This is the second book I've read by Sara Ackerman and I loved it just as much as the first. She combines history with friendship, family, love, and other messy human emotions to create beautiful informative stories that imprint themselves on your heart. Isabel, Matteo, Lu, and Joni are fascinating characters and how their lives intertwine is a stroke of storytelling genius. The book deserves all the stars.

This book has several timelines. Most of the time is spent in the 1940's and 1965. It is an enjoyable read. Isabel is a codebreaker. Her brother died in the attack on Pearl harbor. She hopes to learn more about his service. She is able to transfer to Hawaii which will help the process The 1965 timeline is in Hawaii also. It initially seems to be totally separate. Read the book and find the connection. I read an electronic copy for review purposes.

I have adored Sara Ackerman’s books over the years. She writes such interesting novels about WWII that are set in Hawaii. Her passion for the island and its history really shine under her pen plus there is always a little bit of romance to entertain readers. I really enjoyed reading all of her books and find that each has been between a 4 and 5 star rating for me.

When I saw this one was coming up, I made room on my review calendar for it. I hadn’t actually planned on reading it as soon as I did but I knew I would read it before the summer was out. I had an excerpt on my blog and once I read the excerpt I found that I simply needed to just read the rest of the book so I picked it up much earlier than I anticipated.

Ackerman’s book offer readers escapism and untold stories. If you love WWII novels but find the genre saturated with similar stories over and over again, Ackerman’s books are a fantastic option! This book itself offers a bit about female codebreakers during the war (a top topic in WWII era historical fiction) but in this book, the codebreaker isn’t in some London bunker trying to break German codes, she is on an exotic island trying to break Japanese codes while trying to grieve the loss of her brother.

Summary
A brilliant female codebreaker. An “unbreakable” Japanese naval code. A pilot on a top-secret mission that could change the course of WWII. The Codebreaker’s Secret is a dazzling story of love and intrigue set during America’s darkest hour.

1943. As war in the Pacific rages on, Isabel Cooper and her codebreaker colleagues huddle in “the dungeon” at Station HYPO in Pearl Harbor, deciphering secrets plucked from the airwaves in a race to bring down the enemy. Isabel has only one wish: to avenge her brother’s death. But she soon finds life has other plans when she meets his best friend, a hotshot pilot with secrets of his own.

1965. Fledgling journalist Lu Freitas comes home to Hawai’i to cover the grand opening of the glamorous Mauna Kea Beach Hotel, Rockefeller’s newest and grandest project. When a high-profile guest goes missing, Lu forms an unlikely alliance with an intimidating veteran photographer to unravel the mystery. The two make a shocking discovery that stirs up memories and uncovers an explosive secret from the war days. A secret that only a codebreaker can crack. (Summary from Goodreads)

Review
Admittedly this is the first book of Ackerman’s that I struggled with. It’s not that it wasn’t a good book it’s more that it just took it’s time getting there if that makes sense. It started out really strong, the first couple of chapters were well written and set readers up for an engrossing tale. But then somewhere around the 20% mark it started to lose steam for me. I had a hard time believing that Isabel wanted to go to Hawaii to basically retrace the footsteps of her deceased brother. On the surface it made sense but as we got into the story where she meets Mateo and retracing her brother’s favorite spots as a catalyst for their romance just felt weird and off to me. For me it just didn’t work and felt a little off. The first half of the book mostly covered Mateo and Isabel going to her brother’s favorite spots and Mateo documenting those spots and the whole time I was thinking “Why???? What’s the point of this???”. And Mateo’s devotion to all those spots and memories felt a little weird too. Can’t explain it but it just didn’t feel fitting some how.

I struggled with Lu’s parts of the book too. There seemed to be zero connection between Lu and Mateo later on in the book and I just really struggled to get into that part of the story. For some reason this whole book felt very mismatched and strung together but not in a good way. After the 50% mark things eventually picked up and got better (no spoilers!) but by that point I was already feeling disconnected and bored with some of the story. It took too long getting there and getting to the interesting parts for my taste. This was unexpected for me because Ackerman’s books have generally been really good. This book started out with her trademark love of Hawaii and it’s war time history. I loved that part and I loved the descriptions of the island and it’s rugged beauty. But the characters felt lacking for me.

While this book didn’t excite me as some of Ackerman’s other novels, I think it’s still worth a read. It’s not bad but for me, I felt like her other novels were stronger and I think this one could have been better than it was. Ackerman is still an author that I recommend a lot to readers looking for ‘off the beaten path’ WWII novels. She is a marvelous writer and I love how she writes and the stories she tells, but in this one I think it could have been better.

Book Info and Rating
Paperback, 384 pages

Published August 2nd 2022 by MIRA

ISBN 0778386457 (ISBN13: 9780778386452)

Free review copy provided by publisher, MIRA, in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and in no way influenced.

Rating: 3 stars

Genre: War romance, WWII, historical fiction

The Codebreaker’s Secret by Sara Ackerman

Dual timelines with strong intelligent young women in both eras, and two men that show up in both stories – one a good man and the other evil. How the two stories are linked, and murders solved while we learn of the romances, murders, wars, and more are the basis of this book. I found myself skimming quickly through the parts that were of less interest to me wanting to find out about the juicier parts I was more interested in and also found that though everything wrapped up nicely in the end, I was wishing that one couple had their happily ever after earlier and wishing that I felt more connected and invested in the two couples that were the romance portion of the story.

What I liked:
* Isabelle “Izzy” Cooper: codebreaker, cryptanalyst, in the US Navy, brilliant, strong, close to her older brother killed during the WWII Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, pivotal persona in both eras of the story
* Luana “Lu” Freitas: journalist, from Hawaii, probably dyslexic, misunderstood by her father, found a safe haven as a child with Auntie H, looking for a big story
* Matteo Russi: main characters in the 40’s and 60’s, Air Force pilot, photographer, journalist, war veteran, survivor, has PTSD, complex, and damaged by war
* Walt: Izzy’s brother, there for his sister, bigger than life, a good son, brother, man, pilot, and friend
* The setting of Hawaii – lovely place I visited when I was sixteen
* The idea for the story
* That the story has both WWII and the Vietnam War in the background of the book
* The spies, codebreaking, war elements
* The socializing and friend making that took place in both eras

What I didn’t like:
* Who and what I was meant not to like: spies, killers, difficulties war can create

Did I enjoy this book? For the most part
Would I read more by this author? It would depend on the topic, but probably

Thank you to Netgalley and Harlequin-Mira for the ARC – This is my honest review.

3-4 Stars

Often WWII historical novels take place in France or Germany. However, the European front was not the only location where battles were fought. Novels have also been written about the code breaking that took place at Bletchley Park. However, this is the first time that I have read a WWII novel that involves breaking Japanese ciphers.

In her latest book, Ms. Ackerman has readers enter into the stakes of the war immediately as they meet Isabel. Isabel is in DC where she strives to decode Japanese messages. She is a bright and somewhat quirky young woman. For example, when her brain is humming, she literally wants to hum as well. Isabel’s life has been influenced by deep loss. Readers will viscerally feel the tornado that leads to her first reasons to mourn. Isabel also has lost her brother in the war. She longs to be in Hawaii so that she can learn more about what happened to him.

It is not a spoiler to say that Isabel goes to Hawaii. After all, all of the author’s historical novels take place there. Readers will eagerly follow Isabel’s life there as Pearl Harbor events unfold. Especially intriguing is the male character who enters the story. He is a “hotshot” pilot, a friend of Isabel’s dead brother and a man with his own story. Will he and Isabel come together?

As is often the case in historical novels, there is a dual story and timeline. Lu’s story takes place in the 60s as a luxury Rockefeller hotel is about to open, again in Hawaii. A guest goes missing. Lu links up with her own male counterpart. How will their stories intersect with that of Isabel? Readers will most definitely want to know.

I very much enjoyed this novel. It contains both mystery and romance in each of the time periods. I recommend this one to those who read WWII fiction and are looking for something new.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for this title. All opinions are my own.

I flew through this book!! I was expecting a little more about Izzy’s time as a code breaker and a little less of 1965. However I really enjoyed the back and forth between the timelines and the connections towards the end. I assumed that Gloria has been murdered by her boyfriend and I liked how that played out, I could have just probably done without Joni’s murder.

But I would recommend this as a great historical fiction novel! As long as the reader understands that some details are mostly accurate and others are not.

I always appreciate Sara Ackerman's historical fiction. She has a way of transporting me to the past from the comfort of my armchair - her storytelling is that atmospheric. Everything I've read by her has been set in Hawaii around WWII, and while the story may be fiction, she certainly makes these characters feel real enough to leap off the page. In this case, it's a dual timeline, and Ackerman brings everything together wonderfully. I did enjoy the 1943 timeline better than the 1965 one, but only just. Both were interesting and the mystery was intriguing. We even get a bit of romance, and I always appreciate the strong women in Ackerman's stories. All in all, The Codebreaker's Secret is another well written, gripping story by Sara Ackerman, and I'll be interested to see what's next. If you enjoy historical fiction with a side of mystery and romance, then I'd definitely suggest this one.

Ackerman (The Lieutenant’s Nurse) expertly weaves dual narratives into her plotline as a Naval codebreaker is stationed in Hawaii during World War II and a journalist in 1965 returns to her home in Hawaii for a choice assignment.

Isabel Cooper’s work as a codebreaker for the Navy takes her to Hawaii two years after her brother died there during the attack on Pearl Harbor. Isabel hopes to learn more about her brother’s last days and to meet Lieutenant Matteo Russi, who sent her an emotional condolence letter. Their romance is short-lived, ending in heartbreak for Isabel until over 20 years later when they meet again.

Budding journalist Lu Freitas returns to Hawaii in 1965 to cover the opening of Rockefeller’s Mauna Kea Beach Hotel where she meets renown Life magazine photographer Matteo Russi. Once she realizes that both she and Matteo know Isabel, Lu brings Matteo to Isabel’s home on the island.

But the fanfare of the new hotel’s opening is marred by the disappearance of a singer who was staying at the hotel and the discovery of a decades-old skeleton by investigators searching for the singer. As Lu, Isabel and Matteo seek to connect the skeleton’s discovery with the missing singer, they unearth an unlikely connection between the two events.

Ackerman’s ability to move between the dual narratives is seamless, quickly drawing readers into the mysteries and love stories two decades apart in this riveting page-turner. Fans of historical fiction, especially those with multiple timelines, will be drawn to this story from the very first page.

In a windowless basement on Pear Harbkr naval base Isabel Cooper is a brilliant femL code breaker. Her brother Walt died during the Pearl Harbor attack and with the help of his best friend- Matteo, she sees the Island through her brothers eyes. It’s the 60’s and Vietnam is underway, back in Hawaii Lu and Matteo are invited as journalists to report on Rockefeller new hotel. During the stay Joni Diaz an American singer goes missing and Lu and Matteo follow the story- soon connecting WWII and their present day. I loved the mystery of the story and the bits of romance were well placed without being over bearing or taking away from the historical fiction storyline.

I always love a different take on WWII historical fiction and @saraackermanbooks new novel has a interesting twist! The Codebreaker’s Secret is told with a dual POV, between Isabel in 1943 and Luana in 1965.

Isabel works as an analyst in Washington, DC who asks for a transfer to the Station Hypo in Hawaii. She wants to see the place where her brother was killed and meet his friends. But she also wants revenge on the people who killed her brother. She meets her brother’s good friend, Mateo Russi and they get close as their friendship grows.

Luana is working on a big story in at the Mauna Key Beach Resort. It’s her first big opening and she meets Mateo Russi, who is working as a photographer also covering the opening. When a big name guest goes missing, Lu and Mateo work together to get to the bottom of the mystery.

It’s clear that the author loves Hawaii and her attention to detail and her research really shine in this novel. I love dual timeline, and especially when the stories are written evenly where you don’t race through one side of the story to get to the other. I was particularly drawn to Izzy’s story as she was one of few females who took on this role and she was excellent at it!

This WWII historical fiction is a dual timeline story told from alternating perspectives. One storyline is in 1943 on Oahu and follows a woman named Isabel who is working in a place called the dungeon breaking Japanese code. The other timeline is about a young woman named Luana “Lu” who grew up on the big island and comes back in 1965 when the new hotel is being opened there. She is a journalist and she is writing a story about it. I loved both timelines so much, the way the author seemlessly moved through both worked beautifully. Reading WWII fiction is my favorite and some of the things in this book were based on real events. Just like in her book that I read last year, I loved the strong female characters, the subtle romance, and the setting of Hawaii. Ever since traveling there in 2016 and falling in love reading about it brings me right back there again. Sara Ackerman beautifully describes the landscape that feels like you’re in a dream. One minute you’re on a tropical beach, and the next you’re in the mountains. It truly is a one of kind place. Sara Ackerman is quickly becoming one of my favorite WWII authors. This book started out a bit slow, but once it picked up I could not put it down. Fans of Kristin Hannah and Kristin Harmel will really enjoy her books. Thank you to Netgalley and Mira for the e-galley in exchange for an honest review!

Great book! Engaging, once I got into it, I couldn't put it down. It seems like there are two different stories between wartime Hawaii and the wartime 60's, but of course the stories are interwoven. A little bit of mystery, a great love story, throw in some suspense and murders this is a great book and I would read it again. I also love all the details and language from Hawaii as well as the strong female characters. I look forward to reading other books by this author.

This book is simply fantastic, and if you’re new to Sara Ackerman’s novels, it’s a great place to dive into her stories centered in Hawaii during the outbreak of Pearl Harbor and WWII. Ackerman creates lush atmospheric novels, full of the perils of war and the bravery of women who stepped in to fill roles typically reserved for men. She also infuses her writing with the essence of Hawaii, from its lush foliage to native population to mythology. Ackerman also weaves both adventure and romance to her compelling historical fiction.

Here two powerful story lines converge. In 1943 Isabel, a brilliant codebreaker who proves herself in D.C., gets assigned as the first woman to join a male-filled underground bunker in Pearl Harbor where she and her colleagues work to find cracks in a mostly undecipherable Japanese naval code. Isabel sought out the Hawaii posting as she’s mourning the loss of her only brother who piloted one of the few planes able to get off the ground in the Pearl Harbor attack and got struck down by the enemy. She connects with ladies’ man Walt, her brother’s best military friend in Hawaii, and sparks fly while secrets brew between them.

Fast forward to 1965, and Lu, an L.A. journalist but former Hawaii native, is sent on a last-minute assignment to cover the opening of a luxury hotel. She immediately befriends a young singer celebrity, there among the glitterati for the hotel’s star-studded opening weekend. Lu also meets Mateo, a legendary magazine photographer, who underneath his gruff exterior holds deep secrets connected to WWII and his military service. Lu and Mateo join together to investigate a missing person and possible murder among the guests.

These two stories wonderfully converge to illuminate the how the entwined lives of the WWII soldiers still resonate two decades later.

And the ending is SO GREAT!!

Love this? Run out to read Radar Girls and Red Sky over Hawaii by Ackerman next!

It was while drafting her second published novel, The Lieuteant's Nurse, that author Sara Ackerman, a native of Hawai'i, found inspiration for The Codebreaker's Secret. One character in that book was a linguist and through her research, Ackerman learned about the Dungeon, also known as Station Hypo, situated at Pearl Harbor, Hawai'i. There, as well as at other secure locations including Washington, D.C. and the Philippines, secret messages were decrypted which proved instrumental to the Allies' World War II victory. Work performed in the Dungeon -- so nicknamed because it was located underground -- contributed to success in the battle of Midway. Ackerman learned that it was primarily women -- more than ten thousand of them -- who cracked German and Japanese ciphers and codes, although none of them were assigned to the Dungeon so far as Ackerman was able to discern. She describes those women as America's "secret superpower, and they did everything from breaking major codes to translating messages to traffic analysis."

Ackerman conducted extensive research to learn about codebreaking -- an extremely technical, complicated, and often laborious and frustrating effort, as depicted in Ackerman's story, that often required years of work by teams. "Trying to understand the codes and how one would even go about breaking them was really mind-boggling," Ackerman admits. During the war, the codes and ciphers employed were sophisticated, which demonstrates how bright the women enlisted to break them had to be. Sadly, Ackerman was unable to locate any living codebreakers to interview about the process. But she discovered that it is a tedious process that involves a search for patterns and commonly used characters. Codes replace original messages with arbitrary symbols (numbers or letters). The code is usually memorialized in a codebook. "For example, code for Sara could be 7272, or as in the famous Japanese Wind codes during the war, East Wind Rain, broadcasted over the radio meant that war was imminent with the U.S." But ciphers alter original messages using algorithms (a series of instructions contained within a key). "For example, it could be to shift each letter by four. So A would be D, M would be O." In Hawai'i, codebreakers worked on a Japanese cipher machine called Purple (dubbed Magenta in The Codebreaker's Secret), as well as the Japanee naval code, JN-25, which figures in the story. Because they employed over thirty thousand five-numeral groups, along with additives (ciphers containing false arithmetic), the Japanese believed the code could not be cracked. But by doing just that, the U.S. defeated Japan. "Countless women had a hand in this," Ackerman relates. She describes the Allies' success as a collaboration of "brilliant minds," noting it is said that war in the Pacific Theater "was won in the Dungeon."

Isabel Cooper, Ackerman's protagonist in The Codebreaker's Secret, is her fictional compilation of the intelligent and dedicated women who, Ackerman laments, "were barely recognized for all of their contributions. That’s the thing about top secret work -- no one knows that you’re doing it, but often times, it’s the most important work of all." The story opens in September 1942. Isabel is a cryptanalyst stationed in Washington, D.C. and having trouble concentrating on her work on what would have been her brother's twenty-fifth birthday. Isabel wants nothing more desperately than to be transferred to Station Hypo at Pearl Harbor so that she can see the place where Walt's plane plunged into the Pacific Ocean on December 7, 1941. "Walt was out there somewhere, in the vast blue Pacific. He was part of the ocean now." She also wants to meet his buddies and hear the story from them. "I feel like I'll never be settled, never be able to move on, until I get over there and see for myself," she tells her friend and colleague, Nora. Walt loved Isabel more than anyone else and the two of them were extremely close. It was Walt who helped her navigate their mother's death, their father's subsequent "unraveling," and the lean years during which they struggled to survive and endured pounding dust storms on their Indiana farm before Isabel was fortunate enough to study math and physics at Goucher College. But her primary motivation for becoming a cryptanalyst was her desire for retribution for those responsible for the death of her big brother and dearest friend. She knows that her chances of being sent to Hawai'i are slim, but as the months wear on, Isabel's work results in much-needed progress toward deciphering critical codes. Surprisingly, her work is acknowledged and rewarded with the chance to work within the Combat Intelligence Unit at Station Hypo.

But Isabel was diagnosed with a phobia -- irrational fear or something real or perceived -- so after she arrives in Honolulu and meets her new roommate, Gloria, she has to talk herself into navigating the stairs down to the claustrophobic, smoke-filled Dungeon. "She debated turning around at least eleven more times, but in the end, the pull of the Dungeon was stronger than her fear," and the next chapter of her challenging career begins. She meets her male coworkers -- linguists (who translate decoded messages), combat intelligence specialists, traffic analysts (who crack extraneous portions of messages such as origination points and recipients), and her fellow "crippies." They are a decidedly eclectic group and the ensuing days are difficult. Each day she has to convince herself that she can traverse the stairs and walk through the steel door to her desk, endure hours in a room lacking natural light or ventilation and filled with her colleagues' cigarette smoke, and immerse herself in the JN-24 code and frequently changing additive books. During her scarce free time, she studies Japanese in order to enhance her effectiveness.

On her first Sunday off, Isabel and Glora set out in search of Second Lieutenant Matteo Russi, Walt's best friend and fellow pilot, who wrote to Isabel after Walt's death. Walt told Isabel all about the P-40 pursuit pilot who flew higher and faster than any of the other pilots, hated having his picture taken, and wore a dog tag bearing his dog's name during every flight. (Ackerma works at least one animal or reference to an animal into every one of her novels.) Russi is surprised to meet Isabel on O'ahu, but already knows a great deal about her because Walt talked to him about his sister all the time. The two decide that Russi will show Isabel all the beautiful places he went with Walt, who instantly fell in love with Hawai'i and planned to be a coffee farmer there after the war.

Russi is a handsome, charming, amateur photographer who only wants his camera focused on his subjects instead of himself who is resolved to not surviving the war. He has a reputation as a ladies' man, but Isabel has no consternation about spending time with him because she has never been in love and is not interested in romance. She wants only to succeed as a cryptanalyst to contribute to a U.S. victory, thereby avenging Walt's death, and hear all about Walt's experiences and death. But tragedy strikes when Gloria embarks on a date with her boyfriend, Dickie, from which she never returns. She is presumed drowned and her body is not recovered. Isabel, who has struggled in her new assignment and is threatened with transfer back to the mainland if she fails to produce results soon, is devastated. "Hadn't she already reached her quota of loss for a lifetime?" She is also highly suspicious about the circumstances leading up to and surrounding Gloria's death, but lacks solid evidence to provide the police. Her feelings for Russi become more complicated with each passing day and she is sure that he is attracted to her, as well. Russi is not sure what Isabel's role in the war effort is, but suspects that she is in possession of more information about the top-secret mission he has been called to undertake than she is permitted to share. Right before he leaves, he finally reveals the secret he has been keeping from Isabel, warning her to do herself a favor "and forget about me."

A parallel narrative opens in July 1965 on the Big Island of Hawai'i. Luana Freitas is coming home in her capacity as a journalist embarking on her first big assignment for Sunset magazine. She will cover the gala opening of the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel. Ackerman wanted to write about the opening of the hotel, an event her grandparents attended, for some time before she landed on the idea for a mystery set there. Laurance Rockefeller (1910 - 2004) was a visionary dedicated to wilderness preservation and protection, and so committed to ecology that he was named America's leading conservationist by Lady Bird Johnson. He built the hotel in an area that was considered a "wasteland," according to Ackerman, where no one believed it possible to situate a resort. The golf course was built first, and Rockefeller enlisted nine different architectural firms to complete the hotel's design. Hawai'ians were not happy about the hotel being erected, but Rockefeller also helped build the road, and hired a lot of women and, primarily, local residents to staff the first hotel built on the island and win over naysayers.

Lu arrives at the hotel hoping that her family will make the journey from Kona to visit with her there. Her father, who refused to help finance her college education, is too proud to admit that he was wrong to protest Lu's move to the mainland to launch her career. Lu grew up on a macadamia nut farm managed by her father, while his girlfriend, Donna, who moved in with them after the sudden death of Lu's mother, picked the nuts and cooked for the crew. But Lu struggled in school, and neither her father nor Donna was equipped to help her with her lessons. Her beloved Auntie H, a neighbor, intervened and tutored Lu. Now Lu is interacting with the dignitaries, politicians, and celebrities, including singer Joni Diaz, invited to the multi-day opening festivities. In the meantime, "fascinated by people and their motivations," she searches for an angle for the stories she will write for the magazine that is more provocative than a description of the resort's decor and scenery. She is quickly outgrowing her first job in journalism. "There were only so many backyard barbecues and wine tastings she could attend."

Lu is intimidated to learn that among the guests personally invited by Rockefeller is Matteo Russi. "Legend. Icon. He had been working for Life magazine almost as long as she's been alive. Maybe longer." He has recently left Life to do freelance work and their introduction is less than pleasant, which leaves Lu dismayed because she has wanted to meet him for as long as she can remember. He is still strikingly handsome, but gruff, prickly and stand-offish. Their paths continue crossing, however, and he begins calling her "kid" and giving her advice. Lu catches glimpses into Russi's past, which includes serving in the Army Air Corps during World War II and a mysteriously strong aversion to swimming in the ocean, but he divulges only vague snippets about himself. Even so, "it was plain to see that beneath the tough-guy facade lived a fear as wide a the ocean."

One morning, Joni fails to meet Lu for their morning swim and a desperate search for her is commenced. Russi and Lu join forces to investigate her disappearance and, hopefully, find her alive. With Lu's knowledge of the island and Russi's experience as a photojournalist, they make a formidable team and get to know each other better as they work to solve an increasingly disturbing mystery. As they unravel the truth about Joni's fate, startling discoveries move Russi closer to his admitted "unfinished business" and the regrets about his actions and choices with which he has been burdened for more than twenty years. Perhaps on the beautiful island of Hawai'i, he will find the answers he has sought and the peace for which he longs, as Lu establishes herself in the career for which she has prepared and reunites with her family, including the woman who made such a difference in her life, Auntie H.

Ackerman weaves the dual storylines, told via alternating chapters, into a cohesive, compelling story about survival, bravery, the lingering effects of war and grief, and second chances. Readers would never guess that Ackerman considers The Codebreaker's Secret the book she found most difficult to pen to date becaue of its dual timelines. She shares that she wrote the entire 1943 storyline first, then compiled the story set in 1965 and, finally, wove the two together, making revisions as needed in order to meld them. The two stories advance and merge seamlessly, and the mysteries she incorporates are both engrossing and cleverly imagined.

Ackerman's characters are fully developed and sympathetic. Isabel has sustained great losses in her life and is determined that the most painful, Walt's tragic death, will not be in vain. She is focused, extremely bright and capable, and resilient, as evidenced by the scene in which she has to force herself to enter the Dungeon in order to carry on her work as a cryptanalyst in the very location to which she wanted so badly to be transferred. She quickly develops a genuine affection for and deep friendship with Gloria, and feels herself pulled to Russi, at first because he is her only remaining connection to Walt. But as they get to know each other, she recognizes in him characteristics that she finds irresistible. He claims to have an inexplicable death pact with God, and it is not until he is about to undertake a dangerous and secretive mission that Isabel finally understands what motivates him: honor, grief, and misplaced guilt. Lu is, as Isabel was two decades earlier, young, determined, and ambitious. She wanted to create a life for herself beyond the confines of Hawai'i, even though she loves her home and its people. The Russi she encounters has changed over the years because of his varied experiences in the military and as a photojournalist, but some aspects of his personality have not changed at all. He still has an inate integrity and curiosity, which has served him well in his profession, but Lu recognizes that he is haunted by personal demons. Because of her immense respect and growing affection for him she wants very much to help him. What she does not realize at the beginning of the story is that by helping Russi and working with him to resolve the mystery surrounding Joni's disappearance, she will also discover her own path to a fulfilling future because "sometimes we have to leave a place before we understand how much it means to us."

In The Codebreaker's Secret, as with her other novels, Ackerman pays homage to her beautiful home, following the old adage that writers should write what they know. She employs her knowledge of the islands' history and geography to craft evocative prose, transporting readers to both O'ahu and Hawai'i. Russi takes Isabel up steep, narrow roads to O'ahu's Pali lookout, and they visit Goat Island. Ackerman is familiar with the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel and the area surrounding it, and her descriptions of the resort and its beaches are luscious and affectionately crafted. Readers who have never visited the Hawai'ian islands will understand why Ackerman's characters fall in love with the fiftieth state and, like Walt, want to remain there.

Hawai'i is more than beautiful. It also has a rich history related to World War II, and not solely because it was the site of the attack that pulled the U.S. into World War II. Ackerman says she enjoys shining a light on little-known stories about the islands and their people, and seeks to write uplifting tales about love. Her stories often incorporate heartbreak, and The Codebreaker's Secret is no exception, but her goal is to "bring inspiring stories to life."

As to the smart, courageous, and devoted women codebreakers who played a vital role in the Allies' victory, Ackerman says, "I hope I have done them justice." She decidedly has. With her latest dazzling work of historical fiction, she has immortalized those women by bringing their never-before-told story to a new, deeply grateful audience.

Thank you to the publisher, MIRA and NetGalley, for providing me with an ARC of The Codebreaker’s Secret in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

The Gist
It is again written in the perspective of two women living in two different time periods but are still connected.

The Details
We have two female protagonists.
Isabel Cooper works as a codebreaker at Station HYPO in Pearl Harbor, in 1943 and in her free time she retraces the last days of her brother who was killed during the attack on Pearl Harbour by Japanese flight fighters.

And then we are brought to 1965 and meet the young journalist Lu Freitas. She is sent to her home island Hawai’i to report about the grand opening of Rockefeller’s glamorous Mauna Kea Beach Hotel.

Both women are soft, likable and a bit plain.

They are, no doubt, intelligent and highly talented.

Unfortunately, the author could not bring the powerful facetes of their characters to full life.
I found myself looking for a deeper connection with them, but was disappointed, because there was nothing more to find.

The writing was equally soft. It had a nice flow, was easy to follow, but about half through the book, I had to push through some boring sections.

It was idling in the middle of the story and I was debating if I should continue or not. At the end I was glad that I didn’t give up, because the story picks up in tempo and entertainment.

Yes, it is a historical fiction, but also a mystery. That is the charm of this story.
We are faced with a similar destiny of both women, they are connected without knowing, and even closer than they imagine.

There is a nice twist, and a reminder that life has a mind on its own more often than we think.

The Verdict
Overall, this story is a pleasant read.You will not be faced with cruel descriptions.
As an historical fiction I would describe it as safe; as a mystery as subtle.It is a novel you can pick up, enjoy and read before bedtime.

I recommend this book to everybody who is looking for a bit more than historical fiction, loves soft romance and is still not bored by the historical elements.

This is one of my fav genres of historical fiction and I love how I always learn something new reading Sara’s books. The Hawaiian setting is tropical and atmospheric while also underscoring the important war work that went on there and the everyday men and women who made big and small differences.

In this book we get to know more about Isabel, a smart, socially anxious young codebreaker who’s grieving her dead brother and falls for his best friend while he shows her around the island.

Highly recommended for fans of The Rose code by @katequinn5975 or the movie Pearl Harbor. My favourite part of the book was the surfing lesson scene (so swoony!).

Much thanks to Netgalley and Mira Books for an early digital copy.

From the history of WWII and of Hawaii, The Codebreaker’s Secret by Sara Ackerman builds a two timeline story - one in the 1940s and one in the 1960s. In both timelines, there is a disappearance and a mystery. The connections between the two timelines and the mysteries become clear to me much before the reveal in the book happens. However, the discovery by the characters is part of the story. This is the third Sara Ackerman book I have read. I look forward to seeing what comes next.

Read my complete review at http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2022/08/the-codebreakers-secret.html

Reviewed for NetGalley and the HTP Summer 2022 historical fiction blog tour.

I’m happy to take part today in the summer Historical Fiction Blog Tour for The Codebreaker’s Secret by Sara Ackerman. This was a compelling and suspenseful read, focusing on WWII codebreakers in Hawaii and a woman who goes missing twenty years later. Well-paced and well-written, the strings of the different plot lines all joined together in the end.
Thanks for my copy and for having me as part of the tour!

If you enjoy this genre, don’t miss this one!

Thank you to the publisher, Harlequin Trade Publishing, Harper Collins Canada and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

In 1943, codebreaker Isabel Cooper is assigned to Pearl Harbor to join the team of cryptanalysts there. But she also has another reason for wanting to be in Hawaii – it is where her brother’s plane was shot down and she is hoping to find his best friend in order to learn more about his last days. Meanwhile in 1965, journalist Lu Freitas, comes home to Hawaii on an assignment to cover the opening of a luxury hotel. When a famous guest goes missing, Lu teams up with a renowned photographer to get to the bottom of things. Their search leads them in an unexpected direction following a shocking discovery though, and the key to the mystery may lie in a long held secret from the war days.

Having read Radar Girls last year, I was eager to read another book about the Pearl Harbor codebreakers. Dual timeline stories are my favorite narrative style for historical fiction because it’s so much fun to watch two stories unfold in parallel and search for the link between them. As I expected, the WWII timeline was much more interesting, with the descriptions of code breaking and deciphering cryptic messages that led to major victories for the Allies. The beautiful backdrop of Hawaii was so well written that at times, it was easy to forget that this was a WWII novel and just enjoy the vivid descriptions. The 1960s timeline on the other hand, took much more time to develop and for the most part, I was eager to get back to the other arc until the stories crossed paths and the link started to become clear. However, I found it cool that it was centered around the opening of the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel which was a real event and the author wrote about it based on her own experiences

The characters were all likeable and I enjoyed their arcs. Isabel’s friendship with Gloria in particular was so well written and I found that I could really connect to all the characters despite only Isabel and Lu having POVs.

The mystery aspect of the story however, was rather weak. It took far too long for the connection between the two timelines to become clear, and once it did, things wrapped up much too quickly. The pacing was also very slow and barely anything significant happened for the first half of the book, so I ended up skimming through a lot.

The rushed ending made it feel a little unrealistic, but on the whole, things were wrapped up pretty neatly and it was a fun, adventurous read. I would recommend this book for fans of historical fiction and dual timeline narratives, and mystery fans too!

A bit of mystery, a bit of history, and a bit of angst/romance, overall a well-blended combination. I enjoyed reading about codebreaking from a different perspective, although I would have loved to have seen more of that in the story. The dual timeline was well done and easy to follow, creating a very good story with plenty of plot twists. Quite an engaging read.

My thanks to Harlequin Trade Publishing/MIRA, the author, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.