AUTHOR: Daniel DeLacy
PUBLISHER: Self-published
APPROXIMATE LENGTH: 318 pages (97,500 words)
Recommended for fans of non-romanticized historical fiction, spy novels/military thrillers, and stories of World War II intrigue such as the 2008 film Valkyrie
GENRE
Historical Fiction/Thriller
Stormbringer
revolves around a British spy in Nazi Germany during the early days of World
War II. Interspersed throughout the book are historical facts and reports from
CBS correspondent William L. Shirer, which show the historical context
surrounding the primary story.
Stormbringer is
the first book of a series and ends with something of a cliffhanger, although
one gets the sense that the story is relatively self-contained.
PACE
This is a tightly written, plot-driven book that moves very
quickly from scene to scene. There are no blow-by-blow action sequences,
lengthy dialogues, or detailed descriptions of settings. Instead, the narrative
focuses on what’s happening and why, and thus a lot can happen in only a few
chapters. The tension and intrigue surrounding the main character’s mission
make this book a fascinating page-turner.
PERSPECTIVE
First person past tense and third person omniscient. The
book is written in the form of a memoir, as though the main character, Robert
Leroy Parker, were reflecting back upon his time as a spy. Thus, the majority
of the narration is in first person, but every so often the book switches to
third person omniscient to describe the bigger picture of what’s going on in
Europe during this historical period.
CONTENT REVIEW
Stormbringer opens
with an enticing hook: a torture scene in which the unnamed first person
narrator is repeatedly asked, “Who are you?” In this story of deception and duplicity,
the answer to that question is anything but straightforward.
Following this prologue, we are introduced to Robert Leroy
Parker, a British con man who adopted multiple aliases and pilfered millions of
dollars from the Spanish government by his mid-twenties. One day in 1938, he is
apprehended by the British government, which is well aware of his activities, and
offered a job: to infiltrate the German military as a deep cover spy. Knowing
that refusal would mean having to answer for his theft, and perhaps driven by a
touch of idealism, Parker accepts.
Adopting the identity of one Michael Krause, a German
American supposedly drawn back to the fatherland out of a patriotic desire to
aide the Reich, Parker starts out as a translator for the Foreign Intelligence
Collection Department but eventually finds himself, ironically, becoming
something of a Nazi hero after participating in a number of missions, including
the one that started World War II. In watching Parker’s rise, it is easy to
forget that he is, in fact, a foreign spy and not and the up-and-coming young
officer he masquerades as. Parker himself says that in the propaganda-filled
environment he lives in, the ideology is “impossible to escape, even in your
mind” and bluntly tells the reader not to “feel too superior.” Nevertheless,
the dangers of his double identity constantly loom over him—he is nearly killed
as a German spy while in Poland even though he was in that country to rescue
two Polish scientists.
Throughout the book, there are several instances in which
Parker directly addresses his readers, challenging them for presumably judging
him and toying with their expectations. Oftentimes while reading, I felt as
though I was in a room with Parker as he recounted his tale, for his voice
comes across as genuine and relatable. Irreverent and witty, arrogant and yet
and fully aware of his own flaws, Parker really comes alive and engages the
reader in a way that makes it easy to forget that he is a fictional character.
At times, Parker comes across as defensive or torn as he
tries to remember who he really is even though his life often depends on his
complete immersion into a regime he finds despicable and ridiculous. At one
point, while dressed as a Nazi officer, Parker is appalled at the sight of
several Aryan boys tormenting a Jewish child and intervenes, then buys the
child candy and takes him home. Only after the fact does he realize that this
well-intentioned attempt to hold on to his own inner goodness might have caused
irreparable damage by teaching the Jewish child to associate Nazis with
kindness. Parker does not spend a lot of time dwelling on his role in starting
a war that would go on to become one of the most unspeakable atrocities in
human history, but moments like that give the reader the sense that he nevertheless
harbors a lot of regret and add an element of tragedy to his otherwise
caper-ish character.
Although Parker is a work of fiction, most of the events
detailed in Stormbringer are based on
well-researched historical facts, from Kristallnacht to the invasion of Poland.
Parker’s “on the ground” close-up view of his life and missions during this
tumultuous time is wrapped in concise, textbook-like descriptions of the historical
context. Many historical figures make cameo appearances in this story,
including Winston Churchill, Clause von Stauffenberg, and the Fuhrer himself.
Like any book, Stormbringer
is not without flaws. At times, the third-person historical descriptions
feel somewhat lengthy or intrusive, as they take the reader away from the
primary story. There are also moments in which Parker’s narration grows
distant, simply stating the facts of what happened rather than allowing the
reader to get into his head. But overall, the book deftly handles the dichotomy
of the character’s personal experience and monumental historical events he is
involved in.
Between Parker’s involvement in events such as Operation
Himmler, the Nazi operation to create the appearance of Polish aggression and
thus justify Germany’s subsequent invasion, and the third person descriptions,
DeLacy has created a historical thriller that is at once gripping and
informative, surreptitiously educating the reader while entertaining.
Stormbringer is
anything but a run-of-the-mill spy story. It takes a realistic, down-to-earth
approach to its subject matter and avoids romanticizing the war or Parker’s
role in it. The military and political drama juxtaposed with Parker’s
tongue-in-cheek sense of humor give this book all the elements of a thoroughly enjoyable
read.
THE NITPICKY STUFF
There are a handful of typos, but nothing too distracting.
The writing itself is polished and fluid, and there are no spelling or grammar
issues.
There is no table of contents. The book is organized by
chapters, and within each chapter, it is organized by dates and times.
There is some adult language, a handful of violent scenes
(such as a description of a battle), and a few sex scenes, but nothing graphic
or gruesome. In fact, the sex scenes are largely offhand mentions by the main
character. There is one torture scene that some may find disturbing, but the
descriptions are matter-of-fact and avoid extraneous detail.
AUTHOR INFO
Daniel DeLacy is a British author who was inspired to write about World War II after witnessing the human cost of the Bosnian conflict in the mid-1990s.
