Thoroughly a thrilling novel in the time of the long-lasting Nazi regime, filled with horror, grief and the greatest human abysses. And in spite of everything, love and hope.
We get to know Saffron Courtney and Gerhard von Meerbach, both from wealthy families, successful and in the eye of the beholder, the perfect couple. Before war catches up with them, they spent some days as lovers in Paris. A picture in front of the Eiffel Tower in April 1939 is the only remaining proof of their love in the war-ruled years ahead.
Wilbur Smith takes us alternately on different sides of WWII; to Saffron, a well-trained agent of the Special Operations Executive, who’s dedicated to cause damage to the German Reich by carrying out acts of sabotage and undercover-missions in Belgium and the Netherlands. To Gerhard, an acclaimed Luftwaffe-ace of the Nazi regime, whose greatest wish is seeing Hitler and his supporters fall and to survive the hell in Stalingrad he’s trapped in. In between, we also learn about the fascist side through the eyes of Konrad von Meerbach, the brother of Gerhard. In opposite to his younger brother, Konrad is a dedicated SS-officer and supporter of the final solution the German Reich created for the European Jews. For him, weakness and sympathy for the victims of persecution is the greatest sin. So Gerhard, the celebrated Luftwaffe-pilot and secret despiser of Hitler, is his biggest thorn in the eye.
I really do recommend this novel; what first begins with a clichéd, perfect couple in love in Paris, soon turns into an action-packed story with interesting protagonists. Sometimes, I had to take a minute after a sequence with such incomprehensible atrocity. Other parts consisted of such rapid and exciting events, I wasn’t able to lay down the book before finding out what happened in the end. In between this war, we also find love, support, the feeling of strong bonds and one may say destiny.
Thinking of a good novel, my demand is not being able to foresee the story. And even though I had my assumptions about the outgoing of this one, Wilbur Smith kept me in suspense. It never became boring, nor superficial. Result of the cooperation with David Churchill is a versatile, fictional novel based on the well investigated events of WWII. Personally, I intend to read the many other books of the Courtney Series as well.
