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Aug 25, 2019SuzeParker rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
Following on the heels of The Alice Network, Kate Quinn has again given flesh and bone to lesser-known aspects of WWII. I had never heard of the Soviet Union's WWII 588th Night Bomber Regiment, the "Night Witches," an all-female regiment that flew more than 20,000 combat missions in sluggish, open-cockpit, wood-and-canvas planes. Quinn masterfully pulls together her narrative using a fictional Night Witch pilot, Nina Markova; a composite of two real-life women who figured into the Nazi regime; a couple of committed Nazi hunters (former British war correspondent Ian Graham and Jewish American soldier Tony Rodomovsky); and an ambitious young American woman, Jordan McBride. The book interchanges flashbacks with the characters' lives in the late 1940s and early 1950s when, as people long to forget the terrible war, interest in tracking down and prosecuting former Nazis increasingly winds down. Yet, for their own reasons, Nina and Ian are specifically determined to track down the elusive "Huntress." Besides the story itself and the way Quinn pulled seemingly disparate pieces and people together, the characters are expertly developed. Each is distinct and memorable. This is excellent historical fiction - a solid plot, excellent writing and an ending that was satisfying without being trite. Also, it's well worth reading the author's notes at the end of the book. They provide context and background that make the story even richer.