War is hell!  And that is what Charles McCain makes vividly real in his historical novel, AN HONORABLE GERMAN. The reader experiences WWII through the eyes of Max  Breckendorf, German naval officer.  Mr. McCain spent many years carefully researching this period of history and we get the full benefit of his knowledge by his realistic descriptions.  These descriptions with authentic style dialogue kept me terribly aware of how awful war is.  I became Max and felt his suffering, depression, desperation and fear as he struggled to stay alive and also maintain his humanity.
 
The story unfolds on the high seas as Max serves aboard a battleship in 1939 and a merchant raider in 1941.  It will be aboard a U-boat that Max reaches his herioc level and grows to the pinnacle of honorable.  The author also takes us into the lives of civilians who endure as much, if not more, trials as the fighters but without the special attention.  While Max is on leave to heal his battle wounds, he learns lessons of life and law by the Nazis and the Gestapo that his family and loved ones must endure.   There are many forms that the hell of war reveal and each one seems more destructive.
 
AN HONORABLE GERMAN is Charles McCain’s first novel and he has made it one that will be difficult to follow because of his superior writing.  I, for one, am already eagerly waiting to read his next story.  If it is anything like I have just enjoyed, it will be well worth the wait and I anticipate it with high expectations.
 
Reviewed by Mary Lou Stein

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