Pros: Interesting premise

Cons:
- One-dimensional characters
- Bad sense of internal time
- Unrealistic dialogue
- The central “love story” is forced and unrealistic

Yet another book with an intriguing premise ruined by mediocre writing and compounded by unrealistic plotting. I don’t even know where to start with this review since the book is so forgettable, nothing stands out. I was drawn in by the first thirty pages or so, which introduce an interesting spy story. Almost immediately afterward, however, things started to go downhill.

The author has a consistent problem with the sense of time in the book where days, weeks, and even months will disappear between paragraphs, but there is no sense in the narrative that this has happened. There is then a ham-fisted attempt to inform readers what has happened through conversations between characters or a quick recap paragraph. Mostly I was left shaking my head as I realized it was suddenly a month later than the prior paragraph.

The characters are also completely one-dimensional, no one on the Allied side has any flaws and all the main bad guys are unrepentantly, cartoonishly evil. I know the other side is literally Nazis, but there is no attempt made to present any semblance of realistic antagonists. Additionally, there are many historical figures who make an appearance in the book, but all feel out of place, as if they were thrown with a wink at the audience but they don’t actually add much to the plot. Additionally, the author must subscribe to medieval beliefs about beauty and goodness because all of the good characters are attractive and all of the bad guys are ugly, in some cases grotesquely ugly as their apparent inner goodness is shown outwardly, which eventually became hilarious as more ugly bad guys were introduced.

Finally, the love story between the two main characters is laughably bad and unrealistic. They take about one page to simply fall in love and it never feels real. There is a half-hearted attempt at explaining why Effi is willing to instantly abandon her marriage and take up with Robert, but it is ridiculous. I was expecting the tension between the two to be a major plot point of the book with the two of them being forced to work together to stay alive and slowly falling in love, but nope, it just happens instantly. The dialogue between them is also very strange and stilted, it often sounds like it is from a 1940s movie. Maybe that is what the author was going for, but it certainly doesn’t work for a modern novel.

I feel bad writing so negatively about this book, mostly it was just mediocre and forgettable. ( )

Good story, believable and interesting characters, many plot twists! ( )

This book is a must read! It’s a can’t put down type of book. So many plot twists and keeps you interested all the way through! Definitely recommend anyone curious about reading this book to go for it! ( )

The East Wind, by Storm Fredrickson, is a good, entertaining read. The book, which is a bit of a throw-back to the older, conventional WWII spy novels, is quite consistent with that genre. The characters and plot, although a bit under-developed at times, have enough plausibility to draw the reader forward through the story. (The tale is certainly not entirely plausible.) Some sections of the book are a bit slow and uneventful, and the end is a bit weak, but I found the overall premise to be original and thoughtful. ( )

Was a great read. I did not put it down. Recommend to all. ( )