The Escape Game by Marilyn Turk Book Review

About the Book:

A Board Game Holds Keys to Prisoners’ Escape
 
Full of intrigue, adventure, and romance, this series celebrates the unsung heroes—the heroines of WWII.
 
After the Nazis started the bombing blitz of England, Beryl Clarke puts her college on hold to return to Leeds, care for her mother, and work as a secretary at the Waddington game company. While she endures the war at home, her brother James fights the enemy in the air. When he is shot down, injured, and captured, James meets American POW Kenneth Anderson, and they plan to escape the Nazi prison camp. Beryl knows there is a board game with escape plans being delivered to POWs by the Red Cross. But how will the men discover the game’s secret?

You can watch the book trailer here.

My Review:

The narrative focuses on two aspects of WW II, alternating between them. One aspect in life in Leeds, England. We follow a young woman, Beryl, and her mother as they endure air raids and bomb shelters. Beryl works at the board game company so that provides the link to the secret method of helping prisoners escape the German POW camps. The other aspect of the novel follows the experiences of an American who had volunteered to fly for England before the U.S. entered the war. The historical information contained in those two parts of the novel may not be anything new as Turk was not writing about anyone in particular but used the written accounts of many to create the story.

The unique part of this historical novel was the use of a game to send secret messages to POWs. It was a clever way to provide resources for an escape in a way that the Germans would not recognize. This does not come into the book until well past three quarters so most of the book is rather generic WW II experiences.

This is a good book for readers who like to read about WW II experiences based on a compilation of written accounts with a little near the end on the unique use of a game.

My rating: 4/5 stars.

About the Author:

Marilyn Turk loves to study history, especially that of lighthouses and the coast of the United States. To date, she had written the Coastal Lights Legacy series – four Civil War era historical fiction books set around Florida lighthouses, and two historical suspense stories set in WWII America, The Gilded Curse and Shadowed by a Spy. Her historical romantic novella, The Wrong Survivor, is part of the Great Lakes Lighthouse Brides Romance Collection. In addition she has written Lighthouse Devotions – 52 Inspiring Lighthouse Stories, based on her popular lighthouse blog. (@ https://pathwayheart.com)

The Florida resident and Louisiana native is a graduate of LSU’s School of Journalism. After moving from the Atlanta area to Florida, Marilyn retired from a career in food service sales and began her next career as a writer. Her work has appeared in a number of inspirational publications including Guideposts magazine, A Joyful Heart, A Cup of Christmas Cheer, Daily Guideposts, The Upper Room, Clubhouse Jr. Magazine, Chicken Soup for the Soul, and Lighthouse Digest magazine. You can find out more at https://pathwayheart.com/. 

Barbour, 256 pages.

I received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher. My comments are an independent and honest review.

(My star ratings: 5-I love it, 4-I like it, 3-It's OK, 2-I don't like it, 1-I hate it.)