In A NIGHT OF LONG KNIVES, Rebecca Cantrell’s exciting sequel to A TRACE OF SMOKE, the story of German journalist Hannah Vogel and her now 9-year-old companion, Anton, continues. Having escaped the growing military and political tensions of pre-World War II Germany, they are flying happily along on the Graf Zeppelin, as she writes a story for a Swiss magazine about the voyage. But she is dismayed to see that the zeppelin is not landing in Switzerland as she supposed, but has been diverted into Germany, ostensibly for mechanical reasons.
She knows this is but a ruse. If they land, she is certain to be arrested and imprisoned by Ernst Röhm, the head of the Sturmabteilung, or SA, security forces of the Nazi party. For Anton is not her own son, but purportedly the son of Röhm, who wishes to use the boy as proof against anti-Röhm factions who claim that he is an amoral homosexual. Hannah and Anton manage to almost escape but are captured and separated by Röhm.
Before further damage can be done, however, Adolf Hitler himself makes a surprise appearance, arresting Röhm and sending him to Stadelheim prison, thus beginning what historians now refer to as the Night of Long Knives, when Hitler dismantled the SA and removed one of his biggest rivals for power. The threat of Röhm is gone for Hannah, but she has very few clues as where Anton is located, and Röhm refuses to tell her in the few hours he has left. Her search is on.
Cantrell is excellent at evoking the fear and intimidation of 1934 Berlin and Munich, as the Nazi party continues to rise to total domination of German society. She is equally adept at writing fast-paced action adventure, with the fabulously brave Vogel performing all kinds of superheroic deeds, from escaping the zeppelin as it begins to land to lying to the officers at Stadelheim prison to gain access to Röhm, all in an effort to find and save her Anton.
The author whisks the reader along through her marvelous confection of danger and excitement, and you’ll avidly devour the whole of A NIGHT OF LONG KNIVES. While not strictly necessary, I would suggest picking up the earlier novel as well for story background. Either way, I hope we see more from this series. —Mark Rose
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