Return to the Reich, by Eric Lichtblau

It's one thing to have a great story, but it's a whole next level to tell the story well.  Eric Lichtblau tells the unbelievably great story of Fred Mayer in a compelling, highly readable, and well-told narrative.  Fred Mayer's story has been told before but perhaps not as thoroughly and engagingly as Lichtblau's Return to the Reich: A Holocaust Refugee's Secret Mission to Defeat the Nazis. 

After fleeing Germany to the US with his Jewish family, Mayer tried to sign up to fight against the Nazis.  Once he told the military recruiter he was born in Germany, they sent him home to Brooklyn.  After the US entered the war, the military was a bit more desperate for recruits and Mayer joined the Navy.  He native German tongue and familiarity with his home country got him a look by a new group, the Office of Strategic Services, a precursor to the CIA.  After a lot of training and waiting around, Mayer returned to Europe, parachuting behind enemy lines on a mission to infiltrate the Nazi's stronghold in Austria.

Mayer's heroism was matched by his unflappable nature.  He was willing to pose as a German prisoner in a POW camp, impersonate a Nazi officer in Nazi territory, and endure torturous interrogation without breaking.  Return to the Reich is a great reminder that while mass troop movements and massive efforts like D-Day were obviously crucial, small moves by small groups of people like Mayer and his team also had the capacity to turn the course of the war.

It's also a reminder of how personal World War 2 was for many.  Mayer disavowed Germany as a result of the treatment he and his family and Jews throughout the Reich received.  About Mayer's return, Lichtblau writes, "He could still remember the pain in his father's face that day aboard the SS Manhattan seven years earlier, as they were fleeing Germany, when they learned that Hitler had taken over Austria.  Now here he was, dropping into that very place to try to help free it from the Nazis."  This is a great read about a great hero.



Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!

Blue Moon, by Lee Child

Fans of Jack Reacher, rejoice!  Lee Child's newest Reacher book, Blue Moon, is classic, hard-core Reacher.  Like most Reacher books, this one stands alone and can't really be placed in a Reacher timeline.  (OK, maybe more observant readers than I will be able to.)  Reacher arrives in town by bus, to an unnamed, medium-sized city.  He comes to the aid of a fellow passenger who gets mugged.  One good deed leads to another and soon Reacher gets caught in the middle of a war between rival Ukrainian and Albanian gangs. 

Actually, he's not caught in the middle.  He instigates the whole thing.  Then he exacerbates it by killing some of the gang members.  Then he kills some more.  In fact--spoiler alert--he kills pretty much all of them.  And it's glorious.  Child spices up the plot with a few contemporary issues like fake news and human trafficking.  Needless to say, Reacher is opposed to both, with fatal consequences.

Reacher's vigilante justice, his heart for the downtrodden, and his absolute contempt for those who prey on the weak all drive him to stick around and keep fighting.  If you've never read a Reacher book, there's nothing wrong with starting with this one.  If you've read all the Reacher books, you will love Blue Moon.

Space Drifters: The Iron Gauntlet, by Paul Regnier

Captain Glint Starcrost and his crew are back for more adventures in Space Drifters: The Iron Gauntlet.  The bulk of the story involves Starcrost's competition in a reality show where he his life is on the line for the Iron Gauntlet and a huge prize.  He's assisted by the Emerald Enigma, which, readers of the first Space Drifters book will remember, is a necklace that gives the wearer some extraordinary abilities.  He quickly finds that he is a pawn in a larger game that is playing out as the reality show competition is playing out.

The Iron Gauntlet retains the character--and characters--of the first book.  We learn a little more about the backgrounds of Starcrost's motley crew.  Regnier even includes a few chapters told from their perspectives.  In the first book, The Emerald Enigma, Regnier worked in a few theological questions and the characters dealt with the Christian faith.  The Iron Gauntlet scales that down quite a bit, with very little mention of faith in passing.  Also, lizard guy Blix's gift/curse of things coming into reality from his imagination is strangely absent.

Regnier's story is great fun to read.  It has the feel of YA fiction with its action-packed, dialogue-heavy pace and light-hearted tone.  Don't expect hard science fiction when you pick up the Space Drifters series, but look forward to a wild, imaginative ride.

The Bastard Brigade, by Sam Kean

In the long years and global reach of World War 2, there seems to be no limit to great stories and brave exploits.  Sam Kean's new book tells the story of a loosely assembled team of spies and scientists whose goal was to prevent Hitler's Germany from developing a nuclear bomb.  Kean's account includes the personal stories and the developing plot that involved famous Americans such as baseball player Mo Berg and Joseph Kennedy, Jr., as well as Nobel-winning scientists on both sides of the conflict. 

Kean brings the events alive, placing the events into the larger picture of what's going on in the war.  For obvious reasons, these exploits were little known during the war, and, in some cases, for many years after.  I found his accounts of the relationships among the scientists to be particularly interesting.  In the close-knit community of physics, all of these scientists knew each other.  As the field transformed from an eccentric specialty to playing a central role in a global war, their relationships with each other and with their research interests were strained.

Reading about the espionage element, including raids, sabotage, theft, and general sneaking around, I was reminded that these people are merely human, and Murphy's Law rules.  There were so many close calls, bungled projects, and miscommunications, that it's a wonder the Allies came out on top.  That also tells me the Axis powers were probably subject to a similar level of chaos.

Kean is one of those writers of history who finds great stories, thoroughly digs into the stories, and puts the stories together in a captivating, readable format.  Who says history is boring?  Kean shows quite the opposite.


Thanks to NetGalley for the complimentary electronic review copy!

The Case for Nationalism, by Rich Lowry

Politically aware conservatives will remember that National Review was a the chronicler of the Never Trump movement, those Republicans who opposed Trump throughout the 2016 election and into the first years of his presidency.  Some Never Trumpers have warmed to Trump, others persist in their opposition.  NR editor Rich Lowry may not be a big Trump fan, but on at least one issue, he will readily stand in Trump's corner.  In The Case for Nationalism: How It Made Us Powerful, United, and Free he tries to redeem the word nationalism from those who responded negatively to Trump's use of the term.

Given that fact that the left (as well as many on the right) will take every word Trump says and twist it beyond all recognition, it's not surprising that when Trump says "nationalism" they hear "Nazi."  Now, it's true that "Nazi" stands for "national socialism," but Lowry points out that "Nationalism has been a current in the world for centuries, touching every corner of the globe, and somehow only the Germans produced Nazism."  In other words, as Lowry examines socialism around the world and through history, only 20th century Germany produced that toxic, deadly perversion of nationalism.

Trump's nationalism is simple, non-race-based, and should be non-controversial: "We need to adopt immigration and trade policies with our own interests foremost in mind."  Lowry digs deeper than that, providing some historical background of nationalism generally, and specifically the American experience.  His biggest target is the idea that American is a nation of ideas.  He argues instead that at the American founding, "no one believed they were creating 'an idea,' rather than a nation-state."  Over time, historical events such as the Civil War, the moon landing, and the Civil Rights Movement solidified our national identity.

The decades since those unifying eras, especially the last 20-30 years, have seen an increase in immigration accompanied by a decrease in national unity.  The rise of identity politics and the deemphasis of cultural assimilation have contributed to the fracturing of American identity.  Lowry states that "wanting immigrants to become fully part of us [via assimilation] is not xenophobia but the opposite.  It reflects a belief that our culture can and should be embraced by people from varied backgrounds."

All things considered, "the focus of US policy should be the national interest.  We can know (and should) about the world, we (and should) forge international alliances, we can (and should) trade with the rest of the world.  But the animating goal of our government should be promoting the interests of its own citizens."  That is what Trump believes, and I don't think there's anything wrong with that.


Thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!

Chilling Effect, by Valerie Valdes

Captain Eva Innocente, who is just trying to make a living as a trader without resorting to the illegal tactics of her family and peers, finds herself hunted across the universe by an ultra-wealthy warlord (because she refused his offer to join his harem).  To make matters worse, her sister has been kidnapped by a major criminal syndicate, and they demand Eva's servitude to set her sister free. In Chilling Effect, Valerie Valdes tells Eva's story with a sense of humor, action, and attitude.

Chilling Effect is a book for readers who are not too concerned with the "science" part of science fiction, but who love a rollicking adventure story.  I love the way that, in stories like this, a trip to another planet takes less time than it takes me to commute to work.  It certainly helps the story move along. . . . Valdes relies on mysterious technology from a mysterious, extinct race for the quick travel times.  A relic from that race factors into the plot in a big way later, giving other applications of the same technology to strategic and comedic effect.

A fun attitude, well-written action, lovable characters, and twisty plotting make Chilling Effect an entertaining page turner.


Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!

Running With Sherman, by Christopher McDougall

Christopher McDougall had a huge role in the exploding minimalist running trend with the publication of Born to Run in 2009.  I would guess that Running With Sherman: The Donkey with the Heart of a Hero will play a role in increasing interest in burro racing, but I'm pretty sure your local running store won't start stocking halters and saddle bags.  As his readers will expect, McDougall's writing is quite entertaining and, despite the fact that he's writing about a niche sport that a tiny handful of people in a tiny geographical area participate in.

If Running With Sherman were just a book about burro racing, it would be easy to ignore.  But McDougall explores so much more.  Sherman is a rescue donkey that was sick, almost crippled, and surely near death.  McDougall's family took Sherman in, cleaned him up, fed him, and got him healthy.  He quickly turned his mind to burro racing, and decided that he would train Sherman to run a burro race in the mountains of Colorado.  This was no easy task, given Sherman's health, the fact that they live near sea level in Pennsylvania, and the fact that McDougall knew next to nothing about the sport.

A major theme of Running With Sherman the link humans have with animals.  Many of McDougall's neighbors are Amish.  He notes that they tend to be healthier, happier, and longer-lived than most any other group of people.  That is, of course, due to their active lifestyles, diets that don't include American junk food and packages food, and their religious devotion and discipline.  But McDougall also argues that the connection with animals, a connection that people who live in cities, drive cars, and use mechanical implements instead of beasts of burden, simply don't have.  Any pet owner will confirm this, if to a limited extent.

Running with Sherman is fun to read and furthers McDougall's reputation as one of the best writers about running.


Thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!