Above All Earthly Powers

Things have not gone well in post WWII Berlin. The swastika is replaced by the hammer and the sickle but fear and oppression remain. It's now 1961 and over a decade and a half has passed since the Schumaker's narrowly escaped Russian rule. But here they are back in Berlin under the Soviet regime. Josef is dead. Konrad is presumed dead. The Hadamar Six have been taken from them. Only Mady, Lisette, and Elyse - Mady and Josef's daughter. and one of the Six - remain together. But all is not lost. The Six have been regathered in a facility called K7 and are watched over by a kindly caretaker. With the help of an American colonel, Mady and the rest attempt to complete Josef's vision, and save the Hadmar Six once and for all. But it will not be easy. The impenetrable force of the Berlin Wall stands in their way. And ghosts from the past arise to either haunt or help in the mission. In an intricate tie-in, the prologue and epilogue of each book takes place in 1989 right after the fall of the Wall. Foes of the past make one last rise to crush them, but freedom will prevail. The legacy of Josef Schumaker lives on. Jack Cavanaugh is the best historical fiction writer I have read. He weaves a powerful story through the years like no other, beginning with the rise of Naziism and ending with the fall of Communism. The story is tightly-paced, the characters are compelling and many. More could be said about how each of the characters first mentioned in the first two books fit into this concluding chapter, but not without ruining the surprises that make the story so compelling.

Even though World War II has come to an end, little has changed in Berlin. While the Swastika has been replaced by the Hammer and Sickle, and soldiers by secret police, life of oppression and fear remains. When Mady Schumacher learns of the location of the six disabled orphans her now deceased husband, Josef, had cared for, Mady and a long-time friend, Konlon, dream up an elaborate plan to break the kids out of the mental institution they have been placed in. After they rescue the children, they hope to smuggle them over the Berlin Wall and eventually take them to America. Unfortunately, before they can even get the kids out the institution, things start to go wrong. Will what follows be a blessing or a curse? ABOVE ALL EARTHLY POWERS is a heart wrenching story about the struggles which residents of East Berlin faced behind the Berlin Wall. The characters in the story are very well developed, instantly drawing the reader in. You become acquainted and fall in love with blind `Tomcat' and follow him around as he is able to escape the mental institution and find his friends, tell them where he and the other five have been hidden, and then his return back to the institution to wait for `the rescue'. Even though ABOVE ALL EARTHLY POWERS is book three in the Songs of the Night series, it easily stands alone. Readers might want to pick up the first two books While Mortals Sleep and His Watchful Eye just to find out what happened prior to this story though. While the Berlin Wall was in existence since before I was born, I do remember the day it came down. In Grand Rapids, Michigan, they have a portion of the wall on display, and it was awesome to be able to touch a huge piece of history like that. Having experienced the sheer magnitude of the `small piece' of the wall that the museum had, it had to be a daunting job to dream up escape attempts and then try to carry them out with armed guards ready to shoot without warning. --- reviewed for Christian Bookshelf by Laura V. Hilton