#BlogTour ‘Amalie’ by E.J Wood

Huge thanks to the awesome Zoe O’Farrell, book blogger extraordinaire, who has branched out into blog tours!
She has joined up with independent publishers, Question Mark Press so go and say hello, and, if you’re of a mind, join up for future blog tour spots!

One of the first titles for consideration, is ‘Amalie’ by E.J Wood

About the book… 

THEY MURDERED FAMILIES. THE FUHRER CANNOT PROTECT THEM NOW.

It’s not wise to murder the family of a budding assassin. Created by Auschwitz, her skill is honed by revenge.

A very different type of serial killer is loose in 1950s Europe. In Britain, a Brotherhood of powerful men takes notice and enhances the expertise and artistry of a killer.
DCI John Owen was born to serve. Recruited by MI6, he tracks an accomplished executioner whose love of luxury and the arts is second only to the love of watching an early death come to those who truly deserve it.

Join the chase. Then ask yourself…
Can there ever be only one winner?

Amalie’s progress through the latter half of the Twentieth century has a thread running through it of moral culpability and the nature/nurture of evil. The anti Anne Frank, this is a traumatised and abused young girl whose formative years are spent hiding, on the run and then imprisoned, first in Auschwitz and then in a brutal orphanage.

Her letters to the English side of the family,recovered from the remains of her childhood home after the Auschwitz liberation by Allied Forces gives Amalie an escape route to post war England.

Her uncle, William, plays a Professor Higgins role in getting this child with her adult sensibilities and associated traumas, to be inserted in the 1950’s society of London. Interwoven with this acclimatisation, are key events from the decades as they pass. As Amalie moves from one to the next, she leaves a swathe of bodies behind her, actions which catch the attention of M16 as well as a masonic-esque organisation named The Brotherhood, who want to bring her down or use her as the ultimate assassin.

Was Amalie created in the ashes of Auschwitz? Was her experience of losing all her family, seeing the unbearable numbers of deaths on a daily basis which forged her into a sword of vengeance against those who stood by, whose defence was ‘I was only doing my job’?

Although the cover of the book makes it look like a horror novel, it is more an adaptation of historical fiction, which fits a wide expanse op time and events into its pages. The syntax and grammar is sometimes clumsy, and the characterisation of John Owen, the nemesis of our ‘heroine’, is thin, the sense you get from the story, and Amalie herself, is that she bears witness to, and claims justice for her people. It is a challenging read as the author does not shy away from the horrors of the Second World War, but, then , neither shoudl she.

As she states in her afterword, we live in a day and age where freedom of speech means people can stand up and say that the Holocaust never happened.

And as long as there are people saying things such as this, there will be so many standing up to shout them down, keep the memory of the worst atrocity ever committed by humans alive so that the deaths of millions are afforded the proper and correct respect. Often you will also hear ‘that was such a long time ago, why do we have to keep learning about it?

My response would be that well known phrase, that those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. And until we can be fully sure that this cannot happen again, it is al our collective responsibility to call out ignorance, derision and ‘dismissal of genocide around the world. What is happening in other countries makes it clear that it is still continuing, the religious and cultural persecution which has claimed so many lives. And for that reason, books like Amalie remain important, as, if we could, wouldn’t we want vengeance on those whose humanity is so lacking that they can lead others to their deaths?

This is what makes Amalie such a complex creature-is she the product of her experiences? Without the influence of her uncle , would she have gone further and done worse in the name of revenge? And, is she wrong to want to wreak havoc on those who see her as a weak woman, ripe for picking off the vine?

An interesting and layered read, this leaves the reader with lots of questions.

About the author…

She’s just a storyteller!

E.J. Wood is a thriller writer from England.
Although British born, she now resides in Spain, speaks English, and Spanish, and is currently learning German.

Her brand new novel, AMALIE has been described as ‘Brilliant and fascinating’, and available for 0.99p as pre-order until the 15th of April.

Her debut, Beyond the Pale, a psychological thriller will be re-released later in 2021.

Links-http://www.ejwoodauthor.com/

https://www.questionmarkpress.com/

Twitter @E_J_Wood @QuestionPress