Beloved Enemy Book II

What begins as a two-year program to obtain a master’s degree in German literature becomes a nightmare. Fleeing Berlin to escape the manipulation of the Nazi state and the unwanted attentions of a wealthy industrialist, Mark is forced to travel the length and breadth of Germany to preserve his freedom. Only the kindness of ordinary Germans—and the deep friendships he forms in Berlin—allow him to escape.

Crossing into Switzerland, Mark believes he has finally eluded the reach of the German Propaganda Ministry and the malignant designs of Klaus Lehmann. His relief is short-lived. Frustrated by Mark’s escape, Klaus uses his connections within the Swiss Foreign Ministry to delay Mark’s departure from Bern. Determined that Mark will not slip through his fingers a second time, Klaus assaults him in his pension, attempting to drag him back to Germany by force.

Mark survives the attack only because of the training he receives in the Reichsarbeitsdienst program, which allows him to fend off Klaus’s violence. Realizing that Switzerland no longer offers safety, he flees over the Alps into France. There, sustained once again by loyalty and friendship, Mark searches desperately for a way home.

In occupied Paris, Mark comes face-to-face with his deepest fears as Klaus finally closes the trap, leaving him no escape. In the end, it is not strength or strategy that saves him, but his ability to love—and to be loved—that preserves his life and allows him, at last, to return home to Fredericksburg.