The German Half-Bloods

The Half-Bloods Trilogy, Book 1

By: Jana Petken

Narrated by: Alistair Davis

Length: 14 hrs and 58 mins

Publisher's summary

Germany, September 1939. At the outbreak of war, Dieter Vogel and his family face catastrophic events and separation as each member embarks on their deadly paths towards survival, love, and freedom.

Dieter Vogel, a German industrialist, believes in protecting his family at all costs, but in a bid to keep his English wife and children safe, he is plunged into a well of deceit that tears the family apart.

Doctor Paul Vogel is coerced into working in the Nazi eugenics program and soon discovers that sterilizing handicapped and mentally-ill Germans is just a prelude to a more lethal plan against those the Reich deem unworthy of life. Paul, trapped by the SS, seeks help from the unlikeliest of people and is plunged into a world of espionage and murder.

British Army Major Max Vogel is attached to the British Intelligence Services and Winston Churchill’s Special Operations Executive. His missions in occupied Europe are fraught with danger, and his adulterous affair with a woman he cannot give up leads him deeper into the quagmire of treachery and lies.

Wilmot Vogel dreams of winning the Iron Cross, but when he confronts a mass killing of Jews in Poland, his idolatry of Hitler is shaken to its roots, and he finds himself imprisoned in the infamous Dachau concentration camp with no release date in sight.

Hannah Vogel has no ambition other than to marry her English fiancé, Frank, before the lines of war are drawn. Against her father’s wishes, she leaves Berlin on the eve of the German invasion of Poland, but when she arrives in England, she learns that Frank is not the civilian engineer he claims to be.

©2018 Jana Petken (P)2019 Cherry Hill Publishing

Loved it

Excellent story. Am very happy it’s a trilogy. Great combination if history and story line.

Loved it!

I do love historical fiction, and this is by far the best I've listened to! This particular story is very interesting to me. I've always wanted to know my family story and how they escaped Germany during the war but have very little info sadly. The family in the story shares my last name. Sadly not my family or their story, but still very cool. I even learned a few things about the Germans I didn't previously know and the terrible things that happened to the Jews. Such a sad a terrible thing to have happened.

Well I've already bought book two and plan to start in the morning. I see there is a book three but not on audio yet. Hopefully soon! Great narration by Alistair Davis. He does an outstanding job with all the different accents and voices. Wonderful story so far by Jana Petken. She has a few other books I plan to check out as well. All are historical fiction.

Exceptional

If you read one book in genres of Historical Fiction, Thriller, Mystery, Intrigue and Epic Saga: This is it!

Intrigue, Horror, Espionage in WWII

Wow! I LOVE historical fiction, but this one . . . this one is fascinating and different. Just when you think you’ve got it figured out, BAM! You don’t. The Vogel family, half English and half German, with loyalties on both sides, will keep you up late listening to their saga. Dieter Vogel, a German, who fought in the Great War is determined to protect his family at all costs. Laurah his wife, a Brit, is soft spoken and close to her four children. When Hannah, their only daughter leaves Germany to marry an Englishman, it breaks their hearts that they cannot attend the wedding. But they are glad that she is safe in England. Wilmot, their youngest, is a soldier serving under Hitler’s regime, hot headed and loose lipped. The twins, Paul and Max are as different as night and day, except for one thing: they are identical physically, and cannot be distinguished one from the other. Max has chosen to be an English citizen, while Paul has remained a faithful German, although he loathes Hitler and what he is doing to his beloved country. While Dieter, owner of a large factory, entertains high level communists in his home, Laura gets increasingly fearful of what is to become of them. The tensions rise and one is never quite sure what will come next in this first book of the Half-Bloods Trilogy. But rest assured, things are not what they appear. Excellent listen! I hope the next two come out on Audible soon!

Won’t play

I can’t review what I can’t play. It won’t move forward. I’d like to listen to what I bought but it simply clicks off when push play.

Great story but can’t tolerate the narrator.

I got as far as chapter 6 and the story itself I think will be a great listen, very interesting.
But I had to return, I just couldn’t stand the narrator’s “voices” a minute longer. The way he changes his voice for the women is grating
And the male characters all sound the same.
Bummed, I was looking forward to a great story .

Great story, but performance a smidge lacking

The story takes its time in character building, carefully weaving in important and factual historical information. Bringing the reader along a little known path of how a monster such as Hitler could- over a decade- find himself with total power amongst good, clever, and educated people of Germany. The performer of this reading does a magnificent job with the male voices however the female voices (except the British ones) were atrocious to the degree of being somewhat insulting. It’s too bad because other than this it was a great audible experience.

good book

decent story. not sorry to read it. fairly detailed to draw your own picture. having trouble finding the 3rd book

Grows on you

First time author for me. Different kind of setting, German father, English mother, two kids live in Germany, two in England and WWII is breaking out.

I wasn’t so sure about the book at the beginning but as the story developed it grew on me.

Loved this story of Germany and this family!

If you enjoy WW in history, you will love this. Amazing story of the Vogel Family. I can't wait to listen to the next book in the series. wonderful narration!