novelist, is also a travel nurse who goes where and when she is needed for national disasters.

The satisfying ending holds just enough mystique to give a taste of what will come in the concluding book of the series, Find me Again, as well as stirring curiosity to go back to the first book, Look For Me, for the complete story in this engaging historical romance American saga that spans generations.

April 10, 2016
VALHALLA REVEALED by Robert A. Wright, a historical thriller

The year is 1945, and governments around the world are debating how to navigate the political and economic fallout from World War II. The trials in Nuremberg seek to punish those who participated in the Third Reich, whether they are members of the military, or businessmen who produced the armaments that gave Germany its fearsome power. Former officers of the Third Reich have fled to South America, hoping to evade capture. Though the Marshall Plan is helping to rebuild the war-ravaged economies of Western Europe, all eyes are turning toward the Stalinist Soviet Union, wondering whether an even larger threat now looms.

Businessman Paul Hoffman, whose family was first introduced in Beyond Ultra, struggles to deal with his grief over the ravages the war has forced upon his family. With a mother and brother dead, another brother missing, and a father exiled in Spanish Guinea, Paul must hold the family together while managing its business interests on three continents—the vineyards in Spain, commodities businesses in Africa, and import/export companies in the United States.

While dealing with divided family loyalties and attempting to lead his family forward, Paul also copes with his grief and survivor’s guilt over the deaths of his family members, as well as a haunting desire to discover what happened to his missing brother Hans, a German U-boat captain who disappeared at the end of the war. Paul’s search for answers will take him to the corners of the globe and uncover secrets with ties to international military and spy networks.

Employing meticulous research, in-depth knowledge of real historical events, and a deft hand for describing famous figures of the post-World War II era, Robert Wright has crafted a novel rich in detail and amazing in scope. Readers are introduced to people such as Heinrich Mueller, infamous leader of the Gestapo, exiled former SS officers in Paraguay, Stalinist Soviets, and William Donovan, head of the wartime OSS and predecessor to the CIA.

While the people of Western Europe and America re-awaken after a long and arduous war, complacent in the knowledge that their governments are back in control of world events, Wright reveals the true historical impact of decisions made by a small group of powerful businessmen largely unknown outside their inner circle. Valhalla Revealed is an astonishing novel—it is hard to cover the breadth of it in a review. The informative 540 pages will fly by with intrigue and surprise. Fortunately for its readers, Beyond Ultra, the prequel, will help satisfy the desire to unravel more of Robert Wright’s epic saga of two families whose destinies are intertwined.

Highly recommended to those who love historical fiction and international espionage thrillers.

September 11, 2015
An Editorial Review of “Where is Home?” by Anneros Valensi

Anneros Valensi, in Where is Home? shares a seldom seen perspective of WWII—the side of a young German girl, along with her mother and siblings, trying to survive behind the front lines of the war raging in Europe.

Born in Falkenau, Silesia, East Germany, in 1938, Valensi was just six years old when one day all the children in her village were ordered to greet everyone with “Heil Hitler” and a raised right arm. Her world took on ominous overtures from her pre-war, ordinary family life: the girls playing with dolls, learning to sew, being teased by the older brothers, playing hide-and-seek. At Christmas, we see her in a black velvet dress with puffy sleeves and tiny red bows, black Mary Janes on her feet.

Now, her father would come and go without explanation. In January 1945, her family was evacuated, allowed to take only what they could carry. Three months later they returned home, now under the Russian regime. Their nice, comfortable, home was confiscated and they were left to find shelter where they could. Soon the family was being evacuated again, a mother with five children ranging in age from one and a half to eleven, put on trains and relocated to one place after another, living a life of uncertainty, hardship, and hunger. That was her life for many months. The after affects for the twelve year-old girl were traumatic and the loss of home and relatives haunted her and she kept hoping to find home again. We also learn of the Red Cross providing food, clothing, and temporary living quarters for those in need regardless of battle lines.

A shy and quiet child, Valensi was now afraid of her own shadow, living in a state of numbness, but through it all held onto dreams of a better life. At age eight, she had had very little schooling and had a lot of catching up to do. Her small school had two teachers and the students were divided into two groups, grades one through four on one side and five through eight on the other.

At twelve, she took a test to enter high school and felt that she was slowly growing up. She rejoiced in going to a real school, studying Latin, English, and French. She started to see a future in which she could be her own person.

In 1952 the Red Cross located Valensi’s father and the family was reconnected. She had not seen him since she was a small child and didn’t recognize him. A bookkeeper before the war, her father got a position doing payroll for the US Army in Mannheim.

Valensi, now a young woman, meets Wolfgang, a young man visiting from Bochum and learns what love feels like. Wolfgang will be going to university to become a lawyer, but she is already studying to become a nurse and she wants to see the world.

With the goal of improving her English, Valensi moves to London as an au pair for six months, and then takes a nursing position at St. Mary’s hospital. Life in London opened up more opportunities for the better life she was seeking.

Valensi gives us an inside look at her life a different perspective of what life was like behind the “enemy” lines as a child. She chronicles her childhood filled with fear and uncertainty of growing up in a war torn country to her young adulthood filled with pride and achievement in Where is Home. Her inspirational account will draw you right into the heart of a strong young person who never gave up the search for a better life.

October 31, 2014