20190306_130800.jpgWelcome to my stop on the Nothing is Forgotten by Peter Golden blog tour sponsored by TLC Book Tours! Thanks to TLC for the invitation!

About the Book:

From the beloved author of Comeback Love and Wherever There Is Light, comes a novel about the life-changing journey of a young man who travels from New Jersey to Khrushchev’s Russia and the beaches of Southern France as he finds love and discovers the long-hidden secrets about his heritage.

In 1950s New Jersey, Michael Daniels launches a radio show in the storage room of his Russian-Jewish grandmother’s candy store. Not only does the show become a local hit because of his running satires of USSR leader Nikita Khrushchev, but half a world away, it picks up listeners in a small Soviet city.

There, with rock and roll leaking in through bootlegged airwaves, Yulianna Kosoy—a war orphan in her mid-twenties—is sneaking American goods into the country with her boss, Der Schmuggler.

But just as Michael’s radio show is taking off, his grandmother is murdered in the candy store. Why anyone would commit such an atrocity against such a warm, affable woman is anyone’s guess. But she had always been secretive about her past and, as Michael discovers, guarded a shadowy ancestral history. In order to solve the mystery of who killed her, Michael sets out to Europe to learn where he—and his grandmother—really came from.

Featuring Peter Golden’s signature “vivid characters and strong storytelling” (The Washington Post), Nothing Is Forgotten changes our understanding of the impact of World War II on its survivors and their descendants, and will appeal to fans of novels by Anita Diamant and Kristin Hannah.

My Thoughts:

Michael Daniels is living in 1950s New Jersey when he stars in a radio show he performs in his grandmother’s basement. What’s he famous for? His satires of Nikita Khrushchev, leader of the USSR. 

The show is so popular it even makes its way to the Soviet Union. Yulianna Kosoy lives in this small city where she smuggles American goods into the country. 

The radio show is booming when Michael’s grandmother is murdered in her store. The reason why is a mystery. His grandmother had not shared much about her ancestry, and Michael feels like that could be connected to her murder. 

Nothing Is Forgotten drew me in with its storytelling from the start. Peter Golden has an extensive list of resources included, so I know the novel is well-researched. It has a spy thriller slant with the historical fiction background, and I found that fresh and engaging because I’m always up for an historical thriller. 

Michael travels on a journey to find his roots that takes him from New Jersey to Russia and then to the south of France. The settings are so vivid, the characterization so strong, setting the stage for this critical time in our world’s history, I was swept up in this story and what would happen to Michael. I’ll definitely be reading more of Golden’s books. 

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

About the Author:

Peter Golden is an award-winning journalist, historian, and novelist who has written nine books and interviewed Presidents Nixon, Ford, Reagan, and Bush (41); Secretaries of State Kissinger, Haig, Shultz, and Eagleburger; Israeli Prime Ministers Rabin, Peres, and Shamir; and Soviet President Gorbachev. His first novel, Comeback Love, was praised by the novelist and reviewer Caroline Leavitt as an “extraordinary debut.” Wherever There Is Light, his second novel, was featured in New York Magazine’s Fall Preview issue, widely reviewed, and selected by the New Jersey Star-Ledger as one of the best books of 2016. His third novel, Nothing Is Forgotten, which explores the connection between the Holocaust and the Cold War, will be published on April 10, 2018.

Have you read Nothing is Forgotten, or is it on your TBR? Happy Reading! ~ Jennifer THR