You’ve got to love a good Nazi-Hunters story, and it was another interesting look into seldom-discussed Operation Paperclip.

I enjoyed the mystery/spy aspect of both hunting down a Nazi as well as trying to find a lost child after he was stolen following the concentration camp. There were so many families trying to find each other post-ww2 and being split as an infant or toddler had to be even more daunting without all the DNA testing they have today. I also loved the familiarity of the recurring characters from the Lilac Girls.

There were, however, odd inconsistencies I couldn’t get past in the book.

There was almost zero emotional or reactionary description - actually describing what the characters felt or how they were responding. You had to infer into the conversation or scenario what emotions were being expressed or how they were feeling. The dialogue would bounce back and forth and then state verbally to there being high emotions - one character telling another to calm down, relax, not be mad, stating happiness, etc - but never actually painting that picture in a way that you’d ever know outside of dialogue. It gave it a somewhat two dimensional feel to the story and made it seem mechanical or insincere.

There were also weird gaps in the dialogue and storyline - the characters would be talking and all of the sudden switch topics. Or move scenes and you had no idea what happened in between, as there would be no explanation. I found myself reading over sections trying to figure out what I missed only to confirm it legitimately wasn’t there. The recruiting of both women also was a little bizarre and rushed without context or explanation.

I did feel oddly confused by both Josie and Arlette - for being in the resistance, recruited out of the blue, and with the training and experience they had - they were strangely naive and childish. It just felt, again, inconsistent with the necessary criteria for someone in their roles as spies or resisters.

Overall I liked it, but it just felt a little like it didn’t come together or flesh out like it could have.

Thanks to Netgalley and Random House Publishers for the advanced copy of this book. All opinions are solely mine.