Customer Reviews

Danzig Passage (Zion Covenant, Book 5)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

By chance I picked up this book from the local library. I have not heard of the author before. It is excellent and forces me to read all the series in the right order! I love historical fiction and Bodie Thoene is very good.Set in Germany and Austria just before the Second World War, the reader's attention is gripped from the first page!

This fictional series, which is based on an historical era, is the best that I have ever read. Brock and Bodie Thoene combine just enough history with fictional characters to truly capture the reader's interest as well as offer some real insights into the experiences of those who lived through the holocaust. It was difficult to put the book down. I could read this series over and over again. I anxiously look for new books by B&B Thoene, because of the Covenant and Chronicle series, both of which I have read and enjoyed thoroughly!

this review is more for the series than just the book. it is AWESOME!! i really wish more books were written like this nowadays. it has action,romance,ACCURATE historical information,...good stuff. and above all,it carries out the good news of Jesus Christ. TWO THUMBS UP!

Elisa Lindheim Murphy is safe in London, and happily expecting her first child. It's not an unmixed happiness, though, because many people she knows and loves remain behind the borders of Hilter's Reich. Kristallnacht, the Night of Breaking Glass, brings her sorrow; but it brings stark terror at best, and death at worst, to Jews within the Reich. And to those who protect Jews, also, including Elisa's Gentile aunt and her family: Helen and Pastor Karl Ibsen and their children, Lori and Jamie.

Once again we meet Otto Wattenbarger, the Nazi son of a Tyrolian farm family whose other members we've seen taking enormous risks in the earlier books of this series. Otto, we now know, isn't what he so carefully appears to be. He's who his parents raised him to be, after all. But will taking in Karin Wallich and her three children, the family of a Jew who has died in Nazi custody, and attempting to give them new and Aryan identities, be Otto's undoing at last? And what about Lucy Strasburg, the peasant girl from Munich who's now living with an S.S. officer in Vienna, as she begins to see her beloved for what he really is, and as his child grows in her womb? What about Alfie Halder, the "dummkopf" who escapes from a Nazi-run "hospital" just in time to avoid euthanasia?

The cast of characters in this fifth installment of the Zion Covenant series has grown, but each of its members - established and newly introduced, alike - lives and breathes and seems fully real. The authors do a good job of keeping the plot threads sorted out for the reader, and their historical accuracy continues to be spot on. Preaching in this one is minimal, and that's fortunate because it is not needed. Once again, a rewarding read for anyone with a taste for character-driven World War II fiction.

This is one in a series of 9 books. I can't put them down! We read a Thoene book and ordered a series to read...this Zion Covenant series because my husband likes anything to do with WW2. They concentrate on mostly Christian Jews trying to get away from Hitler and the people that help them.

These books emphasis the power of prayer in our lives and how God can take the impossible and make it possible. Some of the ways God uses to get people, esp. children, out of Hitler's reach is just amazing!

The Thoene's are excellent writers! We plan to read all of their books now!

Very good description of the crystal night and the events leading up to that tragic event. I enjoyed the perspective of the writers with regard to the interaction between Hilter and the Arab leaders and the roll they played in obstructing the creation of a jewish state or sector. This is a great story and very good historical fiction. It was hard to put down and you feel that that you must read the next installment.

This series of books is a work of fiction but based on historical facts. The characters in the book draw you into the pre WWII era and you get attatached to the them and feel what they are feeling and see what they are seeing. It gives the reader a personal upfront picture of what was going on Germany and the world as Hitler was moving forward with his "Jewish Problem". It made me stop and think...why didn't other countries stop it before it got so horrible? Where was the compassion and love and Christian outpouring of help for the needy? Also shows how the governments of the world turned their backs on what was going on..saying..it's not here so stay out of it. Truely compelling and worth the read!!

This is an amazing book set in World War II...It's #5 in a series and is very engaging...I didn't want to put it down.(Of course, it can be read apart from the previous books.) If you enjoy historical fiction, I highly recommend it!
The sender was extremely prompt in sending my order. I had it on my doorstep within three days!

Book arrived quickly and in shape described. I am very satisfied with the seller. Thanks.

I give this movie 4 stars mainly because of the character of Alfie Halder and the genuine portrayal of one of the darkest times in history. The scenes involving Karl Ibsen's imprisonment are as heart-renching as the scenes describing the Kalner boys' escape and their refuge in New Church are tense and heart-stopping. The New Church scenes bring to mind the atmosphere of the Diary of Anne Frank. Lori Ibsen is rather like Anne, dealing with physical and emotional changes in herself (she seems to both love and hate Jacob Kalner) as well as the dangers brought about by war.

Indeed, Lori, Lucy and Marlene, the three new females introduced in this book, are the reason for my less than perfect review. All the problems that the Wallich family and the "Danzig Gang" suffer seem to be solely because of their female members. Lori and Marlene are always whining or arguing or doing something that puts the others' lives in danger. Lucy is something of a silly weakling though she does get better as the book goes along. I wished for some more likeable, heroic females like Elisa, Leah and Victoria of the previous books in this series rather than the weak, disobedient "daughters of Eve" found here. BROCK Thoene must've helped his wife write this one; there is so much woman bashing! And as for Peter Wallich, I HATED HIM! His sister Marlene is just a child, after all, and he is BEASTLY to her. When reading about him, I tried to tell myself that he, like Jacob and Lori, is trying to deal with growing up fast and handling a difficult, adult situation, but still I wanted to shake him! After enduring so many arguements and frustrations at the hands of the Danzig gang and the Wallichs, the scenes involving Alfie and Werner kitty were like a breath of fresh air. Alfie is something of a foil for the other characters in this book. He seems simple, yet he understands the dangers that he's in. Of all the characters, he is probably the most untouched by the war, still maintaining his innocence and his happy outlook on life. When you can identify with and understand characters that you don't particularly like, it is a sign of a good writer. Yes, I rank this 5th on my enjoyable scale of the six Zion Covenant book, the tragic Munich Signature being 6th. Maybe it's not my favorite in the series, but still very good. I recommend it.