"Remember Me", by Mario Escobar

                                                   

                                                     A Spanish Civil War Novel

     
1936-1939

The Spanish Civil War is referred to as one of the bloodiest wars of the twentieth century. Mr. Escobar’s novelization of the events is told by Marco, a fictional survivor and one of the 500 children that were relocated via ship to Mexico to escape the violence.

At what cost do you protect your child?

“Remember Me” is the story of the Alcalde family and focusses mainly on the children: Marco, Isabel and Ana who traveled across the sea without their parents only to be trapped in a country far from their homeland. Based on true events and documents we follow the siblings through their ordeal. Life was not easy, they had to endure hunger, beating and even kidnapping...their overall situation was horrible. The Alcade family represents the lives of thousands of families who were separated ... many children trying to survive alone and many parents suffering from having to let them go.

The story is told in three parts: the first deals with the Civil War in Spain, the second the children evacuation to Mexico and the last part covers the life in Spain under Franco’s rules. At the end of the book we have the author’s clarifications of the factual events from those needed to fit into his narrative and the final chapter gives a timeline of significant events during that period. The research is outstanding.

Mr. Escobar writing style is simple; his fluency of words and charged phrases will strike a chord in your heart, it did for me.

This is a great historical fiction

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher Thomas Nelson via Netgalleys the opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

"In the End", by John W. Mefford

                                               Ivy Nash book #6

                                   Redemption Thriller book # 12

This is the final novel in the Ivy Nash series and the most captivating story penned by Mr. Mefford.

It opens with Ivy being asked to find a missing daughter without the help of the authorities. The parents being illegal immigrants are deeply worried to be deported if the police are involved. Ivy will do her best to find the girl but it is not as easy as one may think. With Stan unofficially helping her working the case they soon stumble into satanic rituals going on and around the school and the local church......Creepy and macabre.

Mr. Mefford is extremely descriptive of the setting and knows how to make his characters leap off the pages. The story features a diverse set of characters but my favourite still are Ivy and her teenage sidekick Christina. Both grew throughout the series I hate to part with them but it is what it is... As I was flipping the pages I could visualise the action as it developed...yes, gruesome in parts but what a twisted imagination this author has. My heart rate kept going up and down ..grrrr.. but when a story is filled with action, has several plot twists and full of surprise what more can you ask....

I enjoyed the Ivy Nash series and looking forward to reading the 3rd set of thrillers in the Redemption series “Ozzie Novak Thrillers”.

I wish to thank John W. Mefford for sending me the 6 books in this series for my enjoyment.

"The Berlin Girl", by Mandy Robotham

This is a heart-wrenching story of a young woman, an English reporter, who puts herself in the line of fire as the world is about to be forever changed. Germany is on the brink of war. The story is set in Berlin 1938, at the height of summer and last till early Fall 1939.
After witnessing innocent people being torn from their home, Goergie Young along with her colleague, Max Spencer, needed to do something. As they dug deeper they uncovered the truth about Hitler’s Germany and through their eyes we see a world swathed in red flags and crawling with Nazis.

I was totally taken by this story; I simply couldn’t put it aside. Within the opening pages I was hooked and stayed eager to know what was in store for Goergie as she navigated her journalistic life during the Nazi occupation. Reporter’s work was not only censured by the Reich but the home office took great care not to offend the Germans by publishing what they thought were not based on fact reports; they wanted photos as proof before publishing anything, in fact Georgie and Max were also censured at home. Leaving the rest of the world oblivious to what really was going on.

There is a lot going on beyond the copious amounts of booze, smoking and yes strudel as Georgie bonded with her fellow journalists. She soon made friends with Sam at the British Embassy while she was involved with a German officer, but of course, this relationship eventually put her in extreme danger and the story behind is more than captivating. My favourite secondary character was Rubin a Jewish man who drove Georgie around the city till he no longer was permitted. The voices were essentially of Goergie but from time to time Rubin took center stage as he got more involved. By the end, along with his family, Goergie helped him escape Germany. I could continue but I rather you read this novel for yourself: discovering Ms. Robotham vision of events is what makes this novel a must read.

This historical novel is well-written and has sympathetic and likeable characters and we have quite a few to follow. Being during this difficult period in time the story plays with our emotions: although a truth spoken without drama. We have some elements of mystery, suspense and romance all perfectly balanced. This novel wraps up with a brilliant epilogue: closure for all....

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Avon Books UK via Netgalleys the opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.