A sweeping historical thriller spanning decades and continents, The Angel of Hoheneck follows the fortunes of Janek Dabrowski, a young Polish man whose experiences in WWII transform him into a monster, inflicting suffering on those closest to him most of all.

After a prologue set in 1945 Poland, the story moves forward to 2007, Australia. James Llewelyn, a successful businessman, meets Kim at a work dinner and is instantly attracted. When she travels to Berlin on business, a sinister warning from an anonymous female caller spurs James to follow her.

With James and Kim on the move, the story switches back to post-war 1940’s Europe and the life of Janek. He, and his son, Karl, take center stage, and a high-octane series of events lead readers through the decades of their lives in East Germany, building towards a plot for revenge that ultimately coincides with the arrival in Berlin of Kim and James.

There’s copious drama here: betrayal, false imprisonment, deceit, domestic abuse and revenge. Karl’s attempts to escape East Germany with girlfriend Anja, are fast-paced and engaging. As a character, however, Karl lacks agency and his “bumbling exploits” are frustrating to follow. The women in the story are much more interesting, but while Anja’s prison experiences are dealt with in depth, another character, Brigitte, is underdeveloped, despite her key role in the novel’s resolution.

The author employs an intrusive omniscient narrator to tell this story and is over-reliant on foreshadowing to create tension. Repeated warnings of dire future revelations become tedious and distracting. Hyperbolic and clichéd language (variations on “shaken to the core”; “his eyes boring into her”; “two hearts [that] had once beaten as one”) detract from the reading experience. And while the two storylines ultimately converge, the Australian characters are absent from over two-thirds of the book, creating a disappointing disconnect.

Overall, this dark revenge story offers some rewards but would find a larger audience with careful revision.

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