If you’ve been here before you’ll know I’m a big fan of Elyse Hoffman and I’ve been following her work for a while. This story is a short one but in true Hoffman style it doesn’t pull any punches and is just as hard hitting and some of her lengthier work.
There is a mention at the start of the book Fracture, saying that you don’t have to have read it for this story but it is recommended, and I absolutely agree with that. Whilst I think you could enjoy this without reading anything else first, I think it definitely adds to the story to have read that. You’ll know who everyone is and you’ll find it easier to connect with the story so absolutely go and read that one first.
In this story, we get to see some of the work of the Black Foxes and get a bit closer to those close to the Nazis. There’s mention of biblical stories such as King Saul which absolutely come into play later and I really liked the way this story was written. There’s an arc for our characters, there’s a moral, it comes over really well and the villains are shown to be just as human as you or I which with this particular subject matter I think is really important.
The story follows our Characters Samuel (or One Twenty) and Amos in their travel to safety, and introduces some new and important characters as well as bringing back one particular monstrous human with it.
Hoffman spares no time getting into the dark and gritty parts of the story and it really makes the pages turn, I read this book in one day because I couldn’t put it down. This story leads into the next book coming along which is Black Fox Ten and you’re absolutely going to want to have read Fracture and The Vengeance of Samuel Val before reading that one.
Obviously, with this being a war time story, and the Nazi Occupation of all war stories, there will be people who might not want to read this, it will hit hard regardless of your background but as I always say; we must remember these events. Whilst Hoffman’s work is fictional, these events are ones we must always tell stories of and always remember. If you can stomach it, please check out Elyse Hoffman’s work, I think these are really important stories and not only that, they’re extremely well written, entertaining reads.
Rebbie Reviews 