Ben Pastor – Dark Song Of Blood

‘Dark Song Of Blood’ by Ben Pastor is the third

book to feature Major Martin Bora, an aristocratic officer in the German Army. Although I just jumped into the series, I found I had no issues getting into the story.
The story is set from January through to June of the same year, 1944. The Germans occupied Rome until June when they withdrew.

Bora is given the assignment of investigating three high-profile murders, with Sandro Guido a police officer from Rome. We see both of them caught up in their struggles, Bora with the power struggle between the German Army, the Gestapo and the SS well. Guido has the issue of the different factions within the Italian Police department as well as the Resistance and the Partisans also. If Bora and Guido don’t have enough issues then the Vatican decides to show the influence and power they hold over the events that are unfolding.

I found this an excellently written book with a layered plotline. Ben Pastor has created complex and interesting characters. Bora is one of these complex characters and the depth to which the novel delves into his character makes him such an interesting man to read about. He battles with the Vatican and the SS, while trying to keep his oath to his country and his religion intact as well as solving the mystery at hand.

I always enjoy historical fiction and this particular story has been researched so well. I loved how you couldn’t tell where the facts or fiction started and ended. I haven’t read anything about the German Occupation of Rome but after reading this I did Google to see who was real and who wasn’t.

Another Bitter Lemon Press published book that I have enjoyed so much that I want to read the previous novels in this series too. I love a story that just holds me, and this is one definitely did. I was so interested in the Rome of 1944 and the power struggles that Bora and Guido are up against.

In conclusion ‘Dark Song Of Blood’ is a book that highly entertained and also educated me about the time of the German Occupation of Rome. Not an easily forgettable book.

Thank you to Anne Cater of Random Things Tours and Bitter Lemon Press for my copy of the book.