Overcoat,The

 Author's Summary

I would like to have a couple of points made about this book. THE OVERCOAT
 
1; the character of Charlene in this book represents a lot of the character that makes this area special and the heritage of the Midwest special.
 
This character Charlene endures nearly impossible circumstances to live to her eighties and leave a heritage of warmth, love, a witness of strength of character through her life, daughter, and grandsons.
 
This individual could be recognized by many of your readers and they will attest to the above statements. All of the tragedies are real but the circumstances have been changed for purposes of the fictional plot of the mystery novel. The struggles of character Charlene are almost impossible to believe and the depiction through the historical fiction style makes the telling of this story easier to divulge the magnitude of pain and suffering in this manner.
 
The book was written to make a source of knowledge for heirs of the main Character in the book.
 
The family which this historical fiction is based had nearly been lost through the years. The ability to find information about the family tree is left to searching historical museums as very few acquaintances might know much information. The current generations will have very limited access to information in 20 years when there interests start to peak.
 
My next book will be an intense  biography which is nearly complete as we speak and will be based on the daily logs of the trench warfare of WW1 veteran about his personal time in war with written experiences by and of Oscar Dahlgren of Nora Township , Lowry, and Pope County. Every effort is being made to represent the actual feeling and stresses of the war by duplicating the journals as written. The journals surfaced within the last five years and are very valuable, fragile and very old. The book will preserve this piece of history for ever. 
 
Additional research at Pope County Historical Museum found a similar report of some of the same incidents mentioned in these journals of other local WW1 hero's. This set of journals includes a lot of mention of other local WW1 soldiers from this area. The hero's of this era are now down to one living soldier alive as we speak. The details of this war are compelling and worth understanding for us to understand the character of our families that sacrificed so much for our freedom and good life we now have.
 
Further research is planned to see if a map of Oscar Dahlgren's war encounters can be put together to add proximity to the cities in a map for Belgium and France that his Company had been engaged in warfare activities. Some of the communities listed in the Journals were completely destroyed and the maps aren't listing the old names.
 
The title of the next book will be "CARRY ON Pvt Dahlgren"

MWSA Review

At the height of World War I on the German border near the Argonne Forrest, a frightened woman hides in a factory across the street from the ruins of a bombed hotel. She sews documents into the lining of an overcoat owned by a wounded German soldier. The daughter of the man who owned the hotel, she realizes that her father's connection to a secret organization has led to his death -- and that she too is in danger. The story revolves around the Penta Society's cat and mouse search for the secrets hidden in the overcoat.
 
The design of this book supports the content. The cover art is rendered in shades of gray and white incorporating photos from the era. The many pictures create a mood and a sense of time and place, however, it's not clear if they actually illustrate the story.
 
The Overcoat is a well-researched and plausible tale peopled with believable characters. For having been written by a man, the women are well-developed and genuine. However, like many books that stretch over time and location, many characters seem like stage props -- there to perform their part of the plot, and then gone.
 
This is a particularly interesting book given the relative scarcity of recent books focusing on World War I. The tale holds its own with other Historical Fiction stories -- interweaving the horror of war with intrigue and suspense.  Larsen's prose is readable and the story is appropriate for those interested in World War I and could be enjoyable for young adults.

Reviewed by: Joyce Faulkner (2010)