Book Review – Angel in Red

(See all my Book Reviews and Author Interviews) – Christopher Nicole is the author of more than 200 books & novels. Angel in Red was published in 2018 and is the second volume of his Anna Fehrbach series. This was the 102nd book I completed in 2022.

I downloaded this book while it was being promoted by Lume Books. Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own! Due to scenes of violence and mature situations, I categorize this novel as R.

Twenty-year-old Anna Fehrbach is the primary character. She despises the Nazis, but since her parents and sister are being held as hostages, she has no choice but to continue acting the part of a dedicated SD agent. Fehrbach continues to wield her skills as an assassin when ordered by the SD. Nor does she hesitate to employ them to protect herself as a double agent for the British.

It is May of 1940, and the Phoney War has ended. After she is exposed as a Nazi agent, Fehrbach flees England for Berlin. The SD still believes in her as an agent. In particular, she has the trust of Reinhard Heydrich. Not only does he believe she is still an enthusiastic Nazi agent, but he has also taken her as his mistress on occasion.

With the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, Germany and Russia are still at peace with one another. Fehrbach is sent to Moscow, where she is to use her feminine skills to become the mistress of Ewfim Chalyapov. Chalyapov is chosen as her target as he is close to Marshal Stalin. Her ultimate mission is to kill Stalin at the outset of Operation Barbarossa to disrupt the Russian military.

Fehrbach easily succeeds in her mission and soon becomes a friend of Stalin. She frequently is invited to a private afternoon tea with him. The opportunity will be there. But if she goes through with the assassination her life will be over. If she doesn’t, she will be on the hit list of the SD and Heydrich.

I enjoyed the 6.5+ hours I spent reading this 267-page WWII-era thriller. I had the opportunity to read the first book in the series, Angel From Hell, earlier in the year. This book is every bit as good as the first! The novel is full of action, sex, and intrigue. The Fehrbach character is very much a WWII-era James Bond. I look forward to reading the remaining six novels in the series. I like the cover art chosen for the novel. I give this novel a rating of 4.5 (rounded up to a 5) out of 5.

My book reviews are also published on Goodreads (https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/31181778-john-purvis).

---

If you have an interest in the WWII era of history, you may find these three pages of interest. 

• The “World War II Resources” page is a constantly growing collection of more than 600 links to museums, memorials, websites, Facebook pages, Twitter feeds, and other sources with information on the World War II era in history.
• The “World War II Timeline” page expands almost daily and shows events leading up to WWII, as well as during the war. Events are broken down into the Pacific and European Theaters by date.
• The About WWII page is a collection of links to posts that I have made over the years that are relevant to WWII. Included are links to many fiction and non-fiction books on WWII that I have read and reviewed. There are also links to WWII oriented podcasts.

Book Review – Angel from Hell

(See all my Book Reviews and Author Interviews) – Christopher Nicole is the author of more than 200 books & novels. Angel from Hell was published in 2018 and is the first book of his Anna Fehrbach series. This was the 90th book I completed in 2022.

I purchased this book from Amazon for my Kindle. Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own! Due to scenes of violence, mature language, and mature situations, I categorize this novel as R.

The story opens in 1938 as the Nazis take Austria. Arrests are made of all those opposed to the Third Reich. Johann Fehrbach and his family are among those rounded up. He had been the publisher of a liberal newspaper that spoke out against the Nazis.

His eldest daughter, seventeen-year-old Annaliese, is separated from the rest of the family. A German officer recognizes that her intelligence and beauty can be used to the Reich’s advantage. The rest of her family is held hostage to force Annaliese to obey the Gestapo.

She is trained in the arts of seduction, assassination, and intelligence tradecraft. Upon completing her training, she is put to work for the SD. She is told to flirt, socialize, and seduce targets of the SD.

Eventually, she is told to focus on Ballantine Bordman of the British Foreign Office. The much older Bordman is soon smitten with Annaliese. They are married, and she returns to England with him. She has orders to make copies of her husband’s documents and send them to Germany.

Clive Bartley had traveled to Berlin with Bordman. He meets Annaliese there when she is introduced to the British diplomat. Bartley is suspicious of her and her quick romance with Bordman. As a member of MI6, he is constantly on alert for German operatives.

Bartley confronts Annaliese, and she willingly agrees to become a double agent. She also finds herself romantically entangled with him. Annaliese is forced to walk a fine line to maintain credibility with her German handlers while doing what she can for MI6.

I enjoyed the 6.5+ hours I spent reading this 275-page WWII-era thriller. The novel is filled with action. I have also had the opportunity to read another Nicole novel, Battleground. It is another enjoyable WWII-era thriller. I like the chosen cover art. I give this novel a rating of 4.5 (rounded up to a 5) out of 5.

My book reviews are also published on Goodreads (https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/31181778-john-purvis).

---

If you have an interest in the WWII era of history, you may find these three pages of interest. 

• The “World War II Resources” page is a constantly growing collection of more than 590 links to museums, memorials, websites, Facebook pages, Twitter feeds, and other sources with information on the World War II era in history.
• The “World War II Timeline” page expands almost daily and shows events leading up to WWII, as well as during the war. Events are broken down into the Pacific and European Theaters by date.
• The About WWII page is a collection of links to posts that I have made over the years that are relevant to WWII. Included are links to many fiction and non-fiction books on WWII that I have read and reviewed. There are also links to WWII oriented podcasts.