Today we are bringing you a WWII era mystery that will leave your head spinning (in all the best ways!).
Title: Fortunes of War by Gordon Zuckerman
Pages: 314 pages; We listened to it on audiobook and it was 8 hours 47 mins long
Series: The Sentinels Book 1
Genre: Thriller, Suspense, WWII
Where to Find It: Amazon, Goodreads, Bookbub
Synopsis:
During the financial devastation of the 1920-’30, a group of German Industrialist assume control of their government by supporting Hitler and his Nazi Party’s rise to power. Goals of nationalism turn in a quest for global Aryan supremacy, leading a world to war. In 1943, the Sentinels learn of an attempt by the same industrialists to smuggle their “Fortunes of War” out of Germany before the Allied forces invade. Fearing the wealth will be used to finance the organization of a Fourth German Reich, the Six Sentinels gather together in an effort to prevent the Germans from achieving their goal. The story escalates at every turn, and allows the listener to ride “side-saddle” with the principal characters for more than two years, as the battle of opposing conflict is waged over two continents. Intrigue, danger, romance, disappointment, trust, and betrayal are never very far away.
*Originally published in 2009, under the genre “historical thriller, fiction”, Fortunes of War remained atop Amazon and Barnes and Noble’s best sellers list for two years. It is the first book in what will be a continuing series that pits the resourceful problem solving efforts of the Sentinels against those who abuse the privileges of free-enterprise in the quest of their self-serving agendas.
Our thoughts on Fortunes of War
My thoughts on Fortunes of War by Gordon Zuckerman
I will premise this and say I was gifted an audiobook copy in exchange for my honest thoughts.
Top 5 key points:
- Always make sure you have a group of friends that can help you stop a world disaster.
- A book full of spies, espionage, and twists
- The characters travel everywhere! So many neat places.
- Build-up is slow but once you get in… it’s hold the edge of your seat as it goes full throttle.
- The audiobook voices were easy on the ear.
I am personally a big WWII junkie, so anytime I can read a book with a WWII theme I jump at it. This was my first one reading a story by Gordon Zuckerman, and he has a blasé way of writing that I don’t often see. The characters were developed in bursts as we saw all the moving parts before they collided and built to an interesting conclusion.
Gordon Zuckerman’s use of many different characters (including some female spies!) was very layered and had a touch of romance.
What surprised me was the financial twists and turns. It was very believable and added a realistic vibe to the story. I loved the mystery of figuring out how everything would work together and trying to figure out the end.
I enjoyed the narrator’s voice and the different inflections used for each character. Though I did have to speed it up a bit because it was slow for me.
Final thoughts:
The beginning of the story was slow, and the burst of different characters could at times be confusing before I figured out who was who and the part they played in the story. There were also a lot of details to make sure you didn’t lose track of, and I found myself going back and replaying a few passages to make sure I understood what had just happened.
Overall. I would give this book a solid 3 stars.
About the Author
Author Gordon Zuckerman has traveled extensively and is a life-long history buff. Having been made aware of the potential corrupting influence of concentrated wealth and power, he devoted over a decade studying some of history’s most important events. He’s developed an understanding of how concentrated industrial and financial influence, given the support of government, can pursue agendas of self-interest that can conflict with the public’s best interests.
Becoming more familiar with the story behind the story, Zuckerman believes the democratic free enterprise system represents the goose that lays the ‘golden eggs’ and needs to be protected from those who would abuse the privilege.
He has used his writing easel to illustrate what can happen when a small fictional group, “The Six Sentinels” decide to help make-happen the constructive efforts and oppose those of questionable intentions. To create the plot for each of his books, the author has chosen to connect the dots of history. Any book describing the support or opposition to self-serving agendas must necessarily be a story about people. The stories are told through the evolving lives of fictional, high-minded, high-energy, creative problem solvers. The intrigue in their lives has been added to generate added interest for the reader who is interested in learning more about the cause and effects of some of the important events of our times.
You can find him and the other books in The Sentinels Series: https://www.gordonzuckerman.com/
