This is a great piece of espionage fiction! It was sexy and fast-paced. The dialogue was fierce and tangible. A spy-thriller-romance set against the backdrop of history made for a great read.
It is as described: In 1962, Aaron seeks to justify his Uncle Max’s last wish in hunting down a Nazi, Otto Schramm, who never payed for his war crimes. Otto served as a medical doctor for the Nazis, performing tortuous medical experiments on children and sending others to the gas chambers. Aaron flies to Buenos Aires from Hamburg to find Otto who has been using a different identity. But, after meeting Otto’s daughter, Aaron is unsure if he can fulfill his quest.
Thematic elements: War crimes is obviously a major topic, considering the subject and setting. Aaron internally struggles to rectify capturing Otto. How is justice served to the dead when their lives cannot be replaced? How do you properly punish someone responsible for the deaths of innocent victims? Does it matter how they died, once gone? Can a death serve a purpose, or can it be useful? Is there such thing as a useful death?
My technical notes: The first 17% is mainly dialogue where Max is trying to convince Aaron to find the ex-Nazi, Otto, and bring justice to the Jews that Otto harmed or killed by bringing Otto back to Germany for trial. Aaron’s actual espionage quest in action does not begin until 25% when he arrives in Buenos Aires. Most of the book is energetic dialogue between the characters, the characters in spy-action, or sexy time. The first 15-20% it took me while to adjust to the pacing of the names of characters, because their interaction moves so quickly. Otto Schramm, the Nazi criminal Aaron is chasing, is fictitious.
I really enjoyed the dynamic characters and the complexity of their relationships. I didn’t plan on reading this so quickly, but the relationships and plot were a driving force, so I finished it sooner than anticipated. Thank you to NetGalley and Atria for a copy! Opinions are my own.
