Book Review: Prisoner of Night and Fog by Anne Blankman

Book Description:
In 1930s Munich, danger lurks behind dark corners, and secrets are buried deep within the city. But Gretchen Müller, who grew up in the National Socialist Party under the wing of her "uncle" Dolf, has been shielded from that side of society ever since her father traded his life for Dolf's, and Gretchen is his favorite, his pet.

Uncle Dolf is none other than Adolf Hitler.

And Gretchen follows his every command.

Until she meets a fearless and handsome young Jewish reporter named Daniel Cohen. Gretchen should despise Daniel, yet she can't stop herself from listening to his story: that her father, the adored Nazi martyr, was actually murdered by an unknown comrade. She also can't help the fierce attraction brewing between them, despite everything she's been taught to believe about Jews.

As Gretchen investigates the very people she's always considered friends, she must decide where her loyalties lie. Will she choose the safety of her former life as a Nazi darling, or will she dare to dig up the truth—even if it could get her and Daniel killed?

From debut author Anne Blankman comes this harrowing and evocative story about an ordinary girl faced with the extraordinary decision to give up everything she's ever believed . . . and to trust her own heart instead.
My Thoughts: 
Amazing. Simply amazing.

A new and gripping fictional story of Adolf Hitler's rise to power through the story of his niece.  Sometimes we forget that Hitler had a family. Which makes this story engaging and thought provoking. Through the story it was very obvious that the author did some amazingly immense and through research as the author weaves real-life characters who really were a part of Hitler's group that impacted his life and helped pave the way to his rise to power, with fictional characters that brought this story to a level of unique understanding of what was going on before Hitler's reign. I was impressed with the historical events and specific details given throughout the story that brought the story to life. It was frighteningly good. The writing was fabulous as you felt the fear of the people and those germans who didn't agree but were to afraid of what was happening around them.

As a bystander who understands what happens next it was hard and horrifying to read and know that characters who loved, adored and feared Hitler were real. It was amazing to read the charisma Hitler had as her perverted the idea of patriotism and the propaganda used to bring about his sad and sadistic way of thinking. We got to see by other people's point of view how he got people to carry out slowly what he wanted done, how it all came about slowly yet so fast it's scary.

This is not boring by any means you are immediately drawn to the main character as you see her struggles with what she was taught, while falling for a Jewish man, struggling to see what was really happening around her. Her beloved "Uncle Dolf" who treats her like a girl would want to be treated by an Uncle only to see that illusion fall away as things take a turn of what you didn't see or understand till then.

I cannot recommend this story highly enough. It was beautiful and rich with history and story telling. I look forward to more book written by this author.

Sexual Content: mild
Violence: moderate (harsh treatment towards Jews, beating of a man etc.)
Language: mild
Drugs/Alcohol: mild

5/5 Stars