OLIVE BRANCH

In Schulze’s historical thriller, a soldier-turned-Nazi-hunter fights for his life in occupied France.

The fog of war often yields no-win situations. However, the dangers facing William Gunnison seem more daunting than a battle-scarred soldier like himself might ordinarily expect. Stranded in German-occupied Paris, Gunnison is less intent on escaping with his life than he is on assassinating Adalwolf Bütz, a Nazi commandant whose bloodlust knows no bounds. However, the mission goes horribly wrong when Gunnison accidentally shoots and wounds Corey Baxter, an elderly American expatriate from a wealthy family, in the back. Gunnison’s unintended victim insists on being taken home to his abode in the French capital, and after he succumbs to his wounds, Jacques, Baxter’s faithful butler, reveals his employer’s dying wish—to inform his brother in New York City of his fate, and to get his servant to safety, away from the Nazis. Gunnison must contact Baxter’s mistrustful sibling using a coded prompt, “Olive branch,” whose origins prove troubling. As it turns out, Gunnison has secrets that have stark consequences for his fellow Resistance fighters, such as Nadine Sauvageot, whose identity is compromised due to her unlikely connection to him. Over the course of this novel, Schulze forces readers to confront the characters’ moral dilemmas: “He made mistakes….He was human.” It’s a brisk read, in addition to an exploration of its characters’ complex backstories. Overall, as World War II novels go, this one packs a roundhouse kick that present-day readers will feel sharply, as when Nadine tries to make her own way to New York, and a grim realization hits her: “We’re the unluckiest generation in the history of the world. We’re the ones born in Hell.”

Secrets catch up to Resistance heroes with startling effects in this fast-paced WWII mystery.