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By a complete coincidence I was due to go to a book signing/talk by Andy McNab even before Auld Yin offered the book for review, more to let my youngest hear him and get new book but more of that in a while.

If you're a fan of Andy McNab you'll quickly realise this recent release is a bit of a different proposition from his previous efforts, and the reasons were made clear at the book event. The book is McNabs first foray into the 3rd person style which makes the book a lot easier to digest (I finished it in two days) and has been created firmly with an eye for the US film/TV market. I liked his explanation that it's like Die Hard that's been put down on its side (it's mainly set in the Channel Tunnel) because film makers like constrained environments, I guess its cheaper to film.
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Two Brothers is now my fiction Book of the Year 2012!

This story is very loosely based on Ben Elton’s own family; it is fiction but his own family’s history is remarkably similar. His grandfather was a refugee from the Nazis and his uncle fought for the British while a cousin of his father fought with the Wehrmacht. Ben Elton has written a fantastic story of two boys growing up in Berlin, in Nazi Germany in the 1920/30s.

I don’t normally like books which have been written as flash-backs but in this one it works perfectly, each part segueing into the other neatly so there is little danger of losing the plot. The plot or rather plots, are very complicated and woven into each other. It starts off in 1956 with an interview with British Intelligence and a former soldier by the name of Stone, formerly Stengel about a letter received from a Stasi officer in East Berlin. Why did Stone get this letter, is he a Russian spy, is he thinking of going over to the other side? This letter is the plot that runs throughout the book. The second plot is about two bothers born on 24 February 1920. There were complications with the birth and the twins that were expected did not materialise as one died in childbirth. However, in the next ward is a baby boy born at the same time whose mother did not survive. The family expecting twins were asked and agreed to take the orphan boy in place of their stillborn. This they did. The family were Jewish, the other woman was pure German. A fact that had absolutely no place in the decisions made at the time. But which would come back to haunt them in later years!

On the same day as the boys were born another birth took place – that of the Nationalsocialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (NSDAP) which came to be known as the Nazi Party.

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This is an easy read whilst being a difficult read. Ok, I know that is a contradiction, but keep following and hopefully it will make sense.

The book is a (fictional) diary of a squaddy, returned from Afghanistan and other places and begins with him leaving the army. Tommy (the character) is full of optimism, hope and trust, and why should he not be? He has faithfully served his country, fought for it and suffered for it. Sadly, his country doesn't give much of a toss.
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