I do love secret histories, and David Mack's THE MIDNIGHT FRONT does a great job of kicking off a new series (Dark Arts) that blends fantasy and World War fiction. I'd put it in the same sub-genre as Ian Tregillis's excellent Milkweed Triptych - if you enjoyed that, then I think you'll find a lot to like here, too.

I'm really looking forward to reading the next two books in the series. Definitely recommended.

WWII, magic, intrigue. Yep, all there. Excellent writing, complex and nuanced plot and characters. Highly recommend for a good involved read.

I think that this book has it's audience. As a fantasy lover I can see why people would love the mix of magic and reality because it is what I gravitate towards. With that being said, there still was something missing from making it a book that I really enjoyed. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it, but it is a book that I will easily forget and is a great book if you're looking for some magic, adventure, and intrigue and want to be invested in a story!

The plot, and story, of The Midnight Front is wonderful. It’s full of magic and intrigue, twists and turns, heartbreak and triumph. And though I’m not sure if it qualifies as historical fiction (I’m really bad at deciding genres) it’s generously peppered with historical events from the WW2 timeline. Those of you who are old enough to be taught WW2 in high school will go, “Oh, I remember learning about that!”

The magic system is another thing I really liked in this book. It took a little bit to grasp the ins and outs of it. All the terms and methods and equipment used were all new to me, so it was a little like learning a new language. Cumbersome at first, but comfortable and familiar soon enough.

Where this book fell short for me was the characters.

I had a hard time connecting with some of them. And I don’t just mean supporting characters, I’m talking main characters. There wasn’t enough substance to them. Not enough reasons to care about them and what they’re trying to accomplish. They didn’t feel human, to me. They were people that showed up, did some things, and then went away.

The most frustrating part of this was that there was this great history between the main villain and one of the main heroes. I know this because it’s referenced several times, but we never get a glimpse into this history. It was like someone telling you, “The most interesting thing happened to me today,” and then moving on to talk about the weather.

Actually, some of the supporting characters I found to be more interesting than the main, because I could connect with them more. I knew things about them. I saw their emotion, their wants, their needs. I knew what their motivations were and when they had they heart broken, I felt for them. When characters I wasn’t connected to had a heart-breaking moment, I felt nothing.

This book is definitely for fans of the arcane and supernatural, especially if you also dig a bit of world history in your fiction. David Mack managed to bring a healthy mixture of fantasy and somewhat modern day without it feeling too heavy handed in either.

The Midnight Front is the first installment in author David Mack's Dark Arts series. Like the series name, this story is very dark. It takes place during World War II (1939 thru 1945) when the entire world was at war or holding its breath to see who would be victorious. The story encapsulates the Nazi death camps, the Allied landing at Normandy, the German invasion of Russia, the Allied bombing of Dresden, as well as the American bombings of Japan. But, it also includes a war within a war that might change the course of the world.

The story actually has a slew of narrators from both sides of the conflict. The good guys are Cade, Stefan, Anja, Niko, and Adair Macrae. The bad guys are Segmar, Briet, and Kein Engar who pretty much control not only Hitler, but the Third Reich as well. While the synopsis mostly focuses on Cade's side of the story due to the fact that he is the only American among the group of heroes and villains, don't look away from the other characters. Each of them bring valuable back stories with them. Each of them are from different countries, different backgrounds, and have different reasons for partaking in a war that could end the worlds dependency on science.

Each of them is also at the highest level called Karcist, which mean they can summon and hold upwards of 11 demon servants at a time. This really is a character driven story without the necessity of any world building. The author puts you in the heads of Stefan, who fights his way through Poland looking for his lost lover and a valuable Codex, to Niko's quest in France to not only find his sister, but to destroy covens filled with dabblers that answer to the enemy, to Anya's heroic fight against the German army in her native Russia even though they don't like her kind all that much.

Cade is understandably the main character because of who he is and what he is capable of being. From the first moment we meet Cade, there is something that just rings bells that you better pay attention or you will miss something the author has thrown in. Cade's journey is filled with just as many ups as there is downs. From the horror of losing his parents, to training harder than you can imagine, to learning how to summon and control demonic servants, to fighting across Europe in order to help defeat the villainous mastermind Kein and his accolades who are just as dangerous as he is.

I respect that the author made no attempt at covering up the horribly, inhumane, and disgusting things that were revealed that took place during Germany's reign of terror. I respect that the author uses characters who are, in their own right, unique and just as terrified of being caught and sent to concentration camps where they'll likely not be heard from again. I respect that the author made zero attempts at saving the reader from heart break by reading the loss of a character you may come to respect. This is war. Nobody, and I mean nobody comes home unscathed.

After an ending that left all sorts of questions as to what is going to happen next, I do look forward to seeing where Mack takes Cade and his characters.