VIENNA ON FIRE by Don Gabor - Spotlight

 

Can Greta Kolbe evade a ruthless ex-boyfriend-turned Nazi before she can escape to freedom?

VIENNA ON FIRE  (BlueDanubePress) by Don Gabor tells the compelling story of Greta Kolbe, an eighteen-year-old Jewish woman whose comfortable life is upended when Adolf Hitler’s German army storms into Austria on March 12, 1938.

Greta is horrified by crowds of Viennese shouting anti-Semitic slurs as German soldiers herd crying Jewish families into military trucks. She joins the Austrian resistance, passes out anti-fascist leaflets, and paints “free Austria” slogans on walls. After a Gestapo officer threatens to arrest Greta for her role in a bloody prison break, she flees Vienna to the Netherlands for a ship bound for America while her archenemy trails close behind.

Driven by courage, cunning, and determination on her treacherous journey, Greta smuggles diamonds for the German resistance, eludes Hermann Göring's crude advances at his drug-fueled orgy, and fights for her life in a shootout at the German-Dutch border. VIENNA ON FIRE crescendos to a nail-biting climax on the gangplank of a ship only minutes before it departs for New York City.

                                                               *****   

I've read many books about World War II, but this is the first  I've read that focuses on Vienna, Austria.  Every book enlightens me to more people in countries and villages who were affected by the NAZIs. The running theme I've noticed is that the would-be population always thinks, "It'll be okay. Soon they'll leave," but they never leave. Life gets worse and worse, and it's too late before they recognize the evil they are facing.

Don Gabor’s parents wanted him to be an attorney, but instead he became a communications trainer and “small talk” expert. He is the author of the best seller, How to Start a Conversation and Make Friends, plus nine other books and audio programs on networking and interpersonal communication skills. His books have been published by Simon & Schuster, Crown/Random House, McGraw-Hill Education, and others. His titles have also been translated into fifteen languages and have sold twenty-nine foreign rights.

As a frequent media guest, Don Gabor’s books have been featured in hundreds of print, radio, and television interviews, including 60 Minutes: A Few Minutes with Andy Rooney, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and others. The New Yorker called Don “a gifted conversationalist.”

Don founded Conversation Arts Media in 1991. He has presented hundreds of networking and communication workshops to corporations, associations, and small businesses. He has coached individuals in public speaking and non-fiction book writing. Don was also a member of the National Speakers Association for twenty years and was the 2010–2011 president of the New York City chapter.

Since retiring from professional speaking in 2016, he has been researching and writing Vienna on Fire, his first solo novel. He lives in Brooklyn, New York, with his wife, Eileen, and their cat, Ruby.