Historical Fiction Book Reviews

The Black Orchestra, by JJ Toner, is a mesmerizing spy thriller set in Nazi Germany during World War II.

Kurt Muller, an Abwehr signalman, shows up to work and finds that his coworker is dead at his radio receiver. The police barely investigate the death and quickly determine it was a suicide. Kurt doesn’t agree. He begins his own investigation, but not many want him to. Kurt’s inquiry leads him to a German resistance group. Kurt has to choose between his conscience and duty.

Historical fiction thrillers have a lot of moving parts that need to be grounded with […]

Every life is a story in itself. The author, Shirley McLain, proves this with her historical fiction novel Dobyns Chronicles.

Charley Dobyns began his life in northeast Texas, on the Red River. His cowboy father and his Cherokee mother worked hard to provide for Charley and his two younger siblings, David and Viola. In 1888 tragedy struck. Both of his parents died from yellow fever. At the age of sixteen, Charley was the head of the family. His brother was only ten and his sister four. He moved the family to the Chickasaw Territory to stay with friends of […]

Alfred Woollacott didn’t have to look too far from home for an idea about a novel. He turned to his own family tree to find inspiration. While The Immigrant: One from My Four Legged Stool is historical fiction, it’s about his ancestors during the 1600s. His imagined account not only seems plausible, but is a wonderful and enthralling read.

John Law, a Scotsman, is captured by Lord Cromwell’s forces in the seventeenth century during the Battle of Dunbar. Law survives the march to Durham, England. During his imprisonment in England, he is sold as an indentured servant and Law will […]