Unhinge the Universe
Give me one fixed point and a long enough lever, and I'll unhinge the universe. — Archimedes December 1944 – The Battle of the Bulge SS Lieutenant Hagen Friedrichs is the sole survivor of a party sent to retrieve his brother—and the highly sensitive information he’s carrying—from behind enemy lines. But his daring rescue attempt fails, and Hagen becomes the prisoner. Allied command has ordered Captain John Nicholls to extract critical intelligence from their new Nazi POW. His secrets could turn the tide of the war, but are they real? John is determined to find out . . . and to shatter the prisoner who killed his lover during the attack on their tiny base. The deeper he digs, though, the more he realizes that the soldier under the SS uniform is just like him: a scared, exhausted young man who’s lost loved ones and just wants to go home. As captor and captive form an unexpected bond, the lines quickly blur between enemy, friend, and lover. And as horrifying rumors spread from the front lines and American soldiers turn their sights on the SS for vengeance, John may be Hagen’s only hope for survival.
*Spoiler-free!
Reading a Voinov book is always a unique experience! Unhinge the Universe is taking place in the climax of the Second World War somewhere in the French countryside .
Hagen is a fierce German officer, an SS soldier on a mission to find his
brother Major Siegfried Friedrichs and the information he holds, when he is
captured he comes face to face with John Nicholls a captain of the American
army and his interrogator.
John is decoder, a man that exploits
weakness and he is determined to break Hagen down, to degrade him and uncover secrets that might finish the
war. But step by step John becomes protective of this captive, he is interested
in his well being and he undertakes the great obligation
of bringing him to safety.
Watching those two MC’s interact is like watching a game of chess, decoding words and gestures, making a step and withdrawing, giving up and retrieving power. Even the sexual play was –initially- a well balanced tool of persuasion.
“”The blade caught there, held for a second, and the thread snapped. It
was a quiet snap, but Hagen somehow thought all the tension in the room would
release with it, Instead it only bore down on him harder.””
I felt very intrigued by Hagen’s character,
he was full of life, full of anger and fire and he thought he was
indestructible until he met John. I tried to get in his mind and in his heart, how he might
feel, or how any German soldier in his place might have felt; believing that
they are fighting on the right side and then realizing the futility of it, trying to survive or be true to a
country that is untruthful. Hagen was giving up but never really surrentering and always maintaining his integrity.
“”Now, he was the prodigal dog who’d broken
his tether, run a few yards, and come trotting back with his tail between his
legs when he realized he was better off with his master. John had vowed to shatter him. He’d
succeeded. And now….what would he do with the pieces?””
I loved the way Hagen handled John’s injury
and the scene at the hospital was breathtaking…. Plus I love their letters, so breathtaking vulnerable and so plain beautiful.
“”When I am released, will you come for me?””
I'm quite familiar with the way A. Voinov writes (can't say the same about L.A Witt but I will try to remedy that), I know that he can be poetic and I know that his words can be cut like steel but in this book the writing seems almost lyrical even when
handling tough subject of captivity, bloodshed and war.
* This ARC was provided by Netgalley for an honest review.
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