I am pleased to be able to review The Katyn Order
here on Acting Balanced, and I hope that you had a chance to check out Douglas W. Jacobson's guest post here on Acting Balanced yesterday.
here on Acting Balanced, and I hope that you had a chance to check out Douglas W. Jacobson's guest post here on Acting Balanced yesterday.
The German War Machine is in retreat as the Russians advance. In Warsaw, Resistance fighters rise up against their Nazi occupiers, but the Germans retaliate, ruthlessly leveling the city. American Adam Nowak has been dropped into Poland by British intelligence as an assassin and Resistance fighter. During the Warsaw Rising he meets Natalia, a covert operative who has lost everything—just as he has. Amid the Allied power struggle left by Germany’s defeat, Adam and Natalia join in a desperate hunt for the 1940 Soviet order authorizing the murders of 20,000 Polish army officers and civilians. If they can find the Katyn Order before the Russians do, they just might change the fate of Poland.
My Review:
I have to say that a well researched historical novel is like stepping back in time and being able to see, hear and feel what the characters feel in the time and place. You can tell from the outset that Douglas W. Jacobson knows his subject matter and is able to create a tale that is both believable and gripping within the pages of The Katyn Order.
This book combines my favorite elements of human interaction and character depth with heart-racing action and suspense. Although I have read a number of novels and non-fiction books about World War II, I had never really studied Poland and the events surrounding both the Nazis and Soviets and how much of Poland's future with Soviet rule was written in the early part of the war. Although this book deals with the often graphic and sometimes grotesque reality of immediate post war Poland, it does so in a thought provoking and sensitive way, and all of the elements are pertinent to the story rather than being gratuitous.
This is an excellent book if you are looking for a meaty historical story with gripping elements, extensive research and great writing - what I'm saying is READ THIS BOOK!
About Douglas W. Jacobson
Douglas W. Jacobson is an engineer, business owner and World War Two history enthusiast. Doug has traveled extensively in Europe researching stories of the courage of common people caught up in extraordinary circumstances. His debut novel, Night of Flames: A Novel of World War Two was published in 2007 by McBooks Press, and was released in paperback in 2008. Night of Flames won the “2007 Outstanding Achievement Award” from the Wisconsin Library association. Doug writes a monthly column on Poland’s contribution during WW2, has published articles on Belgium’s WW2 escape organization, the Comet Line and other European resistance organizations. Doug’s second historical novel, The Katyn Order, which will be released in May, 2011, focuses on one of history’s most notorious war crimes, the Katyn massacre. You can visit his website at www.douglaswjacobson.com.