A very strong outing for his first novel. I have read all of the authors works under the pen name Sam Eastland and they have all been excellent. Now I am going to read his other novels in their order. This book was a bit hard to get into - the first two thirds was written in almost a stream of consciousness style. The story did not seem to have a firm direction but the background material/character development was impressive. In the final third of the book the story went into high gear with the depiction of the opening stage of the Battle of the Bulge from a German infantryman's perspective. The scenes were brutal, violent, and animalistic. There was no attempt to paint any of the characters in a heroic light - there was no glorification of war. ( )

Not unlike Calm at Sunset, Calm at Dawn, it began slowly and then really took off. The story is also far from cheerful but deeply powerful. Sebastien joins the SS in the waning days of World War II as a young and confused 17 year old. After a training that seems increasingly meaningless, they are sent, completely unprepared into the Battle of the Bulge. The final third of the book is about the increasing futility and loss of humanity in that battle. It was interesting to me since I had recently read a non-fiction book about the same Battle from an American point of view. This was far more dramatic and, of course, fictional but still conveyed much of senseless brutality of war. Incredibly well done.

Good war story from German view ( )