Auslander [Paperback]

Lewis Kelley (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 7, 2006

It is 1944 and war rages throughout the world.
After a harrowing voyage across the Atlantic in which he battles both doubting countrymen and the vaunted German Luftwaffe, Army lieutenant Vince LaSalle reaches England. Reunited with his unit, the combat veteran settles into moving supplies until he is assigned a top-secret delivery. In London, Vince meets Jan Holling, an adjutant to the code breakers, and the first of the international cast with which he becomes inexorably connected. Through her he is introduced to a side of war that rivals combat in its sheer brutality.
Recruited for a special mission, he is rejected because of the color of his skin and then asked to do the impossible when his team is captured in France and then shipped to the heart of the enemy camp—Berlin, where they face torture and ultimately execution. His mission: rescue Jan and the other captured agents or insure what secrets they hold in their minds cannot be revealed.
Vince drops into Poland where he links up with the resistance and begins the deadly journey toward Berlin. When they connect with Charles Petrie, the mysterious Brit who recruited Vince, the black soldiers find themselves involved in deception so twisted that they begin to doubt the very people they are attempting to help. When Vince reaches Berlin the Germans are waiting, but he has unexpected allies. With their help he will attempt the impossible. Incredibly, he has made it into the city but will he and the others make it out alive…

Auslander was written to educate, entertain and to bear witness to what is often termed “African-American history” but what is truly and simply American history. The characters live their convictions despite extreme circumstances and ultimately display the common thread of the human struggle.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Lewis Kelley is a veteran of the United States Army and current Denver Firefighter. A former collegiate football player and track athlete, he is also a long time coach. He lives in Denver Colorado with his wife and three children.

Product Details

• Paperback: 399 pages
• Publisher: Musterion (March 7, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1933204133
• ISBN-13: 978-1933204130
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,626,095 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "A riveting, descriptive, exciting read!", April 10, 2006

By 

Books2Mention Magazine "Editor" (Atlanta, Georgia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Auslander (Paperback)

"The riveting novel Auslander by Lewis Kelley is an action packed read that will have you hanging on every word. This new author has created a story that actually delves into the politics of soldiers in wartime during 1944."

"Army Lieutenant Vince LaSalle is thrust into a war that takes him across the Atlantic, battling with the enemy as well as being subjected to rejection from his country, due to the color of his skin. After proving how unmatched his skills are Vince LaSalle is recruited for a special mission. Which requires him to rescue the captured members of his team. Who are being held at an enemy camp located in Berlin. He is given explicit orders to rescue these captured agents or to insure that the secrets they hold are kept confidential by all means."

"It is discovered that there is someone or perhaps a group of people divulging confidential information that could jeopardize the success of this rescue mission."

"Vierna is the fiance of Vince, who decides to become a major part in ensuring the safe return of the love of her life, along with the help of Vince's brother and estranged girlfriend. Together united with a host of allies they set out to help complete this potentially deadly mission."

"The author portrays a very descriptive tale in such a manner that the reader will be able to envision the heroic acts by Army Lieutenant Vince LaSalle and others and also the grotesque brutality that is administered by the hands of the enemy."

"This is an exciting novel that will stir up various emotions. From the appreciation of the great love that is shared between Vince and Vierna, to the realization of how brutal war is and highlights the torture that soldiers encounter and endure for the safety of our country."

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Auslander, February 9, 2007

By 

The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers (RAWSISTAZ.com and BlackBookReviews.net) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Auslander (Paperback)

AUSLANDER is the story of the struggles and triumphs of a black man during World War II. The main character is Army First Lietenant Vince LaSalle who is an over-achieving and honorable soldier. Although the story is fiction, the social situations make for an excellent historical analysis of the struggles and triumphs of black soldiers participating in a war on a Jim Crow basis. The author excellently explores the complexities of race relations among soldiers in the armed forces during the war. The struggles of black soldiers trying to maintain sanity, while having to deal with racism among other soldiers, superiors and civilians is cleverly interwoven in the fabric of the story.

AUSLANDER begins with LaSalle and his fiancée Vierna Lillis spending their final day together in Harlem before he is to go to Europe to join his troops in fighting the war. Almost immediately on the ship traveling toward Europe, LaSalle encounters white soldiers who underestimate his intelligence and integrity. This sets the scene for the same theme to be played throughout the book. Once in Europe, LaSalle briefly joins his troop, only to be quickly recruited by a top-secret military group.

After proving himself more than capable of being part of the special operations team, he was not allowed to join because he is black. After his departure from the group, they are taken captive by the enemy and sent to Germany to be questioned and possibly executed. The trainer of the special agent group realizes the only soldier potentially capable of rescuing the group was LaSalle and he recruits him for a special mission to rescue the agents. While on his mission, he uses all his talents and military expertise to try and rescue the agents, but encounters, racism, betrayal, deceit and deception.

Author Lewis Kelly adds depth to the story by following the Vierna's life. While LaSalle is away at war, she faces her own set of obstacles. From almost being raped by a ghetto drunk, to struggling to focus on her classes at college and dealing with her man being away at war, her story is another within AUSLANDER. In the end, her love for LaSalle will take her across seas to try and save his life.

One of the most important features of AUSLANDER is Kelley's ability to get you to like LaSalle. This is extremely beneficial for the author and reader, because the book is nearly 400 pages long. While reading the book, you want LaSalle to succeed at his mission. This helps you to overlook some of the almost impossible achievements LaSalle makes. I recommend this book for all readers. It is more than just the story of a black soldier's heroism; it is a love story filled with action and adventure.

Reviewed by Granderson Glenn II
for RAWSISTAZ(BMR)

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If you want to be entertained, understand racial struggle and why Black people love themselves read this book!, December 7, 2006

By 

Critical Reader (Atlanta, GA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Auslander (Paperback)

Lewis Kelley has written a book that is historical fiction at its best and that deserves better editing by his publisher. You feel like the story could be happening today, but you gain insight into the times that both reveal and shape the righteous character of Black people in this book, even though the characters are living in a time of war. Vince LaSalle is heroic in his intellectual and physical strength and I like that the author brings authentic historical knowledge to Vince's exploits. Too many times the stories of Black soldiers who played significant roles in winning battles and wars have been written out of our mainstream history books. It's refreshing to read an author who knows that history but who can weave such an engrossing fictional tale. I'm also grateful that Vince and Vierna represent more of the type of Black person that I know on an everyday basis rather than the "Black types" that are much more commonly presented in stereotypical media images and stories today and historically.

Vince and Vierna are such a "power couple" (and what restraint they have!). Thank goodness we have a book that isn't ashamed to demonstrate how deeply Black people love and rely on one another. At the same time, Kelley does a great job of presenting how much European people do accept people "on the content of their character" and are befuddled by U.S. racism toward their own.

I like the play on words of "Auslander" meaning "foreigner" and Vince being a literal foreigner when he's overseas and that he's CONSIDERED a foreigner in his own country.

The last page is such a cliffhanger. A second book has GOT to come out soon. Plus, I want to know more of the story about Vince's brother. He and his platoon (?) have accomplished some amazing things. What's it going to be like for him after the war and back in the States?

This book is a great accomplishment because it successfully merges so many complex themes: social commentary that reveals rather than preaches, romance, characters who grow and evolve, riveting action (it "sizzles" and is also a thriller), and an unstoppable hero who will get "down and dirty" so that the team will survive. What Vince does, in what I hope will be the first in several books with him in them, is a great metaphor for what Black people have meant to this country and the world: he rises above ugly circumstance and takes everyone he touches with him. More power to Lewis Kelley for writing this book.

You should read it for the enjoyment of it, and because it will give you hope and understanding of the best in human beings, and particularly Black people. Don't get me wrong though this is an "everybody wins" book : whether you're Black, White, Asian, Indian or Latino in origin you're going to learn something good about Black people when you read this book and every little bit we can learn about ANY people will help us all move forward as a society and world community.

I think it's the kind of literature we need in the world today. We either move forward in understanding or we're going to tear each other apart. Good books help build understanding and then people have a better sense of how to work together. That's the kind of book Lewis Kelley wrote, and I'm glad to recommend it highly. I tell everyone I know that they should read it.