Books Received in July 2014

The Darkest Hour by Tony Schumacher

London, 1946. The Nazis have conquered the British, and now occupy Great Britain, using brutality and fear to control its citizens. John Henry Rossett, a decorated British war hero and former police sergeant, has been reassigned to a job he did not ask for—and cannot refuse: rounding up Jews for deportation, including men and women he’s known his whole life. But they are not the only victims, for the war took Rossett’s wife and son, and shattered his own humanity.

Then he finds Jacob, a young Jewish child, hiding in an abandoned building, who touches something in Rossett that he thought was long dead.

Determined to save the innocent boy, Rossett takes him on the run, with the Nazis in pursuit. But they are not the only hunters following his trail. The Royalist Resistance and the Communists want him, too. Each faction has its own agenda, and Rossett will soon learn that none of them can be trusted . . . and all of them are deadly. 

The Objects of Her Affection by Sonya Cobb: 

Sophie Porter is the last person in the world you’d expect to organize an art heist—and that’s exactly why she’s so good at it.  When Sophie bought a house with her husband, a curator for the Philadelphia Museum of Art, she thought it would provide security for her family. Instead, after the housing market collapse, they’re in danger of losing it all. So when she accidentally walks out of the museum’s disorganized storage area with a stunning antique, Sophie realizes she’s found a way out of their crushing debt. As she comes close to destroying the life she’s working so hard to build, Sophie knows she should abandon her part-time crime. Unfortunately, it may be too late.

The End of Innocence by Allegra Jordan

It is the twilight of innocence: America 1914. As Europe goes to war, Helen, a Boston bluestocking, begins her studies at Harvard-Radcliffe. Riley, a carefree British playboy more interested in chasing women than studying, sets his sights on her. He is surprised to find his adversary in love is not Helen’s protective brother, but Riley’s own cousin, Wils Brandl. As the roar of war begins to penetrate the quiet walls of Harvard, Wils, a brooding poet and German noble, must return to Europe and face a war for which he is not prepared. Set in Boston and Flanders Fields, THE END OF INNOCENCE explores love, war, and a new social imagination.