Is it disrespectful and inappropriate to use a real historical atrocity in a work of fiction? Or is it worse to make one up? A problem I was confronted with when placing spy Alexsi Ivanovich Smirnov in 1944 Rome for my novel The Double Agent. History, and novels, are made from significant events, and in…
Why are so many crime authors writing historical novels today? It’s a great question with about a hundred answers. Some are writing about specific people or events in the past, both public or personal, that have piqued their curiosity. Others are writing about an era in which civilization and people were so different from today…
There is no honor among thieves, they say. Perhaps it should not be surprising that when thieves are recruited into a nation’s secret service, there may be a shortage of honor among spies, also. This is what happened during World War II when the Allied powers were desperate for any means to defeat the Nazis,…
The One Man Reading Group Discussion Guide 1. Guilt is a theme that is woven throughout the book. Nathan's guilt at having “abandoned” his family to their fates; Leo (the survivor's) guilt at being unworthy of the medal his daughter finds and being called a hero. Even Greta's guilt in taking on her husband's…
The Lady from Zagreb by Philip Kerr is the 10th Bernie Gunther novel, nominated for the Edgar Award for “Best Novel.” Philip Kerr’s historical crime series, featuring Berlin detective Bernie Gunther, spans over twenty years, three continents, countless double crosses, and more than a few gun-toting fräuleins. Though the bulk of the series revolves around…
As the year comes to a close and all the time spent with the lonely, on-his-own friend during the holidays reminds us to get our lives together, like two former lovers who awkwardly run into each other at a bar and small talk their way into a promise to “stay friends,” we keep up the…
My TBR Confessions include a harrowing retelling of World War II’s Pacific Theater, a grass-roots rebellion from a German couple inside Nazi territory, and a famous killer clown to whom I’ve never been formally introduced. CURRENTLY READING: With the Old Breed by Eugene Sledge. Recently, I’ve binged my way through HBO’s Band of Brothers and…
Allegiance by Kermit Roosevelt is a historical legal thriller set in the US just after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor (available August 25, 2015). Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, young law student Caswell “Cash” Harrison is rejected for military service but offered the opportunity of a lifetime: a chance to become clerk…
The Madagaskar Plan by Guy Saville imagines an alternate history where a Nazi victory in World War II brings thier “final solution” even closer (available July 28, 2015). The year is 1953. There is peace in Europe, but a victorious Germany consolidates power in Africa. The lynchpin to its final solution is Madagaskar. Hitler has…
The Darkness Rolling by Win and Meredith Blevins follows Seaman Yazzie Goldman, returning to Monument Valley after WWII to bodyguard a star in a John Ford western (available June 2, 2015). World War II has just ended, and Seaman Yazzie Goldman is raring to leave San Diego, where he was enlisted in the Coast Guard…
