THE PILOT'S WIFE
‘Smile, nod, and don’t breathe a word of what happens here.
Or I’ll put you on the next train to Auschwitz myself.’
Four years later. Hanni Winter shivers in her thin coat as she hurries through
the empty Berlin streets to her job. Despite the freezing winter and poverty
all around, her cheeks flush when she meets the man she is photographing today,
charismatic Tony Miller, the American pilot risking his life to bring food and
provisions to the starving people of the city. But her rush of joy turns to ash
as she sees the man behind him…
It’s been years since Hanni fled her terrible past, but seeing Reiner Foss now
brings back harrowing memories of the man they called The Showman, and of the
concentration camp he commanded. The last time she tried to expose him, Hanni
almost died, can she dare to try again? Or should she seize the chance she sees
in Tony’s sparkling eyes to leave the horrors of the war behind?
Hanni is no longer the frightened child she was when the Nazis devastated her
life beyond repair. She vows to avenge every person who suffered at Reiner’s
hands. But does her attraction to Tony leave her vulnerable? Can Hanni protect
her loved ones from her past, or will the cost of fighting her demons
ultimately prove more than she can pay?
THE PILOT’S WIFE by Catherine Hokin is the second book in the Hanni Winter series. It can be read as a stand-alone, but if you can fit it into your reading time, I recommend the full experience of starting with book one.
It’s 1948 in a divided Berlin. We are introduced to the alluring (and fictitious) American pilot, Tony Miller. He is one of the many helping Berlin residents by flying in to the Western zones the much needed food and supplies that the city residents have been cut off from. Miller is definitely there to help but he also has his own personal reasons for wanting to be in Berlin.
Hanni Winter is a photographer with the police department. She also freelances, and it’s at a public relations event that she meets the charismatic Miller, and like many others is drawn into his captivating sphere. But a spate of seemingly unrelated murders finds Hanni again working closely with Detective Inspector Freddy Schlüssel. The same Freddy that Hanni has feelings for but knows she cannot be with because of past secrets.
Hokin deftly weaves into her story real historical events (the Berlin Blockade and the Berlin Airlift), a compelling mystery and an, albeit, unrequited (for now) romance. This is a book filled with secrets and a story about the lengths people will make to keep those secrets hidden. I enjoy these looks into post-WWII life in Germany that Hokin is giving us. I especially like that while every character is a singular being, their souls are not; they carry the weight of their family and ancestors, be they perpetrators or victims. Such burdens can inspire great things in people, but they can also bring out the opposite. There is definitely no shortage of people willing to take advantage, especially when even the ‘good guys’ make choices in their own interests and not in the interest of victims.
The story is well paced and kept my interest from start to finish. Many loose ends are tied up but there are a few major ones that clearly form a larger story arc for the series. I am unsure how many books the author plans for this series, but there has got to be at least one more. Please tell me there’s at least one more! And make sure to read the Acknowledgements. Hokin has listed several of the sources used in this book if you would like to read further about the historical events mentioned in The Pilot’s Wife.
Review copy courtesy of Netgalley and Bookouture.
Catherine now lives in Glasgow with her American husband. She has two grown-up children – one of whom lives, very conveniently, in Berlin – and a lifelong addiction to very loud music.
