⭐⭐⭐⭐✨ (4.5 stars) Erika Robuck brings to life the extraordinary true story of Dickey Chapelle in The Last Assignment, and what a life it was. Chapelle’s daring career as a war correspondent—charging straight into combat zones when most would run the other way—makes for a fascinating and often humbling read. It’s the kind of story that leaves you looking at your own life and thinking… well, maybe I’ll just stay safely on my couch with a good book. Robuck does a wonderful job capturing both the grit and the inner drive of a woman who refused to live small. There’s a strong sense of purpose woven throughout the narrative, a reminder […]
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Rumrunners, Code Breakers, and One Wild Chase Down the Florida Coast
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Erika Robuck’s The Last Twelve Miles is a thrilling Prohibition-era showdown between two real women—one a 5’2” code-breaking genius, Elizebeth Smith Friedman, cracking smuggler codes for the U.S. Coast Guard; the other, Marie Waite, a fierce and calculating rumrunner determined to rule the high seas. Both are brilliant, fearless, and driven—just on opposite sides of the law. Robuck captures the grit and glamour of the 1920s beautifully, from smoky D.C. offices to the perilous waters off Florida and Cuba. The alternating perspectives pull readers into the minds of two masterminds—Elizebeth’s quiet intellect and Marie’s ruthless ambition. The tension builds as their paths tighten into a deadly cat-and-mouse chase that feels cinematic […]
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Amy’s Picks and Pans, Issue 24
Such a month of great reading! It’s rare I have three 5-star ratings. Demon Copperhead, Hinds’ Feet on High Places, and Go as a River were so spectacular and so different. I found a couple of new authors to follow, but I was also disappointed by two of my favorite authors—William Kent Krueger and Daniel Silver. Don’t worry… I’m not counting them out! See if you can find something to add to your TBR list this month. Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver “The wonder is that you could start life with nothing, end with nothing, and lose so much in between.”—Barbara Kingsolver, Demon Copperhead. This is my third book by […]
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Sisters of Night and Fog
“Like the devil, the Nazis know that to divide is to control and conquer.” ― Erika Robuck, Sisters of Night and Fog. Told in alternating chapters, Sisters of Night and Fog follows two very different women as they risk it all for the French Resistance. American Virginia d’Albert-Lake lives in France during the German occupation. She, her French husband, Philippe, and others work to save Allied pilots. Meanwhile, nineteen-year-old Englishwoman Violette Bushell marries French Legionnaire Étienne Szabo. When he leaves to fight the Germans in Egypt, she joins Winston Churchill’s Special Operations Executive and goes undercover in France. The two women meet when they are arrested and taken to Fresnes Prison near […]
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