20190217_145142.jpgToday I have a review of The Blameless Dead by Gary Haynes. A speical thanks to Endeavor Quill for mailing this beautiful book to me from across the pond!

My Thoughts:

The Blameless Dead…when I first try to categorize the genre I hit a wall thinking it’s in a league of its own, and it absolutely is, but it also reminded me of Andrew Gross’ historical thrillers. It’s rooted in history with plenty of tension, action, and drama, with a present day storyline as well. It keeps you guessing and completely on the edge of your seat! I almost wobbled off a time or two in shock! 

So what’s it all about?

In a nutshell, when World War Two is wrapping up, Pavel Romasko and his Red Army cohort are in Berlin where they find something in a Nazi bunker that shocks them beyond any of the other atrocities they’d witnessed to that point. 

As we all know, there was a path to retribution for the Nazis, but some things take a long, long time, including revenge and retaliation. 

Seventy years later,  Carla Romero is an FBI agent, and working alongside Gabriel Hall, a lawyer in New York, the pair are to investigate a set of crimes that have deep roots. Roots that may go back to WWII. 

The next victim may be very close to home…someone in Gabriel’s family, so the investigation becomes much more personal. 

I have to mention there are graphic torture scenes. Nothing is sugar-coated. The harsh realities of war are handled with authenticity. That said, this book is outstandingly executed. I was riveted quite early, and the story never let me go. The history only made me love the story all the more. 

Overall, The Blameless Dead is a captivating, well-written book with an immersive, clever plot…I am left feeling astounded, and I’m going to miss the pull this book had on me! 

I received a complimentary copy. All opinions are my own. 

Synopsis:

In the dying days of World War Two, Pavel Romasko and his Red Army colleagues pick their way through the carnage and detritus of a dying Berlin. Stumbling upon the smoking remains of a Nazi bunker, they find something inside that eclipses the horror of even the worst excesses in the city above them…

As the war ends, retribution begins. But some revenge cannot be taken at once. Some revenge takes years.

And so it is, as post-war Europe tries desperately to drag itself back onto its feet, and soldiers attempt a return to normality, that retribution continues to ferment in the Gulags of the Soviet Union and beneath the surface of apparently ordinary lives.

Which is how, seventy years later, FBI agent Carla Romero and New York lawyer Gabriel Hall are enlisted to investigate a series of blood-chilling crimes that seem to have their roots in the distant past — even though the suffering they cause is all too present. And for one of them, the disappearance of young women is a particularly personal matter.

The Blameless Dead is an epic, compelling, edge-of-the-seat drama that sweeps the reader from twentieth century Europe to modern-day New York, taking in some of the most important events of modern history and exposing them in honest and unflinching terms. Part murder-mystery, part historical novel and shot through with adrenaline-pumping action, this novel superbly demonstrates that, while the hostilities may cease and the peace be signed, the horror that is war is never really over.

Have you read The Blameless Dead, or is it on your TBR? Do you have a favorite historical thriller? Happy Reading! ~ Jennifer THR