{Kregel Blog Tour} The End of Law: A Novel of Hitler's Germany by Therese Down

Book Description:  Berlin, 1933: as Hitler rises to power; the law--designed to protect and serve--becomes twisted to the will of those who dream of a pure Aryan race.

SS Officer Walter Gunther is intensely loyal to the Third Reich. His readiness to kill without question or remorse would seem to make him the ideal candidate to lead the T4 euthanasia programme. SS officer Karl Muller, a trainee doctor and engineer, is also brought into the programme, and assured that his work is consistent with the Hippocratic oath he's due to take.

Their mandate: to kill the "unworthies"--not just the Jews, but crippled children, the mentally ill, homosexuals. Hedda, Walter's wife and old acquaintance of Karl, has no idea of what their work entails. Until, that is, the fate of their families is at stake, and each must confront afresh the choices they have made.

This dark, tense novel is a compelling story of human tragedy, and man's potential to revel in, or fight against, the evil actions of a corrupted nation.

My Thoughts:  I love to read about WWII.  How people survived the atrocities of the evil regime but more than that I like to read of the brave men and women who had faith and helped others.

But as one reads this novel it becomes apparent that sometimes innocents are killed for no reason.  

This may be a "made up" story but Ms. Downs tells the truth and recounts the terrible atrocities that befell many of the Jewish and German peoples.  Funny (not in a laughing way) how when someone sets out to destroy a certain people they invariably end up hurting/killing their own, too.  

My heart cried and tears escaped down my cheeks as I read the story of so many lives at stake.  But the dark days come to one prominent family, SS Officer Walter Gunther's family and this is where the story gets real.

One may be loyal to a certain regime/party but who it "hits" your family how will you stand?

An interesting and intriguing novel that is well thought out and well written.

*This book was provided by Kregel Publications*

Meet the Author:

Therese Down was born in St. Albans, Hertfordshire, to Irish parents but grew up in the Midlands and a couple of years at boarding school in co. Tipperary, Eire. She has taught for more than two decades in a variety of state secondary schools and sixth form colleges and since 2001, has held two successive Head of English posts in a High School and her present post, in a Birmingham Sixth Form college. She has three adult children and lives in Worcestershire.

Her first novel, 'Only with Blood', was published by Lion Hudson in June 2015 and is an exploration of life in rural Tipperary in the 1940s. Her second novel, 'The End of Law' is also published by Lion Hudson and is set in Berlin during the decade 1933-43.

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Lion Fiction (March 27, 2016)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1782641904
• ISBN-13: 978-1782641902
• Product Dimensions: 5 x 0.9 x 7.7 inches