The Darkest Hour: A Novel - Softcover

Schumacher, Tony

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0062386026 ISBN 13: 9780062386021

Publisher: William Morrow, 2014

Synopsis

The terrible struggle that was WWII is over, the Germans have won and now occupy London, but it s up to a hardened British detective to turn the tables, save someone s life, and achieve what he has believed was impossible redemption in this crackling thriller debut. The year is 1946. Nazi Germany has conquered the British, and now forcefully occupies the country and controls its citizens. John Henry Rossett, a decorated British war hero for the Allies and former police Sergeant, has been reassigned to the Office of Jewish Affairs. Built on Nazi ideology, it is a department strictly under the control of the SS, one of the largest and most powerful organizations in the Third Reich. Rossett, a man accustomed to obeying commands but also one who has lost everything in the war including his wife and child is given no chance to ask questions, no chance to turn it down. Ultimately, he has no choice in the matter. So he gets on with his job of rounding up Jews, some of whom he s known his whole life, for deportation. That is until he finds Jacob, a young Jewish boy, hiding in an abandoned building and everything changes. Determined to protect the child, Rossett finds himself on the run, the quarry of not only the Germans but also the Royalist resistance and the Communists. Each faction has its own agenda and Rossett will soon learn that none of them can be trusted . . . and all of them are lethal.

About this title

Review:

A powerful tale of corrosive suspicion and electrifying danger. . . . The Darkest Hour is an exciting and breathtakingly plausible first novel brimming with suspense and starring a superbly-drawn cast of characters. . . . A cleverly nuanced and convincing thriller. --Lancaster Evening News (UK)"

From the Back Cover:

In this crackling, highly imaginative thriller debut in the vein of W.E.B. Griffin and Philip Kerr, set in German-occupied London at the close of World War II, a hardened, dispirited British detective jeopardizes his own life to save someone else and achieve the impossible—some kind of redemption

London, 1946. The Nazis have won the war and now occupy Great Britain, using brutality and fear to control its citizens. They even use it to control those who work for them. John Henry Rossett, a decorated British war hero and former police sergeant, is one of those unlucky souls. He's a man accustomed to obeying commands, but he's now assigned a job he didn't ask for and knows he cannot refuse: rounding up Jews for deportation, including men and women he's known his whole life. Robbed of his family by a Resistance bomb, and robbed of his humanity by the work he is forced to do, fate suddenly presents Rossett with an unexpected challenge that could change everything. He finds a boy hiding in an abandoned building and is faced with a momentous decision—to do something or to look the other way. Yet whatever Rossett does, he will be pushed into a place where he could endanger all he holds dear.

Played out against a city in ruin, a place divided between the conquered and the conquerors,The Darkest Hour is a tense, driving adventure thriller, a fascinating alternate history, and the unforgettable story of a man who will be broken—or be given a completely new lease on life.

About this edition

• Publisher: William Morrow
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 0062386026
• ISBN 13: 9780062386021
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 432