Publisher: Kensington Publication

Publication Date: February 20, 2024

Length: 338 pages

I received this book from the publisher, Kensington, for an honest review.

Charles has lived a difficult life. He and his family were sent to a concentration camp when the Nazis occupied Czechoslovakia. Charles caught the eye of one of the top Nazis in the camp. He was taken from camp to the officer’s home, where he would be their servant. At night, the Nazi officer used Charles for his pleasure. The war ends and Charles immigrates to the United States. He has an apartment, a job, and a routine that keeps him satisfied. Then his world implodes. A new customer at the tea shop he works at is the Nazi officer he worked for all those years ago. Will the officer recognize him? Does he want to renew their relationship?

Charles has some difficult decisions ahead. He needs to examine the pros and cons of re-establishing the relationship with the Nazi officer. The dynamics have changed and Charles is no longer indebted to him. In all the places in the world one could hide, how does he end up in the same city and neighborhood as Charles? Events continue to unfold and Charles will face even more difficult decisions.

Told as past memories and present events, this is a complex story. Charles was a young man coming to terms with his sexuality in a time when homosexuality happened but was hidden. He also has survivor guilt since his family didn’t survive the war. Adapting to a new country was another hurdle for Charles. The author tackles so many emotions that it is difficult to believe that Charles could deal with so much. One element that needed attention was Charles’s feelings about his Jewish faith. Did he turn away from it or find himself drawn to it as a source of solace? While we follow Charles’s thinking on his sexuality, the author does not follow his decision-making on any other events.

The premise of the book is interesting. There are graphic descriptions of rape and sex which might be either a trigger or be too much for younger readers. Due to the sexual content and many dropped elements, I am not recommending this book.

My Rating: 🌻🌻🌻/5