APRIL IN PARIS by Michael Wallner

Note: I am not a paid reviewer, and I have purchased this title to read for my personal enjoyment.

Young German soldier Roth escapes the reality of his duties translating Gestapo torture sessions by wandering the streets of occupied Paris as Antoine, his secret French persona. He falls in love with French resistance operator Chantal, is caught by the Gestapo, and becomes the tortured prisoner he formerly beheld. German author Wallner’s first person account requires some suspension of disbelief as events leave Roth stuck between two worlds and, ultimately, unfit for either. Well-drawn settings and nicely done narratives, and intriguing parallel perspectives of the ruling Nazis in occupied Paris and of the nerve-racking existence of resisters who must in the end resort to totalitarian brutality somewhat akin to their oppressors, made it a satisfying read.