Okay. Hi! Kendra here with the last of the blog tour posts for this month. Then we go back to my irregularly scheduled own stuff. Yay!
Today I'm doing a spotlight post for Jack's newest book, Brothers in Arms, a WWII story that I'm not sure I want to read ... not because I don't think it'll be good, but ... pain. It's about two best friends who get stuck on opposite sides of the fence, and those stories are never fun.
However, without further ado. Jack stuff!
Can
a Jew and a Nazi survive Hitler's Germany?
Franz
Kappel and Japhet Buchanan never expected their friendship to be
tested by the Third Reich. Friends from early childhood, the boys
form an inseparable, brotherly bond. Growing up in a little German
village, they escape most of the struggles of war until the day
Japhet is banished from school for being a Jew, and later has a rib
broken when other village boys beat him up. Franz learns he is
putting himself in danger for spending so much time with Japhet but
continues to stand up for his Jewish friend even at the risk to
himself. Then one day their lives are shattered when they see
first-hand that the price of being a Jew is dangerously high.
With
the war now on their doorsteps, Franz and Japhet come up with a
desperate plan to save their families and get them out of Germany
alive. Leaving behind the lives they've always known, they move into
Berlin with nothing to protect them but forged papers and each other.
Convinced their friendship can keep them going, the boys try and make
a new life for themselves while trying to keep their true identities
and Japhet's heritage a secret. Taking his best friend's safety upon
himself, Franz joins the Nazis in an attempt to get valuable
information. At the same time, Japhet joins the Jewish Resistance,
neither friend telling the other of their new occupations.
With
everyone in their world telling them a Nazi and a Jew can't be
friends, it is only a matter of time before they believe all the lies
themselves, until neither is certain if they are fighting against a
race of people or fighting for their homeland. Somehow they have to
survive the horrors of World War II, even when all of Germany seems
to be against them.
Author
Bio
Jack
is one of those strange people who calls herself an Author. She
spends a lot of her time writing and even less time editing. She
likes to write about friendships which is partly how Brothers-in-Arms
came to be. More than ten years in the making, this is the book she
dreaded the most writing, but which also has the most meaning for
her.
When
Jack isn't writing, which doesn't happen too often, she keeps busy
with various other hobbies – such as reading, playing the bagpipes
to the dread of her neighbors, and drinking tea – which might not
be considered a hobby by most but which should be.
She
lives in a cabin in the woods with her dog and a library which isn't
quite equal to Prince Adam's but will be given enough time and a
secret doorway.
Contact
Info
And now I'll let Jack talk!
Kendra is doing a spotlight for me today as part of my book tour. Therefore, I will be spotlighting James Rodgers, known as Jimmy to everyone who isn't angry and yelling at him.
Jimmy is an American pilot who flies Reconnaissance missions over Germany. One day he flies off course and gets himself and his co-pilot, Sam Winters, shot down over Berlin. The Jewish Resistance spots the plane going down, gets to Sam and Jimmy before the Nazis, and hide them away in a basement until they can find a way to get them out of Berlin. While in hiding Jimmy meets Japhet.
Jimmy arrived in the final stages of the book. He walked in, cocky and annoying, and said he had to be there or the ending wouldn't work. I threw boots at him but didn't chase him off, I've learned my lesson long ago that the characters know what they are doing.
As the story went on and Jimmy spent more time with Japhet I realized he was lightening the book up, a nice relief for me. He made me smile, sometimes laugh, but something felt off with him. He was bright, colorful, annoying, and loud but I still loved him. I just couldn't figure out what he wasn't telling me – until I started to edit and he opened up about his back story. (In the words of Marlin from Finding Nemo, “Happy feeling gone.”)
In spite of his realization I still loved him and he could still make me smile through the pain.
Jimmy grew up in New York on a farm with his family. He would steal his dad's crop duster and take it for joy rides and after Pearl Harbor he joined the Air Force so he could fight the Japanese. He made the rank of 1st Lieutenant on a bomber squad and all his men loved him because he was always happy and joking around.
Even after trouble strikes Jimmy is a well liked person who gets along with almost everyone he meets – when he's not throwing things because he''s grumpy being locked up in a basement.
A big brother, Jimmy has a lot of protective qualities about him even though he tries to hide them. He can't hide it all the time though and Sam at least knows he's a big softy deep down.
And there he is, more or less. Of course I can't tell you spoilers so you will have to read those in the book and find out how he ended up in Germany.
