Wednesday Books - Blood and Smoke

This week I managed to finish Conspiracy of Blood and Smoke by Anne Blankman. *obligatory spoiler alert*

This was was as good, if no better than Prisoner of Night and Fog. In that one, the title really says it - she was a prisoner in her own house and frankly, in her own land. In Conspiracy, we see her and Daniel a few months later, living safely in England with her psychiatrist buddy and his family, who love her like a sister, and it's really refreshing to finally see Gretchen have a family life that isn't terrible. 

However, nothing stays good for long. Daniel is being accused for a murder he didn't commit back in Germany, so he decides to leave without warning Gretchen and clear his name. Naturally, because she's Gretchen and she's tough and awesome, she goes back to help him. She starts in Munich, and then for the majority of the time is in Berlin. This book centers around the Reichstag Fire and the political uproar it caused, leading to the Enabling Act of 1933.

Like the first book, I enjoyed the feeling of Blankman's writing. Whenever I think about WWII I never really think about the regular people just living their lives and how they felt about everything. This book does a great job exploring the minds of everyday Germans of the time and how they felt about Hitler and his party. It really did teach me a lot about pre-WWII Germany, especially the Ennabling Act (which in effect, gave then Chancellor Adolf Hitler the power to enact laws without involving the Reichstag (the then-legislative power of Germany,) which basically means he became a de facto legal dictator.) I always wondered exactly how he got all that power, and this book showed that in an up-close and thrilling way. It also showed the "seedy underbelly", as it were, of Germany's street gangs and their rivals, which was really interesting. 

I enjoyed this book just as much, if not more than Prisoner. As always, Gretchen is boss, and her and Daniel's relationship goes through ups and downs every romantic relationship does. I love that all their choices have consequences, and how intense that makes this book. I could not stop reading the last 75 pages or so. I have not felt that way about a book in a long time. It was awesome. 

Another cool thing about this, I'm pretty sure Blankman is done after two books, which is weird in today's literary world. Making a trilogy is kind of the cool thing to do these days, so for her to be like "nah, I'm good with two" is nice. No need to go farther than you need to, although I think she could do a couple more. I mean, this book ended in 1933, and there's still so much more she could do with this time period. Since they're in England for the foreseeable future and have a working relationship with Winston Churchill, they could definitely do a couple more books from the English side that could be really really good. Guess we'll see. I can't find where she's writing another one anywhere but maybe she'll surprise me. 

*follows on Twitter* 

Now I'll be the first to know! Looks like she's coming out with something called Traitor Angels next year. The synopsis on Goodreads says: "In 1666 England, Elizabeth discovers an explosive secret hidden in the epic poem "Paradise Lost" - a secret that could tear apart the very fabric of society." Dang. Sounds good. See you then. 

-K