What a very interesting book, purportedly based off of a log book Ranulph Fiennes found in an Antarctic hut this book is the reproduced memoir of a man named Derek Jacobs. Ranulph states it was published as fiction as he and his publisher could not confirm if it was or was not a hoax, however in the epilogue quite a fair bit of detail is gone into in regards to confirmation of events which took place in the memoir. Whether that means it's really true or just a really good hoax remains to be said.

Regardless of whether it is a factual memoir or merely a historical fiction work it is a very vivid and detailed look at what happened to the Jewish people during the Nazi regime in Germany. The work follows the life of Derek Jacobs from working as social worker in places such as Cambodia and Rwanda, meeting a strange yet familiar face, then learning from his aunt about a childhood in world war 2 Nazi Germany he can no longer remember.

Probably not for the light hearted as it contains genocide, murder, rape, torture - all the things prevalent in Rwanda & Nazi Germany. It is however a very detailed look at the darker side of humanity and I found the epilogue of particular interest in regards to the dissection of 'how could this happen?'

Would recommend for any one with an interest in memoirs, history, the holocaust, Germay/ww2, human nature; or someone looking for a particularly realistic historical thriller, as that is what it is at heart in whole. ( )

Unabridged audio with spoken narrator Christopher Kay.
Notes on narrator: Mature English male, quiet authoritative voice. Surrey? Measured delivery. Similar style to traditional (e.g. 1950s) BBC announcer (slightly distracting; reminds of sports results).
Adequate pronunciation of foreign names.

This story is well-suited to audio narration because with so much speech and dialogue, a skilled spoken narrator can bring each role to life. Some listeners may prefer a female spoken narrator for long speeches by women characters.

The interleaving of narratives was a little confusing late on in the grimly thrilling moments as the narrator is closing in on the men responsible for the murder of his relatives. It's understandable that the narrator reports his thoughts of the horrors that were recounted to him as a way to draw courage and humility in his own difficult and desperate times. ( )