The Vogels: On All Fronts
(The Half-Bloods Book 2)
By Jana Petken
By Jana Petken
“The Vogels are fighting on all fronts in this compelling story of intrigue and betrayal in a world at war.”
European citizens feel the full force of German injustice, but not all are willing to bend the knee. From France to Poland, Resistance groups fight from the shadows to thwart Nazi rule and hinder their goal to exterminate Jews.
In Russia, Wilmot Vogel struggles to survive the ravages of a frigid winter, compounded by the German army’s lack of progress. Hit by a surprise Russian attack on the front lines, however, he finds himself facing an even greater challenge than the freezing weather and Soviet bullets.
In Łódź, Poland, an idealistic doctor is resolved to oppose the Third Reich, but is he willing to betray his country? Will a Gestapo major find the answers he’s looking for? Can a ghetto Jew avoid transportation to a Nazi extermination camp?
Can two spies rekindle their friendship, or will past betrayals become hurdles too great to surmount? Can Britain’s MI6 maintain the upper hand in a contest against the German Abwehr? Who wins when one man fights for British interests whilst the other seeks to undermine them?
In the darkest days of war, love flourishes. Two women with very different paths are led to one man who changes the course of their lives forever – but only one will win his heart.
“I’m still trying to wrap my head around
Paul being married to a Gestapo Major’s daughter, Wilmot spending time in a
prison camp, and your father being a British spy. What sort of family have I
married into?”
There are no
winners in war, or so it is said. For the Vogel family, the war has brought
division and mistrust. They are a household divided. While two sons fight for
the Third Reich, the other, along with his father, is a British Intelligence
Officer.
Max
Vogel will not fight for a government, a country, that had so fundamentally lost its way. He
will do everything in his power to thwart the Nazi Regime and help the Allies
win this war.
Wilmot Vogel did
not think his life could get any worse than the time he had spent as a prisoner in
Dachau concentration camp, but that was before he experienced winter on the Eastern Front. Supplies are slow in coming, and the winter
seems as never-ending as the war. However, Wilmot, unlike Max, believes in the
Führer and the Party. He dreams of committing an act of true heroism. It
is his ardent desire to one day have an Iron Cross pinned to his uniform.
With small acts of
heroism, Paul Vogel finds himself fighting injustice from the right side of
wrong. A doctor for the Third Reich and son-in-law to the Gestapo Major,
Kriminaldirektor Biermann, Paul plays a dangerous game of cat and mouse. He isn’t the person his father-in-law, and the Third Reich wants him to be,
but if he refuses to conform, then he risks everything.
From the dangers
of occupied France to the adversity of life on the Eastern Front, The
Vogels: On All Fronts (The Half-Bloods Book 2) by Jana Petken is the
compelling account of one family as it navigates the horrors of World War II
from opposing battle lines.
Petken’s narrative is flawless. This is a story which appals, impresses, and
fascinates in almost equal measures. However, what makes Petken a master bard
is that she knows when to pull back and change the scene, which gives her
readers a chance to catch their breath. Petken can do this because the story is
told by several points of view, which I found exceedingly
compelling and utterly riveting.
Petken has a
novelist eye for detail, not only with regard to the history of this era in
which it is very obvious that she has spent many hours researching, but also in
the study of human fallibility. Petken has created characters that are very
real in the telling. I thought the portrayal of Paul’s wife, Valentina, showed
how easily some German citizens believed fabricated and colossal untruths.
Valentina is so blindly loyal to the Führer and her father that she cannot see
the truth even when it is looking right at her. Valentina believes that she is part of the “master
race,” and yet, as a mother to be, she cannot place herself in the shoes of her
Jewish counterparts. She has been told the Jews are vermin and that is that.
She has ceased to think of them as humans. They are an annoyance — and she
wishes they would all disappear. Valentina is a stark contrast to her husband.
Paul is loyal to his country, but he isn’t as devoted to the Führer and the
Nazi Party as he has led everyone to believe. As a doctor, Paul deplores the
things he has seen and the things that he has been forced to do, but on the
other hand, he isn’t the victim in this story. There are decisions that he makes which have profound consequences on innocent people. Paul is, I guess, an ordinary man, who
has been thrown into Hell without a map to guide him. Therefore, his story is
one of utter heartbreak.
At times the
tension in this book was so unbearable that I found myself holding my breath as
I daringly turned another page. It is well documented that the German Army
failed to supply their soldiers with equipment and clothing for the tempestuous
winter weather on the Eastern Front. However, to read about a character whom I
have come to care for made this knowledge all the more poignant and upsetting.
Wilmot’s struggle to not only stay alive but to keep his wits was, at times,
tremendously hard to read, and I did find myself in tears on more than one
occasion as he faced one unimaginable horror after another. Petken’s portrayal of
the terrible conditions on the Eastern Front was masterful. There is a realism
that comes with Petken’s writing that is almost tangible. She has a visceral
understanding of what makes history worth reading.
I thought Petken’s
portrayal of MI6, and the very secret Special Operations Executive (SOE), was
fabulous and a direct contrast to the Gestapo, especially when it came to
interrogation tactics. Like his father, Max is involved at one time or another
with both organisations. Max is a very experienced intelligence officer, but he
is also a son and a brother. Max cannot understand why Paul chooses Germany and
the Nazis over, what is so obvious to Max, the right path. Max is the only
brother who sees the Nazi Party for what it really is, and he will do
everything in his power to bring them down. Max lives in a shadowy underworld.
He faces a different type of war to his brothers. I thought his story was
tautly gripping.
The Vogels: On All
Front (The Half-Bloods Book 2) is a wonderfully magnificent book that was so
enthralling that I simply could not put it down once I had started. I cannot
wait to get my hands on Book 3 and find out what happens to this extraordinary
family.
If you are looking for your next great World War II, historical fiction read, then look no further than The Half-Blood series. You will not be disappointed. This series has everything you could want, and then a bit more.
I Highly
Recommend.
Review by Mary
Anne Yarde.
The Coffee Pot
Book Club.
Jana Petken is a bestselling
historical fiction novelist and screenwriter. She is critically acclaimed as a bestselling, gritty, author who produces bold, colourful characters and riveting storylines. She is the recipient of numerous major international awards for her works of historical fiction and is presently in talks with film producers regarding one of her titles.
Before life as an author, she served in the British Royal Navy. During her
service, she studied Naval Law and history. After the Navy, she worked for
British Airways and turned to writing after an accident on board an aircraft
forced her to retire prematurely.
Well done, Jana!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations, Ms Petken. Your book sounds very interesting.
ReplyDelete