In The Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin

By Erik Larson

In 1933, Professor William E. Dodd became ambassador to Germany just as Hitler was coming to power. He brought along his wife and two adult children to live with him in Berlin.  The story rests mostly on Dodd and his daughter Martha, who both kept journals during their stay.

Dodd complains constantly about paperwork, waste, and lack of respect.  Great of him to notice, but he only took the post to have more time to write a multi-volume history of the American South. It's hard to have sympathy for him when people are disappearing to concentration camps or getting beat up in the streets for not using the Nazi salute.

Martha is narcissistic and amoral.  She attaches herself to the local Nazi leaders, and seems shocked at their brutality, but doesn't seem to care enough to stop partying.  Martha meets up with a married Russian diplomat, has an affair with him, and would have developed into a world class spy if she actually knew anything.

I enjoyed reading this despite the fact that I thought the Dodds were Ugly Americans. I had no idea how much Jews were hated even by people in FDR's cabinet. No wonder people looked the other way... no one cared if a few Jews were imprisoned or abused.

The Innocent

By David Baldacci

Will Robie, a government assassin, has been set up.  Fourteen-year-old Julie has just witnessed her parent's murders.  Together, they narrowly escape a blown-up bus, and grudgingly work together to see if somehow their problems are related.

I haven't read a book like this in a long time.  I had a boyfriend in college who got me hooked on Ludlum & Cussler, but that was another lifetime.  My book club chose this story, because one of the members loves this author...  this book reminded me of why I enjoyed those books.  I was a little disappointed in how Robie was occasionally clueless, especially when it came to random women in his building.  For someone who supposedly lived by his wits, his inner alarm was turned off most of the time.  And although I figured out the bad guys about halfway through the story, I still wanted to see how it played out -- that is the sign of a good author.  Just don't expect the plot to be anything than entertainment.