BLOG TOUR: Conspiracy of Blood and Smoke

Conspiracy of Blood and Smoke 
by Anne Blankman

416 pages

Publisher: Balzer + Bray

Release Date: April 21st 2015

The girl known as Gretchen Whitestone has a secret: She used to be part of Adolf Hitler’s inner circle. More than a year after she made an enemy of her old family friend and fled Munich, she lives with a kindly English family, posing as an ordinary German immigrant, and is preparing to graduate from high school. Her love, Daniel Cohen, is a reporter in town. For the first time in her life, Gretchen is content. 

But then, Daniel gets a telegram that sends him back to Germany, and Gretchen’s world turns upside-down. And when she receives word that Daniel is wanted for murder, she has to face the danger she thought she’d escaped-and return to her homeland.

Gretchen must do everything she can to avoid capture and recognition, even though saving Daniel will mean consorting with her former friends, the Nazi elite. And as they work to clear Daniel’s name, Gretchen and Daniel discover a deadly conspiracy stretching from the slums of Berlin to the Reichstag itself. Can they dig up the explosive truth and get out in time-or will Hitler discover them first?

Chloe Grace Moretz as Gretchen Müller, an eighteen-year-old student who used to be part of Adolf Hitler’s inner circle. After living in England for over a year, she’s certain that she’s left her old life in Munich behind her forever. But when her love, Daniel, has to return to Germany and then vanishes without a trace, she decides to go after him—even if it means plunging into the nightmares of her past…

Luke Grimes as Daniel Cohen, Gretchen’s nineteen-year-old Jewish beau. When a family tragedy forces him to go to Germany, Daniel is convinced that he can keep himself safe. He’s about to discover that the dangers confronting him are far worse than he had dreamed—and that his past has ensnared him in a deadly conspiracy.

Scarlett Johansson as Monika Junge, a young Berlin prostitute who is shot dead in the street. After Daniel is publicly accused of her murder, he realizes that her death is no random crime. What secrets have been hidden by her assassination? 

 

Liam Neeson as Iron Fist Friedrich, Monika’s former boss and the head of a Ringverein, a gang in Berlin’s organized criminal underworld. Friedrich may be tough and brutal, but he’s also an avowed anti-Nazi and is willing to help Gretchen and Daniel. But what terrible price might they have to pay for his protection? 

Val Kilmer as Hermann Göring, the Minister of the Prussian Interior and a member of Hitler’s Cabinet. Now that all of Berlin’s police forces fall under his jurisdiction, Göring has become one of the most powerful Nazis in the capital. Not even he, though, can eradicate the rumors swirling about him and Monika Junge.

Kevin Spacey as Adolf Hitler, the newly installed Chancellor of Germany. He’s only been in office for a few weeks, and his grip on power is tenuous—at any point, President Hindenburg can have him fired from his post. Ever since their relationship imploded over a year ago, Gretchen has lived in constant fear of him. Now she must decide how far she’s willing to go in order to clear Daniel’s name—and if she can solve the secrets behind the conspiracy that is slowly gathering all of Berlin in a stranglehold.

"We must get out of here immediately," Daniel interrupted, seizing Gretchen's hand. He pulled her out of the office. Somewhere she heard the creaking sound again, but close enough this time that she recognized it--a floorboard whining under someone's weight. They raced into the parlor just as the unmistakable pop and fizzle of gas lights flaring into life sounded from the front hall. As a yellow glow flickered and grew, a black shape dashed through the entryway straight toward them. Gretchen stumbled backward, her heart surging into her hart. Nearby, she heard Daniel cursing and wrenching the pick free from the lock. The shape flew at them, sharpening into the bone-thin, black-dressed figure of Frau Fleischer. She carried an ancient-looking shotgun. Gretchen let out a harsh cry as the landlady swung the weapon up and jammed it against her forehead. "Don't move," Frau Fleischer snapped. "The men will deal with you as soon as they arrive. Now if you so much as breathe, I'll blast your head off."

Then he kissed her. His lips on hers were as light as a breath. And she couldn't stop the horrible thought that his touch felt like a farewell.

And I got permission for an official excerpt, too! It starts in the middle of a scene, so bloggers might want to include the following lead-in/explanation instead of just including the excerpt, okay? Here's the lead-in:

After Daniel finds out he's been framed for a murder in Berlin, he and Gretchen journey to the capital to clear his name. Once they find the boarding house where the victim used to live, they decide to snoop around the office of Frau Fleischer, the landlady. But they're about to discover that the victim was mixed up in something far more dangerous than anything they could have imagined...

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Anne Blankman may have been meant to be a writer because her parents named her for Anne of Green Gables. She grew up in an old house with gables (gray, unfortunately) in upstate New York. When she wasn't writing or reading, she was rowing on the crew team, taking ballet lessons, fencing and swimming. She graduated from Union College with degrees in English and history, which comes in handy when she writes historical fiction.

After earning a master's degree in information science, Anne began working as a youth services librarian. Currently, she lives in southeastern Virginia with her family. When she's not writing young adult fiction, she's playing with her daughter, training for races with her husband, working at her amazing library branch, learning to knit (badly), and reading.

Anne Blankman is the author of PRISONER OF NIGHT AND FOG, the first in a three-book deal slated for publication in spring 2014 from Balzer + Bray | HarperCollins. She is represented by Tracey Adams of Adams Literary.

US Only | Giveaway ends: April 22nd, 2015

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Prisoner of Night and Fog Blog Tour

THE PRISONER OF NIGHT AND FOG

by Anne Blankman

Pages: 352, paperback

Publisher: Headline

Publication Date: April 22nd 2014

Summary

In 1930s Munich, danger lurks behind dark corners, and secrets are buried deep within the city. But Gretchen Müller, who grew up in the National Socialist Party under the wing of her "uncle" Dolf, has been shielded from that side of society ever since her father traded his life for Dolf's, and Gretchen is his favorite, his pet.

Uncle Dolf is none other than Adolf Hitler. And Gretchen follows his every command.

Until she meets a fearless and handsome young Jewish reporter named Daniel Cohen. Gretchen should despise Daniel, yet she can't stop herself from listening to his story: that her father, the adored Nazi martyr, was actually murdered by an unknown comrade. She also can't help the fierce attraction brewing between them, despite everything she's been taught to believe about Jews.

As Gretchen investigates the very people she's always considered friends, she must decide where her loyalties lie. Will she choose the safety of her former life as a Nazi darling, or will she dare to dig up the truth—even if it could get her and Daniel killed?

An Alternate First Scene 

 by Anne Blankman

If you've read my debut novel, Prisoner of Night and Fog, then you know the story is seen entirely from Gretchen Müller's perspective. But did you ever wonder what her love interest, eighteen-year-old reporter Daniel Cohen, thinks the first time he sees her? If you have, then you're in luck because today I'm going to share an alternate first scene from Daniel's POV. Without further ado, here it is...

            The first time Daniel Cohen saw the Nazi princess, she was nothing like he had expected. He stood on the edge of a pool of light cast by a streetlamp, straining to see through the dusk that had fallen across the Briennerstrasse. Farther down the street, a group of men in SA brown ducked into Café Heck. Daniel's heart raced. Hitler was in there. Only a few yards away, yet it might have been miles.

            He took a hesitant step forward. He could go inside the tearoom. Pretend to be an ordinary customer, enjoying his coffee and apple strudel, while all along he eavesdropped on Hitler entertaining his table companions with endless monologues. Maybe Hitler would let slip something incriminating, a crucial detail that could land Daniel the scoop he needed to launch his career—

            A girl's voice pierced the quiet. "Stop!"

            Each of Daniel's senses went on full alert. The cry had come from the alley. Even as he rushed toward the opening between the stone buildings, other passersby hurried there, too, eager to see what was happening.

            Thanks to his tall height, Daniel could easily see over the crowd. Within the alley, a massive teenage boy stood with his arms wrapped around a girl, murmuring in her ear. Their blonde hair gleamed in the dimness. They looked as though they were embracing, until Daniel saw how stiffly the girl held herself, like a stick of wood. She's scared, he realized.

            A man lay at the boy and girl's feet, groaning in pain. He was dressed in the black garb of a Hasidic Jew. Fury, quick and hot, surged through Daniel. Another one of his people, beaten in the street while most Müncheners did nothing. The girl had, though, he remembered. She had screamed at the boy to stop.

            As Daniel watched, the boy released the girl and she stumbled sideways, bracing a hand on the stone wall to steady herself. Then she glanced at the mouth of the alley, her eyes wide and dark, her face pale with fear.

            All the air seemed to rush from Daniel's lungs. He staggered back a step.

            No. It wasn't possible.

            Faintly, he head a policeman talking to the boy, ordering him to move along. The words buzzed in his ears.

            He recognized the girl's face. He'd seen it often enough in the Nazi Party papers, and in the month since he'd moved to Munich he'd heard her name dozens of times, uttered with reverence or disgust depending on whom was speaking.

            The girl was Gretchen Müller. The Nazi Party's golden girl, Hitler's special favorite, the seventeen-year-old daughter of the man who had died to protect him. A spoiled, mindless pet, Daniel had assumed, more of a doll than a person.

            But she had helped a Jew.

            Daniel stood motionless while the crowd broke up and trickled past him. As the blood thundered in his ears, he knew what he had to do, even if it signed his death warrant. It was worth the risk. Judging by what he had just seen, Fräulein Müller might be willing to talk to him, and if his suspicions about her father's death were correct, the ensuing scandal could break the Nazi Party apart. 

            He had to do it. He had to talk to the Nazi princess.  

This was just the first stop on the Prisoner of Night and Fog tour! Don't forget to check out the rest of the posts going up this week!!