Sniper on the Eastern Front - Albrecht Wacker

"Sepp Allerberger" is the name attached to these memoirs. The reason given is that although snipers from the United States and Russia are considered heroes, German snipers are regarded as "wicked killers."

Sepp does what he can to survive. At first, it might be hard to sympathize with a German sniper knowing what he's done. But not every German soldier was a Nazi, and this particular man fought with inner demons a few times. The problem was, he was in a situation where it was kill or be killed. 

As the end of the war nears, it becomes clear that the troops are just falling back to Germany. He witnesses a lot of horrible things, and the details are not spared. It's gets pretty graphic at times. Saying that, Sepp also comes across as jaded, and I'm not sure whether that is a reflection of the author or the marksman. 

Overall, this is a pretty look at the end of the war from the German point of view. If that's something you're interested in learning about, and you don't mind the gore, I would recommend this book. Good Book!

An American Tragedy - Theodore Dreiser

Clyde's family are street preachers, but he wants to break away. He gets a job at a hotel, but after a tragic accident, he leaves the city and ends up in Chicago. He meets his wealthy uncle and is put on a path where he's exposed to high society. He also has a young woman who he's gotten pregnant. Since she's not rich enough, Clyde would rather get rid of her somehow, because now he has prospects with a rich, young beauty. What follows is a murder. 

It feels like everyone in this book only thinks about themselves. The beauty only starts talking to Clyde because she wants to poke at Clyde's cousin. The cousin puts Clyde in a cruddy job to keep him out of the way. Roberta, who is one of the lesser offenders, wants to hold on to Clyde no matter the consequences. Even giving up her morals and self-respect. Clyde is never happy with anything. He always feels like he's destined for something greater, and he deserves it. The lawyers are determined to win the case for political reasons. I despised the defense attorneys for making something up to try and get Clyde acquitted. I wasn't fond of the underhanded tactics of the prosecution, either. The whole 'plant two strands of hair' probably wasn't even necessary. I could go on, but I'm over the whole thing.

Everyone was in the wrong, but Clyde was the worst. By a long shot. I think the book wanted me to feel bad for him, but I felt nothing but contempt for the nitwit. He literally planned out her murder, but then he spent so much of the book telling himself he was innocent. I wish the trial was the end, but then his religious mother showed up and extended the book by asking God to spare her son. Many prayers and pleas to God take up a lot of the final pages.

I don't normally hate everything about a book, but this is one of those times. At the end, the only real tragedy was how much time I wasted reading it. I skimmed a great deal of the end, because I wanted to make sure some sort of justice happened, otherwise I would have had a riot over here.

Blood on the Rising Sun - Adalia Marquez

Adalia is in Manila when the Japanese invaded during WWII. Her husband is a leader in the underground, but she's more worried about her family. When her husband is arrested and jailed in nearby Fort Santiago, she is determined to do whatever it takes to get him out.

Eventually, Tony escapes, but she spends a lot of time in the prison herself. At first, she's kept there as a hostage, hoping it will lure out Tony. Then, she's kept there just because. She sees a lot of hardship and tortured souls, but her children seem to protect her somewhat. The guards love the children, and it affords her a bit of freedom and a way to help the prisoners. The psychological strain eventually gets to her and has lasting effects.

Since so much of the book focused on Tony and how much she relied on him, I hoped to hear if she ever heard what happened to him. That was never resolved, and it was disappointing. Even just to have an epilogue mentioning that she never found out one way or the other. But she never comments on her life after the trip from the Philippines to America. And what happened to the Japanese guard who helped her and saved her life? Did she try to find out what happened to him? It just felt a bit incomplete at the end.

The Tower Treasure (The Hardy Boys #1) - Franklin W. Dixon/(Charles) Leslie McFarlane

I decided to read this because I wanted a break from my normal stuff, and I've never actually read a Hardy Boys book. We have a soft spot in our house for Nancy Drew, so I was interested to see what the "other side" was all about.

As a side note, I wanted to address the author. These books are written by numerous people (just like Carolyn Keene for Nancy Drew). I did a brief bit of research on this particular author, and he wasn't fond of writing these (per his son). He wrote them because he needed the money to feed his family during the Great Depression. I have to say, if this particular book was one of his "nuisance" attempts (even though it's technically before the Depression), I'd love to read something he wrote when he truly cared!

In this first adventure, Joe and Frank are trying to help a friend. A robbery at the Tower Mansion is pointing to the friend's father, and they're determined to help.

I was struck by the depth of feeling that I found in this book. The compassion the boys had for their friend, and the amount of times they addressed the matter was something I didn't expect. I enjoyed how they are just starting out, and they realize they're learning. They aren't automatically amazing and overlook things a seasoned detective would think of.

This was just a wholesome, old-fashioned, fun read. Sure, some of the language is a bit dated, but it was written in 1927. What do you expect? Even with that, I feel like it still held up well. I really did like this book and finished it in two sittings. It went into the public domain this year, so if you're interested, give the Hardy Boys a chance. This one's definitely a Good Book!

Violette: The Missions of SOE Agent Violette Szabó - Tania Szabó

Violette was in the SOE. She was good at what she did and took great risks doing it. This book is her daughter's tribute to a mother who gave everything to bring a better world to her daughter and everyone else.

I'm a bit torn on this book. In some ways, it was very interesting to read. In others, it was a bit unorganized and messy. Sometimes the author would switch point of view randomly or jump around in time. Also, it bothered me when she would speak in her mother's voice. Maybe she could get the gist of conversations from other people that were with her mother, but she would have no idea what her mother was thinking, especially in those last days.

For some reason, the pictures are after the bibliography. I almost missed them, because my Kindle basically informed me the book was over. Just an FYI. The book would have felt incomplete without at least a few pictures.

 

Overall, I'm going to leave this book in the middle ground. I didn't hate it, but it wasn't one of the better ones I'd read either. I think the switching around of POV really hurt it for me. I appreciate Tania wanting to honor her mother, and I believe she did. She connected with a lot of people who knew her mother, and I admire her for that. But it wasn't the easiest read.

Call Mr. Fortune - H.C. Bailey

This is a collection of six stories surrounding the detective skills of a doctor named Reggie Fortune. There's not much more to say. He solves mysteries.

I was reminded of Sherlock Holmes immediately. Reggie had knowledge no one else did, and he seemed to rub people the wrong way by keeping it to himself.

I feel like the majority of the stories were too short. The one that wasn't, the final one, was only explained because a random woman showed up. Another story, I completely missed what happened, but I didn't go back and figure it out. Reggie's character felt a little flat for me as well. All I learned about him was that he has a superior attitude, and he likes muffins. Other than that, he just kind of knows things.

This isn't a bad book, but I wouldn't label it as good either. It fell in that category for me where I was okay reading it, but it won't make a lasting impression on me. I really enjoyed the final story until Reggie wasn't the one to figure out anything regarding the motive. The first story was the most surprising. I wasn't expecting a doctor to let a man die. I won't go into detail, but he was very nonchalant about the entire thing. It was just a strange ride...

12, 20 & 5: A Doctor's Year in Vietnam - John A. Parrish

This book is the story of John Parrish's year in Vietnam. It's written in something of an unusual way in that the author occasionally veers off into dreams/nightmares and philosophizing without warning. His descent into seeing patients pragmatically was understandable but sad. The war pushed the author to a point where he didn't want to see patients that would take a long time, or a bad head wound would be pushed into a corner where they waited to die.

I want to mention briefly the "gritty" nature of the writing. I was surprised by the level of detail when it came to the sexual moments in the book. Usually, I can overlook a short mention of it, but this went on for pages at times. I'm something of a prude, so I wanted to mention it. Since the author is a doctor, I suspect he doesn't have the same qualms I do.

The book ends somewhat abruptly, and while you know he made it home, it would have been nice to know how he adjusted once he got back. Did he tell his wife what happened and what he went through? We don't really find out. In the acknowledgements, he gives her credit for her patience and tolerance, so she must have still been in his life.

Overall, I didn't really enjoy this one as much as some of the others. I found the repetition of certain topics (prostitution, sex, VD, etc.) was a bit much for me. I think if you're in the mood for a gritty account, and you're not a prude, you might enjoy this book more than I did.