If you are a reader of World War II fiction, you'll definitely want to pick up a copy of The Katyn Order: A Novel.
The Germans are retreating as the Russians advance in Warsaw. Resistence fighters rise up against their Nazi oppressors, but the Germans retaliate, leveling the city. American Adam Nowak is dropped into Poland by British intelligence as an assassin. He has lost much, and has had to disengage himself from his past and all he's known to concentrate on his mission. But then he meets Natalia, a woman who has also lost much, he yearns to tap into the human part of himself he is sure must be left behind forever. Together they work to find a copy of the 1940 Soviet order that ordered the murders of 20,000 Polish Army officers and civilians.
Fabulous! Superb! Outstanding! These words and more describe this powerful, dramatic historical offering from Douglas W. Jacobson.
The author has put together a perfect blend of fact and fiction, mixed in multi-faceted characters whose lives you become immersed in, and tossed them together with historical characters to create a winning story that pulls you in right from the start. Rich in detail, Jacobson makes you believe you are there in Poland with Adam and Natalia, fighting with them, grieving with them, hoping for them.
If you are interested in WWII or enjoy gripping historical fiction, buy this one up today. I highly recommend it!
Title: The Katyn Order
Author: Douglas W. Jacobson
Publisher: McBooks Press
ISBN-10: 1590135725
ISBN-13: 978-1590135723
SRP: $24.95
Also available in a Kindle edition.
I received a copy of this book from the author who is currently on a virtual book tour with Pump Up Your Book. This review contains my honest opininons, for which I received no monetary compensation.
Today's special guest is Douglas Jacobson, author of The Katyn Order: A Novel. He is an engineer, business owner and World War Two history enthusiast. Doug has traveled extensively in Europe researching stories of the courage of common people caught up in extraordinary circumstances. His debut novel, Night of Flames: A Novel of World War Two was published in 2007 by McBooks Press, and was released in paperback in 2008. Night of Flames won the “2007 Outstanding Achievement Award” from the Wisconsin Library association. Doug writes a monthly column on Poland’s contribution during WW2, has published articles on Belgium’s WW2 escape organization, the Comet Line and other European resistance organizations.
Welcome to The Book Connection, Doug. It is a pleasure to have you with us.
Where did you grow up?
I grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
What is your fondest childhood memory?
Summer vacation trips to Army Lake, where we could swim any time during the day as long as we waited for one hour after eating.
When did you begin writing?
In fifth grade, our teacher encouraged us to write whatever we wanted. My buddies and I wrote horror stories. Regardless of how stupid they must have been, our teacher would very diligently correct all the grammar and give them back.
Do you write during the day, at night or whenever you can sneak a few moments?
I write mostly in the early morning and early afternoon, but never after the five o'clock cocktail.
What is this book about?
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 city. American Adam Nowak has been dropped into Poland by British intelligence as an assassin and Resistance fighter. During the Warsaw Rising 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.
What inspired you to write it?
My Polish heritage and my European relatives who lived through the Nazi occupation and shared their stories with me.
Who is your biggest supporter?
My wife, Janie. She's also my best promoter.
Are you a member of a critique group? If no, who provides feedback on your work?
Yes, I am. Redbird Writer's Studio in Milwaukee.
Who is your favorite author?
Ken Follett
Do you have an agent or are you looking for one?
I do not, and I'm not actively looking, but I would listen if one is interested in my work.
Was the road to publication smooth sailing or a bumpy ride?
It was bumpy, a box full of rejections, but it had a happy ending.
If you knew then, what you know now, is there anything you would have done differently?
I would have joined Redbird Writer's Studio at the very beginning of my writing effort.
Where can readers purchase a copy of your book?
On-line at Amazon, B&N, or at any bookstore.
Do you have a website and/or blog where readers can find out more?
Do you have a video trailer to promote your book? If yes, where can readers find it?
It's on my website. Just click on "Watch the Video."
What is the best investment you have made in promoting your book?
Pump Up Your Book!!
What is one piece of advice you would like to share with aspiring authors everywhere?
DO NOT GIVE UP!
What is up next for you?
I'm going take some time to market The Katyn Order, continue writing my two monthly columns on WW2 and think about my third book.
Is there anything you would like to add?
Only to reinforce my earlier comment to would-be writers. This is a tough business and you have to be able to handle rejection, honest critique and KEEP GOING!
Thanks for spending time with us Doug. We wish you continued success.
In 1939 the Germans invade Poland, setting off a rising storm of violence and destruction. For Anna and Jan Kopernik the loss is unimaginable. She is an assistant professor at a university in Krakow; he, an officer in the Polish cavalry. Separated by war, they must find their own way in a world where everything they ever knew is gone.
Anna’s father, a prominent intellectual, is deported to a death camp, and Anna must flee to Belgium where she joins the Resistance. Meanwhile, Jan escapes with the battered remnants of the Polish army to Britain. When British intelligence asks him to return to Poland in an undercover mission to contact the Resistance, he seizes the opportunity to search for his missing wife.
Through the long night of Nazi occupation, Anna, Jan, and ordinary people across Europe fight a covert war of sabotage and resistance against the overwhelming might of the German war machine. The struggle seems hopeless, but they are determined to take back what is theirs.
Night of Flames, How It All Began by Douglas W. Jacobson
A funny thing happened on the way to college. My daughter’s college, that is. In 1991 we sent our daughter off to the University of Wisconsin at Eau Claire, an excellent mid-size university campus four hours from our home in Milwaukee. It was difficult at first having her that far away, but like all parents of college-age kids we took a deep breath thinking it could be worse, she could be going to New York or California. Hah! Little did we know!
As time passed, a nice young man entered her life, a nice young man who was not from New York or California . . . but from Antwerp, Belgium. And so, the journey began.
As it turned out the young couple got married and eventually moved to Belgium. That was fourteen years ago. If having our college-age daughter four hours away by car was tough, having our newly married daughter an eight-hour plane ride away was a bit tougher. The remedy, of course, was traveling to Europe . . . often.
Now I have always been interested in WW2 history. Over the years I’ve read everything I could, both fiction and non-fiction, about this incredible world conflict which changed the course of human history. As I’ve often said in the talks I give about my book, for an American interested in WW2, spending time in Europe changes your perspective. As an example, consider this: In the memory of most Americans, WW2 began with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. By that time, more than three million Europeans had died in the war. By the time the war ended, four years later, that number would be more than thirty million . . . and eighty percent were civilians.
Over the years, as my wife and I traveled to Europe 2-3 times a year, we developed many relationships, including a very close friendship with my son-in-law’s parents who were children during the German occupation of Belgium. They didn’t talk about it at first; in fact they never talk about it all, except when someone like me-—whom they know and trust is really interested and really wants to know. And, in time, they did tell me about it. They told me about living in the cellar during the shelling of their working-class neighborhood near the port of Antwerp. They told me about foraging for food in the streets then rushing home before the German snipers could shoot them. They told me about the day in 1941 when the Gestapo barged into their home during dinner and took away my son-in-law’s grandfather. Four years later he returned, having walked home from Hamburg, Germany where he’d been a forced laborer.
Much has been written about the great battles of World War Two in Europe, the epic clashes of great armies at Normandy and Stalingrad, in the mountains of Italy and the deserts of Africa. But what has really inspired me were the stories of courage and perseverance of the common people caught up in this titanic struggle. Stories like those of the women and teenagers of the Comet Line who rescued hundreds of Allied aviators shot down over Belgium and Holland. Stories like those of the Armia Krajowa, Poland’s Home Army who risked their lives every day for six long years trying to preserve what little they could of their humanity.
In his book, World Crisis, Winston Churchill said, “When the trumpet sounded every class and rank had something to give. But none gave more, or gave more readily, than the common man and woman.” In those eloquent words lies the essence of what I have tried to honor in my historical novel, Night of Flames.
Douglas W. Jacobson is an engineer, business owner and World War Two history enthusiast. Doug has traveled extensively in Europe researching stories of the courage of common people caught up in extraordinary circumstances. His debut novel, Night of Flames: A Novel of World War Two was published in 2007 by McBooks Press, and was released in paperback in 2008. Night of Flames won the 2007 OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT AWARD from the Wisconsin Library Association. Doug has also published articles on Belgium’s WW2 escape organization, the Comete Line; Poland’s 1st Armored Division; and the liberation of Antwerp. Doug has just completed his second novel set in Europe at the end of WW2. You can visit his blog at www.douglaswjacobson.blogspot.com.
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. He is an engineer, business owner and World War Two history enthusiast. Doug has traveled extensively in Europe researching stories of the courage of common people caught up in extraordinary circumstances. His debut novel, 
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