Jana Petken’s extraordinary historical epic, The German Half-Bloods Trilogy, reaches its sweeping, heart-wrenching conclusion.In The German Half-Bloods and The Vogels, Jana Petken followed the turbulent lives of an Anglo-German family as they forged their paths through the Second World War. Now, the conflict intensifies in the Soviet States, North Africa, France, and the growing resistance … resistance movement in Poland.
Will Max, Paul, and Wilmot Vogel survive the most ruthless phase of the war to date?
Max takes a path to momentous events in North Africa where he balances undercover games of espionage in decadent Cairo with dangerous missions behind the German Afrika Korps’ lines.
Paul’s loyalty to the Third Reich continues to wane as Germany’s extermination programmes in Poland expand, and he is stalked by the new Kriminalinspektor, Manfred Krüger. Can he stay one step ahead of a man who has been ordered to destroy him?
Wilmot faces new challenges in the Afrika Korps, but is he mentally and physically prepared to lead his men into Libya’s fiery desert and against the British 8th Army?
Before the Brightest Dawn, the long-awaited Book 3 of the Half-Bloods Trilogy, concludes the story of the inextricably entangled fates of three brothers … through a war that becomes increasingly brutal and cruel.
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Read the Vogel family saga…in the trilogy of German Half bloods… a great story well written… takes you through continents, war, espionage, intrigue, hate, anger, outrage, death, murder, romance, love, marriage, love-making…. a spectrum of emotions …
5 stars
This is the third and final entry into the trilogy about Vogel family. The husband is German, the mother is English and they have four children – three boys and a girl.
Hannah and her husband Frank now have a young baby and they are happy living in England. Dieter and Laura have made their way to England as well. The Nazis believe that Dieter has been killed in a bomb blast. Instead, Dieter, Frank and Max are now working for MI6. While Frank and Dieter stay in England to assist in the war effort, Max is a roving agent and travels all over the world. This episode finds him in Cairo and later in France and Poland.
Paul has been conscripted into the medical corps. He feels his medical skills are being sorely misused. He is currently stationed at a hospital and ghetto in Jewish Poland. When he gets the word that the “final solution” is about to arrive at their facility, he assists some of his Jewish nurses and doctors in escaping. He is playing a very dangerous game, but his conscience cannot allow him to stand by and do nothing for he has done that far too much already. He is now being watched very closely by the new Kriminalinspektor Kruger. Kruger loves to bait Paul to try to get him into even more trouble.
Willie (Wilmot) is still a serving soldier in the German army. He has lost his SS commission for insubordination and is a corporal in Rommel’s army in Libya. When one of his superiors hears him speaking perfect English to a captured soldier, he assigns him to be a translator for interrogations. As the war progresses, the German soldiers are overwhelmed and surrender to the Americans. Willie is shipped to a camp in Kansas. There he runs into all kinds of situations, problems and one very good thing.
I cannot say enough good things about this series. Ms. Petken is an excellent writer. I could see no errors in this novel. It read smoothly and the transitions were flawless. I appreciate the way that Ms. Petken pulls no punches when describing the horrors of the war. Her language is direct and very descriptive. Her characters are sympathetic and engaging. The Nazis who were bad were very bad. But the author did describe the apathy that some of the rank and file soldiers felt about their situation and continuing the war. All of the main characters were beset by doubts and fear. I found this to be very realistic given that they were engaged in war.
This book is action-filled and has joy and tragedy. I found it to be very entrancing and could hardly pull myself away from it at bedtime. I truly enjoyed this book and recommend it to anyone who is interested in WWII, Nazi Germany or just loves a good historical novel.