Review: The Promise by Fredrik Nath

by Susan Roberts

This is the first book that I've read by this author and now that I've enjoyed it so much I plan to go back and read the rest of this series. This is book 6 in the France WWII series but it can be read as a stand alone with no problem. There are minimal references to previous books or characters because each book highlights the story of a particular character.

Promise begins in 1937 with Jean and his sister Rebecca returning to France from Rio , where their father was an ambassador. Both of their parents have died and even though they are both young, they know that they need to return to their homeland. Jean promises his sister that he will always watch out for her and protect her. On board the ship, Rebecca meets Phillippe and they fall in love. When they arrive in France, Jean starts medical school and Rebecca and Phillippe marry. Moving ahead a few years, Jean has been injured in fighting in France and has lost a leg and is recruited into the English secret service and he is working with the French resistance. When he goes to visit his sister and her daughter, he finds that her husband, now a high ranking official in the Nazi leadership in France has told the authorities that his wife has a Jewish grandparent and has had her sent to a work camp along with the baby. Because of the promise that he made to his sister years before, Jean makes rescuing his sister and niece and killing Phillippe his main goals.

To be successful in the Resistance, the fighters needed to work quietly behind the scenes. Jean is so full of the need for revenge that he continues to do things that make life difficult for him and for those around him who try to help him. He shoots two Nazi soldiers in broad daylight and it causes great problems to the underground members in the small town. He has to learn to keep a clear head and follow orders but he is too overcome with his need for revenge to be able to do that. Even as he finds out what is going on at the camp his sister was sent to, he still plans to try to find her.

I thought that this was an intriguing story and I was very impressed with the main character and how hard he worked and risked his own life to keep the promise that he made to his sister. He definitely worked outside the lines but everything in the book was believable and interesting.

The author moved back and forth between two time periods but it wasn't confusing at all. In alternate chapters, we read about Jean and Rebecca leaving Rio and the other chapters were about what Jean was doing to try to save his sister.

I read a lot of books about WWII and the resistance and I definitely enjoyed this one. I have already ordered the first five books in the series because I enjoyed this book so much.

Buy The Promise at Amazon

Book info:
available formats: ebook and print (314 pages)
published: November 2015
ISBN13: 978-1519574237
genres: historical fiction, war & military
source: publicist



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