Book Description for 
The Katyn Order: A Novel
by Douglas W. Jacobson:The German war machine is in retreat as the Russians advance. In Warsaw, Resistance fighters rise up against their Nazi occupiers, but the Germans retaliate, ruthlessly leveling the once-beautiful city. American Adam Nowak has been dropped into Poland by British intelligence as an assassin and Resistance fighter. During the Warsaw Uprising he meets Natalia, a covert operative who has lost everything—just as he has. Amid the Allied power struggle left by Germany’s defeat, Adam and Natalia join in a desperate hunt for the 1940 Soviet order authorizing the murders of 20,000 Polish army officers and civilians. If they can find the Katyn Order before the Russians do, they just might change the fate of Poland.
A die-hard fan of historical fiction, this book was right up my alley. While this book is fiction, it is important to not that the Katyn Order - the murder of Polish officers and civilians - does exist and did happen. I especially enjoy fiction that weaves in truth and it was obvious that Jacobson has done his research.
Previously, I had not know of this particular piece of WWII history and found the details both interesting and disturbing.
This book is a wonderful, non-stop thriller that I could easily imagine being made into a movie. The characters are real and complex and the action is exciting and engaging.
I must admit, there was quite a twist at the end of the novel. However, considering the events of this particular period of our history, I probably should not have been as surprised as I found myself to be.
My only criticism of the book is the relationship that develops between Adam and Natalia. Somehow it just seemed somewhat forced to me. While I found Natalia to be a believable character in the novel apart from her interactions with Adam, there were times that I found her behavior uncharacteristic and inconsistent when she was with Adam.
However, their relationship only takes up a small portion of the novel, so it is hardly a reason not to read the book. In my opinion, it came across as any great action movie that has to have a little romance thrown in for good measure. :-)
NEXT ON THE BOOKSHELF:
Alice Bliss: A Novel
by Laura Harrington
