UNHINGE THE UNIVERSE

TITLE: UNHINGE THE UNIVERSE

AUTHORS: ALEKSANDR VOINOV & L.A. WITT

Pages: 288

Date: 24/12/2013

Grade: 4.5

Details: Received from Riptide Publishing

              Through NetGalley

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The blurb:

“SS Lieutenant Hagen Friedrichs is the sole survivor of a party sent to retrieve his brother—and the highly sensitive information he’s carrying—from behind enemy lines. But his daring rescue attempt fails, and Hagen becomes the prisoner.

Allied command has ordered Captain John Nicholls to extract critical intelligence from their new Nazi POW. His secrets could turn the tide of the war, but are they real? John is determined to find out . . . and to shatter the prisoner who killed his lover during the attack on their tiny base. The deeper he digs, though, the more he realizes that the soldier under the SS uniform is just like him: a scared, exhausted young man who’s lost loved ones and just wants to go home.

As captor and captive form an unexpected bond, the lines quickly blur between enemy, friend, and lover. And as horrifying rumors spread from the front lines and American soldiers turn their sights on the SS for vengeance, John may be Hagen’s only hope for survival.”

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About 15 years ago I decided that I’d read enough books about WW II to last me a life-time and would try to stay away from them. That was before I read ‘The Book Thief’, before I discovered Elizabeth Wein and before I even knew ‘Unhinge the Universe’ existed. So far, every single time I broke my vow has been rewarded with a wonderful reading experience. I guess it is time to admit that a good book is a good book even when it is set at a time and place I’ve already read too many books about.

‘Unhinge the Universe’ is indeed a wonderful book for several reasons. First and foremost this is a well written book with an intriguing, tension-filled, sexy and captivating storyline, fascinating main characters and a perspective I haven’t come across before.

In a story set during this war you expect the line between good and bad to be obvious; of course the German has to be the villain and the American the hero.

It makes a refreshing change to see the authors haven’t chosen the easy and obvious route and have managed to create two characters who, while on opposite sides, both have personal reasons for hating and distrusting each other only for those reasons to slip into the background and the attraction between the two of them to take over.

I loved how what started as a game to get the upper hand over the other man slowly turned into a connection that both John and Hagen found impossible to ignore despite the obvious dangers involved. Both men start of trying to use the other man’s homosexuality against him only to find that not only have they given each other a potentially lethal weapon they have also discovered an attraction that won’t be denied.

The reluctant but growing attraction between Hagen and John was a delight to read although I have to admit that the change in their feelings towards each other happened a bit too quickly for me. Even taking into account the fact that they were in a war situation where ‘normal’ time-lines and emotions don’t apply I couldn’t help feeling that both of them were able to put their personal losses behind them a bit too easily. And there were one or two other issues that made me raise my eyebrows because they seemed unlikely. But, and I can’t stress this enough, it didn’t take away from my reading pleasure at all. In fact, my ‘issues’ only surfaced after I’d finished the book and reflected on the story. While I was reading the story and caught up in the tension my only concern was for John and Hagen and their seemingly impossible future.

The fact that I couldn’t imagine how a happy ending might be achieved for these two characters made this a rather strange reading experience – wonderful but strange. Whenever I had to put the book down for a moment I had a very hard time picking it back up, not because I didn’t love the book, I did, but because I was so worried about these two characters. I didn’t want to get to the last page if it wouldn’t bring me the ending I was hoping for.

What was even more amazing was that I was having these angsty feelings while Hagen and John didn’t.  I guess that made sense for these characters; in a war situation living in and worrying about the moment rather than the future is probably the only way to survive. Finding myself torn between the need to know how the story would end and being afraid to do so, just in case the ending wouldn’t be what I was hoping for, was exhilarating and meant that even while I wasn’t actually reading, John and Hagen were firmly stuck in my mind. I have no doubt that they will linger there for a while longer.

This book surprised and delighted me. An unlikely but sensual and sexy love story in an even more unlikely setting on its own would be enough to make me a happy reader. The fact that these authors managed to combine that love story with a description of war that was neither glorifying it nor resorting to stereotypes made this book a treasure. It is safe to say that Aleksandr Voinov and L.A. Witt have found themselves another fan to add to what should, by rights, be a multitude of admirers.

“Strange, he thought, how it really was the same for the men on either side of this war. It battered them all the same, broke men in one uniform as easily as the other, and deep down, everyone just wanted it to be over. Maybe someday, it would be” – John

ROSE UNDER FIRE

US hard cover

TITLE: ROSE UNDER FIRE

AUTHOR: ELIZABETH WEIN

Pages: 368

Date: 09/10/2013

Grade: 5

Details: Received from Disney Book Group

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The Blurb:

“While flying an Allied fighter plane from Paris to England, American ATA pilot and amateur poet, Rose Justice, is captured by the Nazis and sent to Ravensbrück, the notorious women's concentration camp. Trapped in horrific circumstances, Rose finds hope in the impossible through the loyalty, bravery and friendship of her fellow prisoners. But will that be enough to endure the fate that’s in store for her?

Elizabeth Wein, author of the critically-acclaimed and best-selling Code Name Verity, delivers another stunning WWII thriller. The unforgettable story of Rose Justice is forged from heart-wrenching courage, resolve, and the slim, bright chance of survival.”

“Fight with realistic hope, not to destroy all the world’s wrong, but to renew its good.”

They do say, be careful what you wish for because you might just get it. Rose Justice learns that lesson all to well. Only 18 years old she is one of the youngest pilots involved in the war effort. Flying planes to transfer them from one airfield to another, what she really wants is permission to fly missions in to war-torn Europe. When she does get that opportunity through her uncle’s influence it turns into her first and last trip. While she safely delivers her passengers at their destination, she goes missing on the return trip. Nobody knows what happened to her, nobody knows where she went down, everybody, while hoping that she may be alive, is starting to realize that she has probably died.

But Rose hasn’t died. She’s been intercepted by German planes and captured. Through an administrative error she ends up in Ravensbrück Concentration Camp. Here she’ll experience horror, fear, hunger and desperation. In Ravensbrück she will also discover friendship and loyalty beyond her imagination.

“I’m done with it now – dry words on a page. The reality was much worse.” – Rose about when she arrives in Ravensbrück.

This is not an easy book to read. The reader is lulled into a false sense of security during the first part of the book which details Rose’s time in England, flying planes from one airport to another. In fact, by the time everything goes horribly wrong for Rose the reader is as ill prepared for what she is about to face as the character is. Like I said in my review of “Code Name Verity” I have in the past read a lot of books about WW II and I honestly thought there wasn’t a lot I didn’t know about. But, while I did know that the Germans used their prisoners for medical experiments, I did not know that the victims were called “Rabbits”.

And it is those “Rabbits” that this book is really about. Rose may be the main character, she may be the one telling this story but she is really only a mouthpiece used to describe horrors that are hard to imagine, even though we know they are true. Horrors so extreme that the world refused to believe them until it was forced to view the (living) evidence. Rose is incapable of telling her fellow prisoners that while the plight of the Rabbits had been reported in England, people hearing about it refused to believe it and brushed it off as propaganda. Because some things are just too hard to believe. However, if there is anybody out there who doubts that the things described in the section of this book set in Ravensbrück are true, if anyone finds themselves thinking that friendship couldn’t exist in such a place, that (young) people couldn't possibly survive such an experience, that it wasn't possible to cheat certain death, or that escape was impossible I would tell them to read Samuel Pisar’s memoir “Of Blood and Hope” and never doubt again.

Don’t read this book expecting a repeat of “Code Name Verity”. That book was a thriller with twists and turns and an uncertain ending as well as a story about friendship. “Rose Under Fire” is no thriller; we know Rose is going to survive that is made clear at the start of the book. This book is about what it took for Rose to survive and what surviving did to her. This story is harder to read because the horrors described are so – and I can’t think of a better word – horrific that even I, who has read so many books about this subject in the past, at times found it hard to read on.

This is a book that will break your heart, fill you with horror, and make you gasp in disbelief. Yet it is also a book that will flood you with admiration for the strength of these women. The power of hope against the odds and the capacity to selfishly love, even in the direst of circumstances, will restore your heart again.

UK paperback

Like I said above; these days I try to steer clear of books about WW II. I read my fill of them growing up in Holland. On the other hand I’m glad that books like these still get written. This is a story that can’t be allowed to ever be forgotten. And it is books like this one that ensure that present and future generations won’t be allowed to forget. Like the “Rabbits” say in the book: the world needs to be told. It needed to be told then, and it needs to be told now in the hope that there will come a time when people are no longer capable of inflicting this sort of trauma upon others.

“People don’t get moving, they don’t soar, they don’t achieve great heights, without something buoying them up.”

RATLINES

US edition

TITLE: RATLINES

AUTHOR: STUART NEVILLE

Pages: 354

Date: 09/01/2013

Grade: 5-

Details: Received from Soho Press

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Ratlines: a system of escape routes for Nazis and other fascists fleeing Europe at the end of World War II.

It is 1963 when Lieutenant Albert Ryan from the Directorate of Intelligence is asked to investigate the murder of Helmut Krauss, a German national, and two other foreigners who have recently been murdered. With President John F. Kennedy's visit to Ireland only a few weeks away Minister for Justice Charles Haughey wants the killings to stop before they interfere with the first ever visit of a foreign head of state to Ireland. The three murder victims were all Nazis who had been granted asylum in Ireland after the end of World War II, a fact that has to remain a dirty secret.

A note left on Krauss’ body indicates that the killers are after Colonel Otto Skorzeny, Hitler’s favourite commando. And Skorzeny is still a powerful man. With connections to Haughey and the means to conduct his own investigations, he is determined to use Ryan in order to find those who are after him, regardless of the costs.

As Ryan investigates he finds himself caught up in a battle in which there are no good guys. With Skorzeny, with Haughey’s help, pushing him from one side and the killers applying pressure from the other Ryan finds himself caught between his duty to his country and his conscience. And it isn’t long before his fight for justice turns into a struggle to keep himself and the young woman he has met alive. In the middle of a struggle between two different evils, doing the right thing may well turn out to be impossible if not deadly.

Phew, what a book.

Stuart Neville has, once again, delivered a well plotted and heart-stopping thriller. There are numerous twists and turns in this story as well as an endless amount of interesting angles. The plot, as described above, would be more then enough to keep any reader on the edge of their seat but Neville adds extra tension through Ryan’s background. As a protestant who joined the British army during World War II, Albert Ryan is almost more despised in Ireland of the 1960’s than the Nazi’s are; something he gets thrown in his face on more then one occasion. And the fact that Ryan was part of the war, has seen the horrible acts the German’s committed with his own eyes, means that the question as to exactly where his loyalty should lie is an almost impossible one to answer.

Stuart Neville doesn’t shy away from violence in his books, and this one is no exception. There are scenes in this book that I would happily have ignored had they not been completely realistic and fitting to the story. The description of the character who would happily torture people in the most horrific ways but cried when his dog was killed was too chilling for words, and all the more real for it.

This is not a book that comes with clear cut answers or a nice clean resolution when the story ends. This is however a story that will make the reader think and I’m sure it is a book that will stay with me for a long time.

Stuart Neville is a wonderful author. His writing is smooth and clear, his characters realistic and compelling and the dialogue sounds true. The way he describes the action makes it easy for the reader to picture exactly what is going on. In fact, as I said before, there were a few occasions when I wouldn’t have minded if it had been a little bit harder to picture exactly what he was describing.

UK edition

The most fascinating thing about this book may well be that part of it is based on fact :

From the author’s note:

“These things are known to be true: Dozens of Nazis and Axis collaborators sought refuge in Ireland following the Second World War; in 1957 Otto Skorzeny  was welcomed to a country club reception by the young politician Charles Haughey; Otto Skorzeny purchased Martinstown House in Kildare in 1959; in 1963, in response to a question by Dr. Noël Browne TD the Minister for Justice Charles Haughey told the Irish parliament that Otto Skorzeny had never been resident in Ireland. The rest is just a story.”

The most chilling thing about this book, for me, is that it is only too easy to imagine that the rest, which is “just a story”, could also be true.

This is a fascinating page-turner for those who are not squeamish, an action filled roller-coaster with an intriguing plot and compelling characters. This is a must read for anyone who loves a well plotted historical thriller.

THE SECRET KEEPER

US edition

TITLE: THE SECRET KEEPER

AUTHOR: KATE MORTON

Pages: 588

Date: 03/12/2012

Grade: 4.5

Details: Received from Simon & Schuster

               Through NetGalley

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In the summer of 1961 Laurel is sixteen years old and hiding out in a tree-house while her family is having a birthday picnic near by. She is dreaming about a boy she’s met, her plans for the future and reluctant to interrupt her private thoughts in order to join her family in the festivities. Her peace and quiet come to a shocking end though when an unknown man walks up to their house, where he encounters Laurel’s mother who is carrying both her two year old son and a knife to slice the birthday cake with. The next thing Laurel sees is the man reaching for her brother followed by her mother raising the knife and stabbing the man. Although Laurel gives evidence to the police, the shocking killing is never revealed to her siblings and not mentioned again. And soon Laurel leaves home to pursue her dreams and although she never forgets what she saw, the memories fade into the background.

Fifty years later Laurel’s mother, Dorothy, is ninety years old and dying. The realisation that she will soon lose the last of her parents and any opportunity she ever had of discovering what exactly happened that day in the past and why, Laurel sets out on a quest to uncover her mother’s past and the events that lead to the killing. Because Laurel has always known more about the incident than she revealed to the police at the time. She knows that her mother knew the man she killed. And now she needs to know who the man was, why he scared her mother enough for her to raise that knife and, most importantly, if her mother really is the wonderful woman she has always known or some stranger with a secret and possibly horrible past. Laurel’s quest will take her to the first years of World War II, a young woman with big dreams and even bigger disappointments and a remarkable revelation.

UK edition

This book was pretty much what I expected it to be. A very well written exploration of a secret past. As in Morton’s previous books she takes a mysterious and secret event that has happened a long time ago and has one character slowly but carefully uncover the threads that lead to a solution that is both credible and completely unexpected. And as always, she does it very well.

The same can be said for Kate Morton’s characters. There are no one-dimensional characters in her books. All of them have their good and their bad qualities, none of them are completely likable or hateful and quite a few of them are not at all what they at first seem to be. This makes for both a more believable story and a very satisfying reading experience. With the characters as well as the story-line being unpredictable the reader is kept guessing until the very end. They may think they know what happened and what the final revelation will look like, but they are almost certainly going to be wrong. Just when everything appears to have been revealed, the author has one or two further surprises in store for her readers. Surprises that bring the story to a, for me, very satisfying conclusion; one that brought a smile to my face.

I know I will continue to read Kate Morton’s books as long as she keeps on writing them.

CODE NAME VERITY

TITLE: CODE NAME VERITY

AUTHOR: ELIZABETH WEIN

Pages: 452

Date: 25/11/2012

Grade: 5

Details: Young-Adult

Library

“I have two weeks. You’ll shoot me at the end no matter what I do.

That’s what you do to enemy agents. It’s what we do to enemy agents. But I look at all the dark and twisted roads ahead and cooperation is the easy way out. Possibly the only way out for a girl caught red-handed doing dirty work like mine — and I will do anything, anything, to avoid SS-Hauptsturmführer von Linden interrogating me again.

He has said that I can have as much paper as I need. All I have to do is cough up everything I can remember about the British War Effort. And I’m going to. But the story of how I came to be here starts with my friend Maddie. She is the pilot who flew me into France — an Allied Invasion of Two.

We are a sensational team.”

The text above is an exact copy of the blurb on the back of the book. I don’t usually use book blurbs in my reviews, I do prefer to give my own summary of a story. But, since this isn’t actually a summary of the story and because it gives a perfect idea of the voice of one of the two main characters in this book I decided to change my habits for once.

The story, what to say about the story? This book is about friendship. It is about the Second World War. It is a story about love and hate, fear and courage, despair and hope. This a heartbreaking page-turner that will leave you breathless, with tears in your eyes and a smile on your face by the time you finish it.

I’m sorry; I was supposed to tell you what this story is about.

Picture England, Manchester, during World War II. Maddie is a mechanically minded girl who is fascinated by planes and flying. Queenie is her complete opposite; a Scottish aristocrat, privately taught with a talent for languages. Under any other circumstances their paths probably wouldn’t have crossed and even if they had, as Queenie says, chances are they would never have become friends. But the war is a great equaliser and when circumstances involving a stray German plane in British airspace throw the two girls together it is the start of a deep and beautiful friendship. And it is circumstances mostly beyond their control that have them fly to France together. Maddie, the pilot, is to drop Queenie of for a top secret assignment and pick up stranded pilots for the return trip. When things go wrong Queenie has to parachute out of the plane, leaving behind Maddie in a desperate struggle with a plane that has lost most of its controls. What follows is heartbreaking as well as uplifting and I can’t tell you anything else about it for fear of spoiling the story. Suffice to say you should read it and be amazed.

This book is very well written and at times painfully understated. Horrific events are occasionally referred to in such a casual way that the reader almost misses exactly what they’ve just been told. In fact, the reader is in the dark about exactly what is going on and even what the purpose of the story is until well into the second half of the book. But even with the purpose obscure the story is so fascinating and the below-the-surface tension so intense that it is hard, if not impossible, to put this book down for any period of time.

Years ago I promised myself I wouldn’t read anymore books about World War II. Growing up in Holland every second book – if not more – I read seemed to be about this period and I just couldn’t and wouldn’t invest anymore of my reading time in it. And, for the most part, I’ve stuck to that promise. Occasionally though a book comes along that forces me to break my word to myself."The Book Thief" was one such book. And this is another one. Yes, this story is set during World War II, and the war in all its horrors pays a huge role in it. But for me this is, beyond anything else, a book about friendship and loyalty and what people are prepared to do in order to honour both of those. This is a wonderful and thought provoking book, containing a story that will stay with me for a very long time.