Book Review: THE DARKEST HOUR: WWII Tales of Resistance

Today I am featuring this anthology,  
The Darkest Hour: WWII Tales of Resistance, 
containing ten stories by authors well-known to many readers who love novels about the world wars.

The Darkest Hour Book Description:

When the world falls to terror and tyranny reigns…

...how far would you go to resist?

Would you risk your own life or the lives of the ones you love?

From a young Jewish woman in love fighting her way out of the Warsaw ghetto, to a Czech assassin rising above his fears for an attempt on a Nazi Hangman’s life, to a daughter who vows to avenge her family by taking down a Japanese commander, and a French boy's touching act of defiance no matter how small.

Come and get a glimpse of the invisible side of WWII - the Resistance, those who refuse to bow down to brutality.

Hold your breath and hope for the best in the darkest of times, when our heroes and heroines risk all to defy evil so the light of freedom will shine over their countries again.

This collection includes ten never before published novellas by ten of today’s bestselling WWII historical fiction authors.

Foreword by Terry Lynn Thomas, author of The Silent Woman, the USA Today Bestseller.

Featured Stories:

Bubbe’s Nightingale by Roberta Kagan
Catriona’s War by Jean Grainger
Reluctant Informer by Marion Kummerow
Killing the Hangman by Ellie Midwood
The Moon Chaser by Alexa Kang
Enemy at the Gate by Mary D. Brooks
The Occupation by Deborah Swift
Code Name Camille by Kathryn Gauci
V for Victory by John R McKay
Sound of Resistance by Ryan Armstrong

*** All proceeds will be donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum In Washington DC ***

My Book Review of The Darkest Hour:

If you love World War Two stories—whether they are romance, action-adventure or intrigue, you will want to read this book. I read eight of the ten stories which I will touch on below. I have read several of Alexa Kang’s stories, so although I have not yet read her contribution to the anthology, I have confidence it will be a story worth reading.

Bubbe's Nightingale by Roberta Kagan:

A young woman, Shayna, visits her Jewish grandmother who survived the Warsaw Ghetto. The grandmother tells the story behind the picture of her when she was much younger. Shayna recognized the man in the picture is not her grandfather. Ruchel experienced much loss, suffering and a change from being a very conservative Hassidic Jew to a resistance fighter. She also experiences great love. The words of Azriel as he encourages her to flee the city with his brother, but insists on staying behind himself impressed me: “I have to live with myself. And a man is nothing if he has no character. If his word has no meaning he has no substance, no purpose for being.” This story is a must-read in and of itself.

Catroina’s War by Jean Grainger:

This is a tale of espionage which starts in 1938 as Catroina searches for her news reporter father who uses his nationality of an Irishman from a neutral country to move freely around Europe. Her search takes her to German-held Belgium, the homeland of her mother’s family. There she makes some tough choices regarding a man she has come to love. This story had a bit of a slow start, but a fantastic middle and end. It is definitely a must-read.

Reluctant Informer by Marion Kummerow:

Marion Kummerow is one of my favorite WWII authors. Her book is a stand-alone story. However, because I have read almost all her books, I recognized this character who made a walk-on appearance in another one of her books. Set in 1944, this story about Sabine highlights how German citizens often found themselves as much victims of the Nazi regime as anyone else. Forced to work in a munitions factory to support the war effort, her neighbor, a Nazi informer, attempts to recruit Sabine to spy on one of her co-workers. When Sabine refuses, the Gestapo arrests and tortures her husband. Told she must do what they demand if she wants him back alive, she loses almost everything else she and her husband worked to gain and reluctantly spies for the Gestapo. She soon faces a choice of who she will save and who she will leave to be captured by the Gestapo. No matter what she did, there were deadly consequences for someone. The story left me questioning myself regarding what I would choose to do.

Killing the Hangman by Ellie Midwood:

Set in 1942 in the Prague Protectorate of Bohemia, a Czech nationalist, Jan, and his compatriot, Jozef, are tasked with assassinating the Gestapo leader assigned to Prague who came up with the death camp solution for the Jews. The author developed a great plot leading up to the assassination attempt that went wrong, and the consequences to the involved parties afterwards. Her characters were realistic, and a bittersweet romance added to the story.

Enemy at the Gate by Mary D. Brooks:

This coming of age story set in Greece will set on edge the teeth of any parent who has raised an obstinate, know-it-all thirteen year-old girl who doesn’t always understand the full consequences of her actions and sometimes doesn’t know when to keep her mouth shut. On the other hand, this heroine was fiercely loyal to her family, and determined to rid her country of the hated Italians she considered stupid, even as she realized they would soon be followed by the more detestable Germans. She reacts to the loss of her father and three older brothers to the war by ignoring the pleas to not get involved given to her by a mother attempting to save the life of her one remaining child, even though she is involved with the resistance movement herself. In the end, her bravery and dedication to her country won me over.

Code Name Camille by Kathryn Gauci:

Set in 1942-43 France, Nathalie leaves her home near the Pyrenees Mountains to go to live with her aunt and uncle in Paris in order to be of greater assistance in the resistance movement. Asked to work mostly as a courier, she falls for a man still mourning a woman he loved who had died trying to smuggle Jews out of the city. Given the code name of Camille, she is given a potentially deadly assignment to help an important figure in the resistance escape. The situation becomes more precarious once the resistance cell leader realized they have a traitor among them. I enjoyed Nathalie’s story of espionage and unexpected love.

V for Victory by John R. McKay:

This was another coming of age story set in Paris, France, of how a thirteen year-old boy, Charles, chose to resist the occupation of his city by the Nazis through graffiti. His character was written to make him believable—too trusting of his friends, making foolish mistakes, not realizing the full danger he placed himself and his family in with his activities—yet his dedication to finding ways to resist, no matter how small, made him admirable. Very good story.

Sound of Resistance by Ryan Armstrong:

Another Charlie, I had to empathize with this sixteen year-old American who ends up being sent to live with his father in Germany after his mother’s death. In 1940, America is still a neutral country, but that does not mean Germany has any love or respect for Americans. Charlie soon finds out his father is intent on driving out anything that marks him an American, including getting rid of his American clothes and destroying his record player and records of the jazz music he loves to listen and dance to. The author made it clear the father fought his own demons which included also loving the music he felt bound to suppress because it was “Negro music” and was distributed by Jewish businesses in America. Both father and son want the same young girl—one for love and the other for sadist possession. Charlie found a way to fight back against his father’s oppression and threats of violence. The story had a good ending. There is not much that is subtle about this author’s writing style.

At 710 pages, this anthology brought me hours of reading enjoyment. What a bargain!

 

 

This book is available in both ebook and paperback formats.

Purchase links for The Darkest Hour: WWII Tales of Resistance:

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo(CAD)| Kobo(USD) | iTunes 

I Am An American - The Cover

My story, I Am An American, is still part of the anthology, Pearl Harbor & More: Stories of WWII. However, I recently published it as a single.

One look at the cover will give the impression that it does not scream "NOVEL SET DURING WARTIME." No, except for the prologue and epilogue told from the point of view of Japanese Admiral Yamamoto which  bracketed this story, the bulk of it takes place in a San Joaquin Valley farming community in central California. At the time, the last thing on the minds of two high school seniors planning on where they would go to college the next year was war.

In the middle of the communities now known as Livingston, Cressey and Cortez (Cortez is now a street, no little town I can find.) was the Yamato Colony comprised of about 100 families who had immigrated from Japan between 1900 and 1920. They came for opportunities to obtain farmland (later Japanese immigrants were forbidden to purchase land) and to practice their Christian faith since Christianity was not overly-popular in Japan. The majority of them raised peaches, although they did farm other crops which they packed and sold to the larger cities.

Although discrimination against anyone different than themselves ran strong among the residents of the San Joaquin Valley as it did most places in the United States (and Japan--most Japanese did not like Americans.), Ellen Osaki and Flo Kaufmann had come together and become good friends due to both of them being excellent students and sharing most of the same classes in high school. They are depicted at the top of the cover.

The structure on the cover is a tank house. I have seen these scattered around the countryside where I live and originally thought they were carriage houses. However, these structures which ranged from ten feet by ten feet to larger at the base, were at least two stories high, but generally three stories high. They were designed to hold a water tank on the top level. Gravity provided the force to deliver the water to the household and land outside. The levels were reached by stairs often built on the outside.

The image of a tank house I used on the banner for this blog was taken on Yamato Street in Livingston, what had been in the heart of the Yamato Colony. The photo of the tank house with the windmill still attached from the same era I used on the book cover was taken a few miles north of the boundaries of what had been the Yamato Colony.

As told in my story, Ellen explained to Flo she could remember when she was a young child and her family still lived in the tank house. The bottom floor was used for a living and kitchen area (although in the hot San Joaquin Valley summers, the Japanese-style stove was moved outdoors), and the family slept on the second floor. If her father hired farm laborers to help during the busy times, they often slept on the third floor around the water tank.

In the summer it seldom rains in the San Joaquin Valley, so water needed to be pumped from the ground. Also, there were several irrigation districts which had been organized decades earlier to provide the farm areas of the Valley with water from the Sierra Nevada Mountains snow melt. At certain times of the year, notably in November and early December, these canals are visited by migrating white cranes. Lily, Ellen's sister, is an artist who decided that year to create a watercolor and India ink painting for her mother's Christmas present. Flo viewed the painting and declared it to be beautiful and peaceful.

The quiet of farm life and the beauty and peace of the cranes Lily painted were in stark contrast to the hateful events and comments both Ellen and Flo experienced in the weeks following the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

Here is an excerpt from the Osaki's reaction to President Roosevelt's declaration of war on Germany and Japan that they listened to on the radio December 8, 1941:

Hiro Osaki turned off the radio after listening to the same broadcast as the Kaufmann family. Harry, the oldest son, had quietly translated the President’s message into Japanese for the benefit of his mother and grandfather. Now the family sat around the radio in silence.

            Hiro turned to his wife Fumiko. Fumiko’s eyes met his. She spoke first. “This will mean much trouble for our family.”

            Hiro nodded in acknowledgement. The Issei were accustomed to discrimination, but this war would ratchet it up to a whole new level.

            Hiro’s father spoke up. “America has been strangling life out of Japan for years. They have tried to keep our homeland a country of backward farmers. They have their own natural resources, yet like the English and Dutch they come into Asia to take away the petroleum, metals and other natural resources Japan needs to modernize and defend its people. The only way to stop America from stealing from Asia is for Japan to drive them out.”

            Hiro bowed to his father. “That may be so. Still, it is a sad day for our adopted land. We have worked diligently to be friends with our Caucasian neighbors, but this declaration of war against Japan will mean even more challenges for us in the colony.”

            Grandfather Osaki grunted his disdain. “You have put too much faith in your Christian religion. You will find the Caucasians do not follow the teachings of this Jesus you have chosen to believe in. The Caucasian Christians will only see your Japanese faces and turn on you.”

            “We have always struggled to be accepted, Father. But we have our friends among the Caucasians. We will continue to live our Christian religion.”

            Ellen bowed and spoke respectfully to her grandfather. “Ojii-chan, I don’t understand all you say about the wrongs done by the United States to Japan. But I do have faith my Caucasian friend Flo will remain my friend.”

            “Bah! She will turn on you.”

You may still read this story as part of the anthology, Pearl Harbor & More. To find the book description and purchase link for I Am An American published as a single, please CLICK HERE.

I am not a gifted crossword puzzle-maker. However, I did put together a crossword puzzle of some of the key words from this story and the situation as a whole. If you are interested in working it, I suggest you right-click the image to copy and paste it to a landscape Word document set with narrow margins and then print it.

Book Review: SHANGHAI STORY by Alexa Kang

Today I am featuring Alexa Kang's latest 

World War II novel, 

Shanghai Story, a World War II Drama

About Shanghai Story: 

A WWII saga in the heart of the world's most decadent city in 1936. Enter the Paris of the East, where one man and one woman strive to hold on to their dreams as the Communists rise and the shadow of Japan closes in.

 Excerpt:

         Before she could think further, Zelik said, “I have to tell you, I have doubts about hiring a woman for a reporter. You will be asked to do regular news reports on top of your weekly column. I want people who can get tough and dirty. I expect my reporters to dig into every nook and cranny and get the story. I need to see proof that you can do that. I'll give you a two-month trial period. If you can show me you can handle my assignments, the job is yours, and you can start your column.”

         What more could she ask? “Thank you, Mr. Zelik.”

         Zelik got up and open the door. “Dottie.”

         Dottie hurried into his office. “Yes, Mr. Zelik.”

         “Miss Levine here will be joining our staff.” He turned to Eden. “Dottie will get you set up and get you on payroll. Can you start next week?”

         Eden stood up. “Yes, sir.”

         “One more thing. There's someone I'd like you to meet.” He called out to the floor again, “Charlie.”

         A man, in his late twenties or early thirties, entered.

         For a moment, Charlie looks surprised, but he quickly recovered. “Welcome on board.” He winked. His slicked-back hair looked a little too perfect.

         “This is Charlie Keaton, our senior editor,” Zelik said to Eden. "He's been with us for six years. He can show you the ropes. Learn from him.”

         “Pleased to meet you, Mr. Keaton.” Eden put on her best smile.

         “Good,” Zelik said. “Just remember, this is a tough job. You're not hired to write the society page, you understand?”

My Book Review of Shanghai Story, a World War II Drama:

The book description, although enticing, does not do justice as far as describing this story. Along with the macro events that took place in China in 1936, many of which I as a Westerner did not have a good knowledge, this story covers so much more. For example, while Great Britain and the United States of America turned away Jewish refugees rather than offer them asylum from the growing Nazi threat, China allowed them to enter. The heroine in this story is Eden Levine who, along with her family, were able to escape Germany before the Nazi threat progressed to the point those with Jewish ancestry were stripped of all their wealth and denied exit visas.

Anyone who loves a good romantic suspense will enjoy this book. Miss Levine obtains a job as a reporter for a Jewish newspaper. Due to the complexities of jurisdiction between the British, American and French sectors along with the Chinese sections of the city, she ends up becoming an investigative reporter who solves a crime committed against someone close to her. The author did a magnificent job of weaving the history and customs in China in general and Shanghai in particular at that time to keep the story flowing so it made sense in the cultural context.

Municipalities Flag from the 1930's

The hero, Yuan Guo-Hui, who adopted the name of Clark while he went to school for six years in the United States, idealistically chooses to work for the Nationalist Party (Kuomintang, or KMT), who was in control of the government, instead of accepting a job to prepare to take over his family’s business.  He soon learns of the level of corruption he must deal with, and the distasteful nature of some tasks required of him to support Chaing Kai-shek who was trying to keep the Communists under Mao Ze Dong from taking over the government.

Eden and Clark often met, often worked together, enjoyed socializing among family and friends, but remained aware of the cultural barriers. They used their connections to see justice was done even where the hands of the government and law enforcement were tied. It was interesting reading how the different government officials in Shanghai at the time were more concerned with the politics of a situation rather than enforcing the laws for catching criminals, especially if the victim was one of the “stateless” individuals, such as the Jewish refugees.

Along with the history of the place, I enjoyed the irony in the plot, the intensity of the action, and the blossoming of a romance in spite of cultural expectations. This book came to a satisfactory conclusion, but the author makes no secret this book is part of a trilogy. The Japanese “incidents” and Germany’s Nazi presence are alluded to in this book. I suspect the next book may include more of Japan’s and Germany’s impact on China and Shanghai. I look forward to reading it.

To purchase Shanghai Story, 

please CLICK HERE.

About the Author:

Alexa Kang’s debut series, Rose of Anzio, was first released on Amazon on January 22, 2016. Alexa grew up in New York City, and is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania. She has traveled to more than 123 cities, and she loves to explore new places and different cultures. This September, she took a special WWII tour of Southern Italy to visit historical sites of the Allies’ Italian campaign (including the sites where scenes from Rose of Anzio occurred). You can view the albums of her tour on her Facebook Author Page.

When not at work, Alexa lives a second life as a novelist. Alexa loves writing larger-than-life romantic tales and hopes to bring you many more. 

Connect with Alexa Kang:

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Amazon Page