This is a great series and I loved this installment as JT goes on a search for his own ancestry. There were secrets, historical detail, and of course suspense. I enjoyed being along for the ride.
Many thanks to Thomas & Mercer and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

A different Holocaust story

This is the story of three generations of a German family from the 1930s to present day. It is told as two stories in alternation chapters: Present day genealogy expert JT Tayte searching for his birth parents, and a German couple from the 1930s through the end of World War II. The middle generation is touched on in the prologue.

I found the story of the grandparents the more interesting throughout the book. It was better written and well-paced. It also showed a Nazi German who was humane, unlike the death squads that ran the concentration camps. The horrors of the Holocaust are also touched on in this book, as well as the development of the fictional sociopath Volker Strobel, nicknamed the Demon of Dachau.

In my opinion, the present day storyline lacked action and pacing until the middle of the book. It was more about the housekeeping that a genealogist goes through in tracking a family history. There are interesting descriptions about how family lines are traced in Germany today, and why is it such a nightmare. You basically have to know who your ancestors were and where they came from to trace your family history.

Overall, I’d recommend this book to readers interested in World War II in Germany and those interested in genealogy.

I wouldn't want him to do my genealogy chart because death follows him like Jessica Fletcher ..it was a interesting book that combines the past and present seemlessly.