Review – December ’41 by William Martin

Posted July 22, 2022 by Carole in Reviews / 7 Comments

I received this book for free from the publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Review – December ’41 by William MartinDecember '41 by William Martin
Published by Forge Books on June 7, 2022
Genres: Fiction / Thrillers / Historical
Pages: 304
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher
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four-stars

From New York Times bestselling author William Martin comes a WWII thriller as intense as The Day of the Jackal and as gripping as The Eye of the Needle. In December '41, Martin takes us on the ultimate manhunt, a desperate chase from Los Angeles to Washington, D. C., in the first weeks of the Second World War.

On the day after Pearl Harbor, shocked Americans gather around their radios to hear Franklin Roosevelt declare war. In Los Angeles, a German agent named Martin Browning is planning to kill FDR on the night he lights the National Christmas Tree. Who will stop him? Relentless FBI Agent Frank Carter? Kevin Cusack, a Hollywood script reader who also spies on the German Bund of Los Angeles, and becomes a suspect himself? Or Vivian Hopewell, the aspiring actress who signs on to play Martin Browning's wife and cannot help but fall in love with him?

The clock is ticking. The tracks are laid. The train of narrow escapes, mistaken identities, and shocking deaths is right on schedule. It's a thrilling ride that will sweep you from the back lots of Hollywood to the speeding Super Chief to that solemn Christmas Eve, when twenty thousand people gather on the South Lawn of the White House and the lives of Franklin Roosevelt and his surprise guest, Winston Churchill, hang in the balance.

I thought that this book was very well done. This is the first time that I have read any of this author’s work and I was quite impressed. I will admit that it took me a very long time to read this book but that is a me issue, not a book issue. I found this tightly plotted book to be an entertaining look at a pivotal time in our nation’s history.

It did take some time for this book to completely grab me. The story is told from quite a few different points of view and I needed to read enough of the story to really get a feel for all of the key characters before I was completely invested. Once I got to know all of the key players, this book became quite the page-turner for me. The book opens on the day that Pearl Harbor was attacked and ends during Christmas of that same year. The story is far-reaching taking the reader from Hollywood to Washington, D.C. with a lot of excitement along the way.

I really liked the fact that the book was able to let the reader see things from the points of view of those trying to stop the crime, those hoping to commit the crime, and those trying to clear their name. Having all of these events happen against a backdrop of real historical events added a lot to the story. The story was violent at times and there were quite a few surprises in the story. I would recommend this book to fans of historical thrillers and hope to read more of this author’s work in the future.

I received a review copy of this book from Forge Books.

7 responses to “Review – December ’41 by William Martin

  1. I was curious what you would think of this one since the blurb grabbed my interest. Glad it turned out well once it got going.

  2. This sounds interesting and like a compelling read! I like that this is World War II era but different from most of the World War II era books I usually read.