Book Blurb:
FBI agent Ben Blanchard is angry at God for allowing his wife to die. He’s tasked with investigating a Nazi sabotage operation with a new partner, Vicky, a known German spy who looks strikingly like his late wife…and they’ll be posing as a married couple.
They arrive in the isolated town of Sugar Falls, Ontario, where they find a mysterious lumber mill, a distressed German soprano, and murderous disputes over maple tapping. With outside support cut off, Ben is forced to rely on a shaken faith and a woman he can’t trust in an attempt to stop the Nazis from spreading their poisonous plan.
Rife with grief, deception, swords, songs, and scars, Codename Mermaid is a historical thriller inspired by Beethoven’s 9th, the Ode to Joy.
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Editorial Review:
I wasn't sure about anything, except that life takes away the things you love most and leaves you all alone to suffer. This day was no exception.
Codename: Mermaid by Michael James Emberger is a curious yet succinct book, especially in the style of writing. Emberger affinity for short descriptive sentences as opposed to fluid long passages is unique and does quite well in the setting of this book. A reader gets a clear and concise view of the characters and the conflicts within the narrative, which lends to an enjoyable read.
We are introduced to quite a number of characters, four, as a matter of fact – Ben Blanchard, the ex-FBI agent who is struggling with grief after losing his wife in an unexpected accident and trying to raise his young daughter on his own. When he receives a request to return to the field, that he is the only one who can complete this next assignment, he is intrigued by the vague reasons and accepts. When he finds out the real reason behind the request, that his new partner, Vicky, is a dead ringer for his late wife, and the FBI wants the two of them to continue the ruse that they are a happily married couple visiting Sugar Falls Ontario on a work assignment, Ben struggles with his feelings towards Vicky and about his own grief. Oh, and there is one other thing.... Vicky is a suspected Nazi spy... so Ben has to watch his back at all times.
Outwardly, I was clothed in the uniform of my country. The decorations of the Reich displayed my loyalty. My hair, my eyes, and my fair skin were prized by the ideology of my government. Karl praised my voice and my beauty. I was a good German woman. But my heart did not belong to them. It never had. It never would.
They arrive in Sugar Falls, all with a backstory, to investigate a lumber mill with suspected ties to a covert operation by the Nazis to insert poisonous gas canisters into the utility poles shipped across the country and into the US, all set with charges ready to detonate at an appointed time by Nazi officer, Karl, and his “fake” wife and accomplice, Kirsten. However, with the chapters switching back and forth between Ben's POV and Kirsten's POV, you get a real insight into the realities of both of these characters. While Ben struggles with his feelings for Vicky, Kirsten makes her feelings for Karl well known, as well as her feelings about the abhorrent plans of the Nazi party. Karl is abusive and takes sadistic pleasure in challenging Kirsten to duels with a sword, leaving her injured on more than one occasion. But Kirsten's true love is God and the power of music (she being a former soprano), since she left Germany under duress after coming under Karl's influence when he saw her performing onstage. She determines to undermine the plot in any way she can... and ultimately comes in contact with Ben and Vicky.
The orchestra opened the fourth movement with brilliant fanfare. Basses and cellos played low together, and then the woodwinds and brass. Soft. Gentle. The music caressed me. It had been too long. I closed my eyes. I could sense the presence of the orchestra around me. The audience was before me, eager and waiting with bated breath. There was a slight pause, and then the conductor ushered in that beloved melody with utmost care. Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, Ode to Joy. Of all the pieces I'd ever sung, it was my favorite. It stirred my soul like no other.
Ultimately, this story is about faith, lost and found, and how music inspires people's hearts and souls. Emberger does a good job of weaving this theme throughout the novel and giving us a glimpse into the minds and hearts of these four characters whose lives are inextricably linked together. For the most part, Kirsten's story stood out more to me than Ben's, as when the chapters reverted to her POV, the way her character expressed her deep feelings and true self felt more dimensional than Ben's. And, to be sure, the ending is quite unusual and helped explain the title of the book... in a sort of obtuse sort of way – more fantastical than believable, but relevant to Kirsten's faith-based heart, which also aids Ben's healing in his grief. In the end, they all get what is coming to them and leave the reader vacillating between satisfaction and uncertainty. For anyone who loves WW2 books and stories about Nazi espionage, possible plots against the Allies, as well as villainous people contrasted with divine faith, then this is the book for you.
How small was I, standing on the shore of this little puddle? How small was our world and all its problems? We seemed insignificant compared to the untold mysteries of that great expanse. It tugged at my heart and I shed a tear as a verse came to mind. I spoke it to the frigid air. “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.” My breath rose and disappeared, and I knew He heard me, up there in the quiet. I felt it, deep down. “Lord, I'm here,” I said. “Please don't forget me.”
*****
“Codename: Mermaid” by Michael James Emberger receives 4 stars from The Historical Fiction Company
Author Bio:
Michael James Emberger is an author of thrillers and suspense residing in Wilton, NH. He enjoys weaving narratives of conspiracy and misguided intentions around divisive topics. Where there is debate, there is always room for a villain with goals far out of alignment from either side. Michael is a graduate of Messiah College, where he studied Engineering and met his wife racing solar cars cross-country. When he’s not working on home renovations or writing, he enjoys visiting the ocean and exploring the majesty of God’s creation on the summits of New Hampshire’s mountains.
