Throughout the book, I was rooting for Hanni and I was with her every step of the way as she searched for a way to bring her evil father to justice. She was full of grit and determination and, despite the many obstacles in her way, she kept the end goal in sight.
WWII novels are often harrowing, but I found it difficult to read about Hadamar, the Nazi killing facility that the SS operated during the war. How another human being can even have thought about such a facility is beyond me, but as is true of many novels set in this era, it is educational and definitely something we should all be aware of.
Her Last Promise is a must-read if you have read the other three books in the series but even if you haven’t and you start with this one, I’ll almost guarantee that you’ll want to go back and catch up with Hanni from the beginning.
Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the opportunity to read and review Her Last Promise by Catherine Hokin.
Book Description
‘Too many have suffered at my father’s hands. I won’t let it continue. I’ll stop him, I’ll build a world where we can finally be free, I swear it…’
Berlin, 1938.When Hanni’s beloved sister suddenly vanishes in the middle of the night, Hanni knows her high-ranking Nazi father, Reiner, is not telling her the whole truth and may hold the key to her disappearance.
Years later, after finally learning how to live with her troubled past, Hanni dedicates herself to raising her teenage son, Leo, but her sister is never far from her mind. But when Leo begins to share Reiner’s pro-Nazi views and runs away from home to meet his grandfather, Hanni’s world collapses in an instant. She is determined not to lose her son to her father’s cruelty, like she lost her darling sister all those years ago…
Hanni has tried to stop her father before and nearly lost her life. Now she is fighting for Leo too and the stakes are higher than ever. She can’t lose him to the Nazis. She won’t let her father take her son away from her. Hanni knows this is her last chance to bring her father to justice. With her son’s life hanging in the balance, Hanni knows this will be her toughest battle yet. But with Reiner’s popularity stronger than ever, will she succeed?
A heartbreaking and gripping historical novel about courage, redemption and the endurance of the human spirit. Fans of The Alice Network, The Nightingale and The Tattooist of Auschwitz will be inspired by this heart-wrenching story about the choices we make to honour the lives of those we lose.
I seem to have followed a rather meandering career, including marketing and teaching and politics (don't try and join the dots), to get where I have always wanted to be, which is writing historical fiction. I am a story lover as well as a story writer and nothing fascinates me more than a strong female protagonist and a quest. Hopefully those are what you will encounter when you pick up my books.
I am from the North of England but now live very happily in Glasgow with my American husband. Both my children have left home (one to London and one to Berlin) which may explain why I am finally writing. If I'm not at my desk you'll most probably find me in the cinema, or just follow the sound of very loud music.
