I am happy to be bringing The Pilots Girl by Catherine Hokins for Bookouture Books-On-Tour today. The greatest of apologies as I am late in posting. Thanks to Bookouture and NetGalley for my copy of the book.
‘Smile, nod, and don’t breathe a word of what happens here. Or I’ll put you on the next train to Auschwitz myself.’
Four years later. Hanni Winter shivers in her thin coat as she hurries through the empty Berlin streets to her job. Despite the freezing winter and poverty all around, her cheeks flush when she meets the man she is photographing today, charismatic Tony Miller, the American pilot risking his life to bring food and provisions to the starving people of the city. But her rush of joy turns to ash as she sees the man behind him…
It’s been years since Hanni fled her terrible past, but seeing Reiner Foss now brings back harrowing memories of the man they called The Showman, and of the concentration camp he commanded. The last time she tried to expose him, Hanni almost died, can she dare to try again? Or should she seize the chance she sees in Tony’s sparkling eyes to leave the horrors of the war behind?
Hanni is no longer the frightened child she was when the Nazis devastated her life beyond repair. She vows to avenge every person who suffered at Reiner’s hands. But does her attraction to Tony leave her vulnerable? Can Hanni protect her loved ones from her past, or will the cost of fighting her demons ultimately prove more than she can pay?
A devastating novel about finding the strength to survive when all hope seems lost. Fans of The Alice Network, The Nightingale and The Tattooist of Auschwitz grab your tissues and dive into this heartbreaking story.
This is the second book in the Hanni Winter series. Set during the Second World War, this is a book that can be read without reading the first but I always say you gain much more insight into the characters by reading in order. That being said this is just so good anyway.
Hanni is the main character and still working for the police as a crime photographer and has just been taken on by the US to take photographs of the work the allies are doing together with the German civilians. Tony Miller, an American pilot is teamed up with her for Goodwill visits and activities.
As the police start finding people being strangled to death, D.I Freddy Schlussel, Hanni and his team are on the case to discover the killer, With time against them will they find the killer before they strike again?
As always Catherine Hikin brings a take that is so well written you have no clue where the facts end and fiction begins. Her characters are always so well described they could be in the room with you. They always have their own very clear roles to play within the storyline too.
I was invested in the story and Hanni, again, from the first page. The investigation is an interesting one that had me flipping the pages of the book so quickly to see how it all turned out.
A great book for any historical fiction lover and anyone who is at all interested in the lives of the German people in Berlin. This makes it different as the perspectives of the enemy nations (particularly Germany) is not normally thought about
Another great and immersive read for Catherine Hokin.
Buy Link
Amazon https://geni.us/B09QT63TQRsocial
Author Bio
Catherine Hokin is the author of several World War Two inspired novels set in Berlin, her favourite city. Following a History degree at Manchester University she worked in teaching, marketing and politics, while waiting for a chance to do what she really wanted, which was to write full time. Her short stories have been published by iScot, Writers Forum and Myslexia magazines and she was the winner of the 2019 Fiction 500 Short Story Competition. She is a lover of strong female leads and a quest.
Catherine now lives in Glasgow with her American husband. She has two grown-up children – one of whom lives, very conveniently, in Berlin – and a lifelong addiction to very loud music.
https://www.catherinehokin.com/
https://www.facebook.com/cathokin/?ref=aymt_homepage_panel
https://www.instagram.com/cathokinauthor/
https://twitter.com/cathokin
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