Prisoner of Night and Fog Kindle Edition

If Goodreads allowed more than 5 stars for a review I’d give Anne Blankman's debut novel, Prisoner of Night and Fog, a 6.Or maybe a 7.It’s that good.Blankman’s historical novel has it all: the underpinnings of extensive research, romance, mystery, beautiful language, rich characters, fast-pace and heart-pounding suspense, a terrific title and above all else—a great story.Can you tell I loved this book?Set in Munich, Germany in the early 1930's, this fictionalized account of the unlikely romance between Gretchen Muller, Adolf Hitler’s “pet” niece and Daniel Cohen, a handsome Jewish reporter, is a page-turner that will keep you awake at night.Out of nowhere, Daniel interrupts Gretchen’s “normal” with the information that her father’s death was not as a martyr as the Nazis have portrayed it. It was murder. When Gretchen sets out on a dangerous journey to discover the truth, her innocent reverence for Hitler (Uncle Dolf) is ripped away and she begins to see the evil underbelly of his schemes.I don’t want to spoil this book for you so I’ll just share two favorite passages, from among many.One of Gretchen's antagonists is her brother, Reinhard, who has mistreated her since childhood. When Gretchen discovers that her mother refuses to support her dream to attend a university and study to become a doctor in lieu of supporting Reinhard, she thinks:"...The decision had been made. Reinhard had gotten his way, as he always did; they were forced to circle around him like dying planets, and he the sun whose magnetic pull directed their rotation was the glowing orb that might blaze into uncontrollable brightness at any moment." (p. 79)When Daniel confronts her naivety about not seeing how Hitler planned to exterminate the Jews she remembers,"Uncle Dolf had promised their enemies would vanish into the night and fog. Just as in Goethe's famous poem Der Erlkonig, 'The Alder King.'"She had recited the poem to Uncle Dolf as they sat in the parlor together last year, sipping apple-peel tea while the old ladies knitted, and he had smiled, for he loved the tale about the super-natural being who attacked a boy held in his father's arms as they rode on horseback through the night-darkened countryside. 'My son, why do you hide your face so anxiously?' 'Father, do you not see the Alder king? The Alder King with crown and train' 'My son, it's a wisp of fog.'" (pp. 179-80)

If you liked Code Name Verity--If you liked The Book Thief--If you like well-written historical fiction, particularly of the tumultuous WWII era, I think you should give this a shot. There. That's my endorsement.This is a fantastic book and it does an amazing thing-- just when I think I've had my fill of the WWII period, something like this comes along to prove me wrong and I fall head over heels in love with it. Of all the atrocities committed during the war, this book takes its readers back a few years to before Hitler was Chancellor of Germany, and before the Nazis even held power. Back to when they were a radical group of nearly-rabid followers adoring an unbalanced if charismatic leader. Historical figures like Eva Braun, Geli Raubal (Hitler's niece), Heinrich Hoffmann, Heinrich Himmler and Hitler himself spring to life around our fictitious heroine and her family and lend a sense of credibility to a beautifully-written story.As for the fictional part of the story, Gretchen and Daniel's love story felt very natural -- both of them very cautious and the furthest thing from the instalove trope. Her mother made me want to scream, and her brother Reinhard actually terrified me more than Hitler did. Ms Blankman's pen is imbued with the feel of poetry, and I couldn't help but fall in love with her words and the world she created, even when that world was quickly becoming darker and more dangerous by the page.I can't wait to pick up a copy of this for my shelves (and reread it again!) and I'm REALLY looking forward to the sequel :)

Wow! I'm impressed that this is the authors debut novel. The amount of work and research she put into this payed off. The writing is really good as well. If you read the Authors Note at the end the you'll see how great of a job she did of weaving fictional characters in with real events and characters. This is definitely an amazing historical fiction read!At the beginning I was very unsure of how I would end up liking it, but by the end I was glad I had decided to read this. The beginning is slightly slower, but interesting enough to want to keep reading. By the end I was racing to find out what happened. Occasionally it would seem like the author was info-dumping, but it didn't happen very often so it's not enough to make me dislike the book. A great aspect was the romance. It wasn't insta love which is a plus! I thought it was very well developed and happened over a believable amount of time.Overall: This is a strong debut with very good writing. I can't wait for the sequel! I strongly recommend if you're a fan of historical fiction.

I love this book!! I like it so much because it keeps you on your toes the whole time! I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who loves World War 2 history. All of the characters are very interesting. The main character goes through a huge inner struggle when she learns that the Nazis are evil; she grew up with them her whole life. I would give an A+ on on character development for this book! The author did a great job writing this book, it was even her first book to be released. I can’t wait to see how the rest of her books turn out!! The best thing about this book is that it uses real people from history as characters, uses real historical events, and giver really good insight on Hitler in a physiological stance; how he because insane. So overall, I really liked this book, and can’t wait to read her other books!!

I LOVED THIS BOOK!!! I couldn't put it down and am so scared to read the next one because I don't want to ruin the ending I have pictured in my head. If you like WWII romance novels, this is a good one; it had a little bit of tension, a little bit of suspense (the OMG I need to find out what happens next even though it's 3 AM kind), and a lot of elements that are exciting as they are nerve-racking. Definitely recommend this book!

This is a difficult review to write in the sense that, I enjoyed this book, but at the same time I didn’t. I feel like I should have jumped onto this bandwagon a lot sooner but at the same time, there were aspects of this book that I just didn’t enjoy.I think the best part about this book is the fact that, whilst it is historical fiction, the author has not changed much of what happened in the past at all. She wove in a little bit more to what actually happened, but the main events have remained very factual. The book is very reminiscent of Nazi Germany at the beginning of the 30’s and it showed the transition of the Germans’ mindset toward the NSDAP - and the jews! You could see, as the reader, the brainwashing taking place, which was fairly uncomfortable to read. In today’s society, people cannot comprehend how an entire nation could act in the way in which the Germans acted during Hitlers rise to power and his time in power; reading about it, however, it is horrible to know just how easy it is to brainwash someone slowly and over time.I really liked the romance in the book. It wasn’t insta - love as it is with a lot of other books, which made the story more interesting. Gretchen had to get over her mindset toward the jews and turn away everything that she had ever been taught in order to fall for Daniel. I think this makes the romance a lot more realistic - especially considering the time era that we are reading!I loved Gretchen as a character!! She is such a strong female character! It is amazing the amount of things she goes through, the ugly truths that she has had to face and she still managed to stay strong throughout the book and stand up to what she believes is wrong in order to try and set things right. She still investigates her fathers death, even though she knows it could result in her death - which makes her all the more stronger!! She also stood up to her older brother, who, let’s just say, was a nasty piece of work!So, what didn’t I like about the book? I don’t even know really myself. I feel like I wanted more from the book - more action, more romance, not sure. It was a book that followed an investigation through to the end, but I feel like I was used as an information dump. It just chucked a whole load at me and I feel like I wasn’t ready. I also feel like there was a lot of investigating going on, but there wasn’t a lot of action to back it up. Sure, there were close calls and towards the end there was a lot of action, but I feel like the middle bit just slumped a bit and could have done with a little pick me up.Also, Uncle Dolf. Being from the generation that I am, being English and considering everything that he did, and the fact that I had to learn about it every single year since the age of about 9, I found it difficult to relate to him as Uncle Dolf. I read it, snorted out my coffee and proceeded to chat to my dad on the phone about it. Even though reading the book meant seeing him in a different light - better said seeing him in the private light of a life he wanted nobody to know about, I still found it difficult to relate. I found it more so difficult to relate to the people who were calling him uncle Dolf or who considered themselves, or were considered to be, close friends of Hitler. However, having said that, I know that this was true in the case of people like Röhm and Eva Braun.I sort of enjoyed this book - including all of the random German words that tested my knowledge of the language - but at the same time I feel like it fell a little flat of the premise. I will be reading the second book at some point, though! I gave this book 3/5 stars.

Gretchen’s father lost his life protecting a friend, a friend who has become so dear to her family that Gretchen calls him uncle and he absolutely dotes on her. Her ‘uncle’ is none other than Adolf Hitler and Gretchen has always obeyed his orders without thinking about them. Until she meets a Jewish reporter named Daniel who makes her start questioning the events of her father’s death. She must decide if learning the truth about her father is worth giving up the safety of being her ‘uncle’ Dolf’s little pet.This was a highly impressive debut novel from Anne Blankman. There were so many facts about what was happening at this time in real life woven into the plot without it coming across as dry or simply stuffed in to seem impressive. It gave a great perspective on how easily it can be to get sucked in by someone who has firm beliefs and who’s passionate and charismatic, make you believe you want what they want.I love Gretchen as a character. The slow progression from her believing everything Hitler has taught her to discovering who she really is was well-written and believable. It wasn’t instant, there were some slips backwards, and that was what made me believe it. She fought through everything that was trying to keep her an agreeable little girl and became a young woman with her own thoughts and her own beliefs.The romance was sweet and I like that it never became the focus. The story was always Gretchen’s journey and Daniel was someone who could help her discover herself and discover the truth about her father. He was supportive and caring and everything he needed to be for her.The first half of the book was a little slow but things picked up around the halfway mark, and tension really picked up in the last quarter. It was clear the author did her research before writing about this time and these events. Plenty of real events were mentions, real people were present, and there was an author’s note and a bibliography packed with more information along with each part of the book containing a quote from Hitler.This was a book that was hard to put down with lots of tension and action, great characters(both good and evil), and well-researched.

It's one of the best book I've read so far. It's not just another historical fiction, it's much more. The plot revolving around WW time is always fascinating to read and on top of that is a mysterious novel. It's a huge page turner.It's about a young girl Gretchen Muller. Her father has been proclaimed the title of martyr cause he leapt on front of Hitler to take bullets in order to save him. Gretchen's family is therefore very well known in Munich. Grethen addresses Hitler as Uncle Dolf and they have a cordial relation.Things turn out when she suspects that her father was not really a martyr; he was murdered. It's her story about finding the truth amid all the chaos.

Great read