The Soul Of A Thief

By Steven Hartov

As the end of World War Two nears, a young German soldier concealing his Jewish heritage plots an escape from his commander and the war – and plans to bring his commander's mistress with him.

Atmospheric and intense, The Soul of a Thief captures the turbulent emotional rush of those caught behind the lines of Occupied France, where one false step could spell death, and every day brings a new struggle to survive.

In the spring of 1944, I realised that I was not going to survive the war…

Shtefan Brandt, adjutant to a colonel of the Waffen SS, has made it through the war so far in spite of his commander's habit of bringing his staff into combat, and a pair of secrets that is far more dangerous than the battlefield. Shtefan is a Mischling and one of the thousands of German citizens of Jewish descent who have avoided the death camps by concealing themselves in the ranks of the German army. And he is in love with Gabrielle Belmont, the colonel's French mistress. Either of those facts could soon mean his end, were Colonel Erich Himmel to notice.

Colonel Himmel has other concerns, however. He can see the war's end on the horizon and recognises that he is not on the winning side, no matter what the reports from Hitler's generals may say. So he has taken matters into his own hands, hatching a plot to escape Europe. To fund his new life, he plans to steal a fortune from the encroaching Allies. A fortune that Shtefan, in turn, plans to steal from him…

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Australia
• Release date: May 1, 2018
• ISBN: 9781489263414

Steven Hartov

STEVEN HARTOV is the coauthor of the New York Times bestseller In the Company of Heroes, as well as The Night Stalkers and Afghanistan on the Bounce. For six years he served as Editor-in-Chief of Special Operations Report. He has appeared on CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, FOX, and most recently the History Channel’s Secret Armies. A former Merchant Marine sailor, Israeli Defense Forces paratrooper and special operator, he is currently a Task Force Commander in the New York Guard. He lives in New Jersey.

Reviews for The Soul Of A Thief

[reluctanttechie · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

An engaging, different look at World War II through the eyes of a young reluctant soldier and a vivid portrayal of the war's cruelty and violence. I was rooting for Shtefan to pull through despite his pessimism that he would survive the war and that his love Gabrielle would also. Excellent addition to the wealth of books on WWII.

[cherylk_44 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I wanted to like this book. In fact, I was ready to dive right into this book. It had the right time period that I enjoy reading. This story started out slow but I was fine with the slow start. It gave me a good chance to get to know the characters. Yet, this is one of the problems I had with this book. I never felt like I was able to connect with the characters or the story. In the hopes that this would change, I kept reading. After getting a third of the way into the story and still not feeling a improvement, I put this book down. Such a disappointment as I feel like there could be something great underneath this all.