Customer Reviews

Lost Pulse

5 star:		(3)
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I've always wondered how the citizenry of Nazi Germany could justify the atrocities of their government. Bill Shumaker has done a masterful job of putting us inside the psyche of several fascinating characters. The story is compelling, suspenseful and full of surprises. I hated to finish "Lost Pulse" and would love to know what happens next... I thought about this story for days.

An avid WWII buff, I was particularly intrigued to learn more about the Hitler Youth, the Lebensborn program, the German clergy, the plight of the Gypsies and much more. Mr. Shumaker loaded this book with a lot of well documented (but seldom explored) historical detail, and wove it into the story in a way that didn't slow the story down at all, but rather made it a more interesting read.

I'd like to read more from Bill Shumaker!

I found this book to be most enjoyable and interesting to read. I could not put it down. It was full of historical facts but also easy to read (sometime I find that not to be true with historical fiction). I sure hope there will be a sequel so I can find out what happenes to the main characters.
Caroline Winfree

This historical fiction set in Germany in 1939 involves us in the early dynamics of Nazi Germany's purge of the Jews and other "undesirables," and the challenge posed to thinking citizens and sincere Christians in that era.

This is the first novel I have read in four or maybe 5 years. I found it engaging as history and culture came alive in this insightful drama. I was glad to see this novel's focus on the plight of the Gypsies, who are generally ignored in history's portrayal of Nazi atrocities.

Gypsies join forces as unknowing partners with a German State Church pastor to save a sick child about to be discarded by the new euthanasia policies of the Third Reich. Pastor Becker faces the reality of what he has become as an agent of the state. He returns to his sense of ethical calling when the immediate fate of a child in his parish forces him out of the safety of his theological meditations into real-life decisions affecting the future of his state and his people.

I was impressed with the richness and consistency of the realistic and believable characters. The internal dialogue of each character seemed to represent realistic thought processes, and pulled us into the vortex of that character's personality and role in the drama.

I learned some historical and cultural details previously unknown to me. I would recommend a movie be made of this story. Reflecting the validity of the drama portrayed, an extensive bibliography is included.