An assassin born of death and violation is the most dangerous of all. Cold Lonely Courage tells her story. The action begins during the German Blitzkrieg attack on France in the opening days of World War II. The heroine, Madeleine Toche races to the front to find her brother dying after his unit is destroyed as the Germans advance. Crushed, Madeleine returns his body to her parents. In the months that follow, Madeleine is raped by a Nazi officer. Seeking revenge she kills him and flees to England to volunteer for duty with Britain’s shadowy Special Operations Executive. Trained as an assassin she clandestinely returns to France with Captain Jack Teach a veteran of the SOE ‘Dirty Tricks Department’. They find themselves in love but are torn apart by duty and the insurmountable odds of survival. Madeleine fights on terrorizing the murderous Nazi elite always only one step ahead of capture and torture.
This is the premise of Soren Paul Petrek's new historical fiction novel, Cold Lonely Courage. We had the chance to interview Soren recently to find out more about his new book. Enjoy!
Q: Thank you for this interview, Soren. Can you tell us what your latest book, Cold Lonely Courage, is all about?
Soren: The action begins during the German Blitzkrieg attack on France in the opening days of World War Two. The heroine, Madeleine Toche races to the front to find her brother dying after his unit is destroyed as the Germans advance. Crushed, Madleine returns his body to her parents.
In the months that follow, Madeleine is raped by a Nazi officer. Seeking revenge she kills him and flees to England to volunteer for duty with Britain's shadowy Special Operations Executive. Trained as an assassin she clandestinely returns to France with Captain Jack Teach a veteran of the SOE 'Dirty Tricks Department'. They find themselves in love but are torn apart by duty and the insurmountable odds of survival. Madeleine fights on terrorizing the Nazi elite always only one step ahead of capture and torture.
Q: Can you tell us a little about your main and supporting characters?
Soren: Madeleine is a young woman with no previous military experience. She has great capacity for patience and learns to act with cold indifference and violence when killing her intended targets. She is pursued throughout the novel by Horst Stenger and Willi Petersen. Two German military police officers and veterans of the First World War. Stenger and Petersen have no love for the Nazis but see Madeleine as a source of danger to anyone who gets in her way. The men are duty bound to find her and stop her. Stenger sees himself first as a police officer and protector of common people.
Q: Do you tend to base your characters on real people or are they totally from your imagination?
Soren: My characters are loosely based on figures from World War Two, members of the resistance and then some fictionalized 'real life' characters. Aside from their very basic characteristics, their personalities and actions come from my imagination.
Q: Are you consciously aware of the plot before you begin a novel, or do you discover it as you write?
Soren: I discover the plot as I write, although I have a very basic idea of where the story is going. Things change and I adapt as they do in the course of getting the story down on paper.
Q: Your book is set in France. Can you tell us why you chose this country in particular?
Soren: I have always been fascinated with the stories of the French Resistance from the first war movies I watched as a kid until later when I was able to tour the trenches of World War One and the battlefields of Normandy.
Q: Does the setting play a major part in the development of your story?
Soren: The setting is essential as it provides the backdrop and circumstances in which the Resistance operated and the German's pursued them. I tracked the major events prior to the Normandy invasion as a guide to my protagonist's actions. I was able to use real events, often quite tragic, that occurred during the period of the invasion.
Q: Open the book to page 69. What is happening?
Soren: Stenger and Petersen are engaged in investigating a crime scene when a particularly cruel Nazi Major, Von Schmelling is harassing them. Stenger offers to settle the matter with a quick gun duel. Von Schmelling wisely leaves the scene and the investigation to Stenger.
Q: Can you give us one of your best excerpts?
Soren: More than three years later, Madeleine pushed her bicycle slowly down an alley towards the front entrance of a police station. She was acting on very recent intelligence and swift action was required. She didn’t like having to expose herself to enemy eyes, but the situation dictated it. She wore no disguise. She needed to appear as normal as possible and for the men to focus on her body, not her face. She could not disguise her beauty, and tried to utilize it to her advantage. There were too few clothes to choose from and the ones she’d chosen were worn and threadbare. Although the garments were loose, her looks captured the attention of the police officers loitering around the entrance. She hoped that the last thing the men would look at was her face. She made sure that the clothing didn’t obscure her curves completely, positioning her body to ensure that they did not. She leaned the bicycle against a lamppost and collected a few loaves of bread and a wheel of cheese from the basket behind the seat. The loaves were irregular in shape but were mostly baguettes, partially wrapped in paper with the top halves sticking out. She moved uncertainly, seemingly confused and frightened trying to appear subservient and nonthreatening. The men showed no concern for security, despite the fact that two of their more important masters were inside the station on an inspection. “Bonjour, mademoiselle, you are new. Where is Marc today?” The closest of the officers called to her as she moved towards the door. “My uncle is ill today and cannot make his rounds,” She answered, making only brief eye contact with the policeman and smiling demurely, shrinking slightly into herself. This is a shy one, the man thought. With looks like that perhaps she will not always be so. He admired her openly, and inwardly bemoaned his own lack of success with women. Half of them seemed to be afraid of him because of his position as a police officer working with the enemy, the Vichy government. It wasn’t his fault France had fallen so quickly. In his mind, one did the best they could under the circumstances and followed orders. His situation had been vastly improved by his cooperation. He was better off now than before the war. His food and clothing were more than adequate. He was thriving under the occupation. He felt that reporting illegal activity was his duty. After all, he was a police officer and the Resistance were terrorists and subversives. They made life harder for everyone else. The war couldn’t last forever, and it didn’t seem like the Germans were going to leave France. He sighed inwardly as he looked at her. In passing he thought about searching the bundle of bread and the small package the girl carried, but she seemed so young and insecure, she’d probably collapse in fright if he did so. “Let me get the door for you. I hope Marc remains ill for a while so that we may enjoy your company again.” The man smiled and looked over at his fellow officers who were only interested in Madeleine’s feminine charms. They made no move to search her deliveries. “Thank you monsieur, I will be sure to tell my uncle of your kindness,” She almost whispered as she slid past him and into the hallway of the police station. As she entered she saw two leather overcoats hanging in the hallway. They bore the insignia of the Gestapo. The intelligence had been correct. A routine visit by the hated German secret police was underway. As soon as she was out of sight of the men at the front of the building, the transformation in her demeanor was instant. She seemed to grow and harden, her limpidness replaced with iron. She moved swiftly towards the back of the building where the small kitchen was located. She walked past two offices along the corridor and heard voices coming from the one closest to the kitchen. They were distinctly German. As she unloaded the bread onto a table she listened to see if a third voice came from the room. She moved slowly and with patience, knowing that for what she intended to do, patience and nerve beat bravado and recklessness every time. The men in the room were smoking, and thus would have at least one of their hands occupied. She could detect different odors of tobacco. One of them had a pipe. Their conversation was languid and unhurried. There was no excitement in their voices. Given the time of day, it was likely that these officers had eaten a good meal. Their movements would be slow. Madeleine worked with her hands as she kept an eye on the front. She was aware of everything around her. Her senses heightened and became acute. She selected one of the thicker baguettes and tore open one end, revealing a small metal cylinder. She raised her skirt and took out a pistol that was bound to the inside of her thigh, a location few men felt comfortable searching under fairly routine circumstances. She quickly screwed the cylinder into the end and tucked the gun under the bread paper and carried it over to the office door behind which she heard the steady cadence of the men’s conversation. She paused briefly, then gently pushed the door open and walked into the room holding the silenced weapon along her side so that it wouldn’t instantly be noticed. The officer seated at the desk turned only after she was fully into the room. Without hesitation she shot him squarely in the forehead. The other officer seated in front of the desk didn’t have time to register surprise. She turned and put a bullet through his throat and face in instant succession. Turning back to the first officer she shot him a second time so there would be no mistake. Aside from the smell of gunpowder in the room, there had been little sound. Both men remained slumped in their chairs, surprise etched on their faces. Madeleine moved swiftly out of the room and closed the door behind her. With practiced efficiency she unscrewed the silencer and tucked it away inside her sweater. She placed the gun in her pocket. She moved back to the kitchen, opened a window and dropped a short distance to the pavement below. It was a market day, and although many things were scarce, the street was getting crowded. She was well into the crowd and away before she heard the first shriek of a police whistle.
Q: Thank you so much for this interview, Soren. We wish you much success!
Soren: Thank you very much.
You can order your copy of Cold Lonely Courage at Amazon or order through any of your local Virginia Beach bookstores.
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