First I would like to say I listened to this book. But man was it intense. We listened from beginning to end, strait through with no stops. You didn't want to stop. You just had to know what was going to happen, and if people would survive. This story is made up of three refugee tales.

First there is Josef, a Jew in Germany at the start of what will become WW2. His family is on the run. His father spent time in a concentration camp and was released on the promise that him, and his family will leave the country and never come back. But their tale is not an easy on, and will extend further, and across more miles than a person can fathom. It involves a cruise ship, a medical scare, and repercussions that some people still doubt.

Then there is Isabel. In 1994, her and her family try to take advantage of the Wet Foot, Dry Foot law of the US, that would allow any Cuban to set foot on american soil to stay and seek asylum. It was needed. Cuba was run by Castro who was slowly starving his people after treaties with other countries fell through.

Lastly there Mahmound, a Syrian refugee, in a war that is still going on. In this book his story takes place in 2015, but please note, its 2018 and this is still a reality. After his home is destroyed by missiles, his family decides to seek asylum in Germany. They are not a poor uneducated family, but a family who was saving their money, and only planned on leaving if it was absolutely necessary.

These stories are played out round robin through eight and a half hours of danger, hardship, and heart ache. You are glued to the story, praying for everyone to be safe, but knowing what you see on the news, that bad things will happen. The author has done such an excellent job invoking feelings of the readers. He uses the mindset and values of the time to help influence the very real actions of his characters. At the end of the story he even fills in that all these characters are based on real people throughout history. And it is all heartbreaking. Every single bit, but you want that heartbreak, and hope and pray for a miracle. Some may come, some may not, but you will need to read this for yourself to find out.