Format: E-Galley, 340 pages
Release Date: October 14th 2021
Publisher: Lume Books
Source: Publisher
Genre: Historical / Thriller
Rome, 1942. Cordelia
Olivieri is a young, determined hotel owner desperate to escape
Mussolini’s racial persecution. But as Fascist leaders gather in Rome,
Cordelia is suddenly surrounded by the world’s most ruthless and
powerful commanders.
In an effort to keep her Jewish heritage a
secret and secure safe passage out of Italy, Cordelia forms a dangerous
alliance with the British army who want to push the Axis out of North
Africa once and for all.
Going undercover, Cordelia begins
obtaining and leaking military intelligence to a British agent, hoping
the intel will secure her freedom. But the more Cordelia uncovers, the
greater the risks – especially for one handsome German Afrika Korps
officer.
How far must Cordelia go to protect her identity and secure passage out of Rome?
Lucifer's Game is author Cristina Loggia's debut fiction novel. Spies, military secrets, and a personal crusade for freedom leads to an utterly gripping World War II thriller. This story is one of the first that I've read that centers mostly around Italy during World War II as well as scenes from Erwin Rommel, the Desert Fox, in Africa who could have won the war for the Axis were it not for some very well placed spies and circumstances.
It is also one of the first novels that I've read that addresses the issues of Jewish treatment in Italy, and the fact that the Vatican really didn't do enough to help them escape the brutality of Mussolini, Kesselring, and Goering. This story takes place mostly during the year of 1942. The story alternate's between a variety of good, and not so good characters.
Lucifer is a British spy who is deep cover with the Italian black shirts. The black shirts were a violent militia of Benito Mussolini, similiar to Hitler's SS. The black shirts used Mussolini's 1922 Racial Laws to subjugate Jews to harsh treatments and worse. Lucifer is able to access all classified information about dates, routes, number of ships, troops and goods that the Italian command is sending to Tripoli, Libya to restock Field Marshall Erwin Rommel aka the Desert Fox. But his days are numbered after Rommel sends an investigator to suss out the spy.
Cordelia Olivieri is a young, determined hotel owner desperate to escape Mussolini’s racial persecution. But as Fascist leaders gather in Rome to hunt a spy, Cordelia is suddenly surrounded by the world’s most ruthless and powerful commanders. In an effort to keep her Jewish heritage a secret and secure safe passage out of Italy, Cordelia forms a dangerous alliance with Father Colombo, a Vatican librarian who has been working with the British. Her goal is to get out of Italy as soon as she can before her heritage is discovered. Going undercover, Cordelia begins obtaining and leaking military intelligence to a British agent, hoping the intel will secure her freedom.
But the more Cordelia uncovers, the greater the risks – especially for one handsome German Afrika Korps officer named Schaeffer who is sent to uncover the spy responsible for disrupting Rommel's supply line. How far must Cordelia go to protect her identity and secure passage out of Rome? She must deal with dangerous men like Severi and Father Blasius who each have their own agenda's. Severi wants his command back from Schaeffer, Blasius wants to punch Schaeffer in the throat for what happened in the past.
Overall, this is a well researched, and well thought out story that could have done away with a bunch of side characters, while focusing on Claudia and Schaeffer. Even though Cordelia isn't a real character, her surroundings are real. The threats from the Germans and Fascist Italians was real. The treatment of Italian Jews was real. The Italian Racial Laws (Italian: Leggi razziali) were a set of laws promulgated by Fascist Italy from 1938 to 1943 to enforce racial discrimination in Italy, directed mainly against the Italian Jews and the native inhabitants of the colonies. Italian Jews lost their civil rights, including those to property, education and employment. They were removed from government jobs, the armed forces, and public schools (both as teachers and students). To escape persecution, around 6,000 Italian Jews emigrated to other countries, including the USA.
On a side note: Falsely accused of having remained silent during the Holocaust, Pope Pius XII did more than any other human being to save Jew. It is said he saved up to 860,000.
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