A different take on WWII.  it's a well written story of a young woman who finds a downed pilot in Norway and takes him to Sweden, all the while pursued by the Nazis and, sadly, her own father.  It's a good read for fans of the genre.

A great read set during WWII that was gripping till the end!  A great book to curl up with on bad weather days!

I wouldn't necessarily call this a thriller, but it's a very good historical fiction piece.  Kari is a Norwegian teenager who sets out to help a downed American airman reach safety in Sweden.  These two set out in the cold winter woods of Norway to reach their destination while being pursued by a neighbor and Nazis.  Kari's dad also joins in the search, but for different reasons.  A great story of survival and feeling the tension of their flight to safety.  Not a super long book, but a nice and satisfying ending.

This book was average in every way. Not compelling and I was just glad to be done with it. My thanks to the Publishers and Netgalley for the chance to read and review this mediocre story.

a short easy read with an interesting story set during WW2 in norway. 
Its not the best historical fiction i have read but also way of the worst i read. 
If you want a bit of a different spin on the typical WW2 story, give this a try!

This was an interesting, easy read based in Norway during WW11. We follow Kari, a 15 year old girl who on seeing an allied plane crash has romantic "rose-tinted" ideas of rescuing the American pilot single handed. The descriptions of the countryside are very good - I felt cold reading them. I did enjoy this book and will be encouraging my grandchildren to read it. I will read more by this author.
Thank you Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

i really enjoyed this novel and would recommend it to fans of this genre. It was engaging and interesting, with memorable characters and intriguing settings. Very good

2.5 stars.
Because it was too steep. It was almost unreal. Not so much the story itself as the actions of the characters. I mean how a 15-year-old girl decides to help a pilot and take him to Sweden, so without a second thought. Without telling anyone. Without doing any preparation and without losing time?!

An allied plane goes down over a remote region in Norway. Kari Dahlstrom is out working on her family's farm when she sees it drop. Though her recently-widowed father forbids her to get involved, Kari investigates the crash anyway, and when she finds the pilot alive, she decides to help him cross the border into Sweden. Land of Hidden Fires is about their journey through the cold and unforgiving countryside as they try to avoid being captured by SS officers.

I wasn't expecting to enjoy this book as much as I did, but I was hooked from the start. It's a short little nugget of a story but still completely captivating in a quietly suspenseful sort of way. The characters are very reserved, but their inner lives are revealed just enough so that it is easy to empathize with them. Kari's father, Erling, surprised me by becoming one of my favorites.

I also really appreciated how fully author Kjeldsen was able to describe the harsh Norwegian climate. I felt like I was frozen on a mountain right next to these people.

My only minor complaint is that the story's ending felt rushed. I liked where the book ended up, but Kjeldsen seemed too eager to get there. As an example, it took a whole novel for Kari to get from her farm to Sweden, but it only took a few pages for her to go from Sweden back to her farm. I wish there had been a little more detail at the end. I wasn't ready to let go that quickly.

Still, I loved getting lost in this story. The characters are endearing, the setting harsh but gorgeous, and the plot is unique and creative. Not a bad little book.

I received a review copy but have been a bit delayed getting my review up - and when I glanced at the other reviews I was surprised indeed that it had a lower overall score than I expected.
I loved this book! Yes, it's not a gritty Scandinavia thriller, so those who wanted that would have been disappointed. It is a historical drama, but it doesn't bang on about the scenery for pages and pages - it gets on with the story. Which was great! I didn't need more background, I didn't need a different ending, and although it was a fairly bleak and sad portrayal of Norway under German occupation, there was enough plot at a good pace to keep my interest.
I was fascinated to read a little about the author's family afterwards, which did explain a few things. I will look out for more books by this author, and hope they are as interesting as this one.

World War II is an event that has long fascinated me. I don't pretend to know everything about the war and I am constantly looking for new knowledge concerning the history of the the people and events that surround the conflict. I truly love finding stories that focus on historical components that I didn't know. This novel was fascinating to me because I have never learned about Norway during this time.

Like many countries in Europe, Norway found itself under Hitler's thumb as the world went to war. Norway was neutral, but that didn't stop Hitler's forces from invading in April 1940. While Norway was forced to be under German rule, an underground resistance developed to support the Allies.

The main character, Kari Dahlstrøm, is fifteen years old when she finds a stranded Allied pilot, Lance Mahurin. Kari wants to help Lance get to Sweden. She daydreams about Lance being so grateful that he sweeps her off her feet and moves her to the United States with him. As Kari and Lance brave the Nordic setting and the danger of being in occupied territory, they will learn about the true resiliency of the human spirit.  As the pair continues to navigate towards Sweden, Kari's father and a German officer are in pursuit, adding an extra layer of tension and danger to the tale.

Told through multiple narrators, Land of Hidden Fires is an important addition to the historical record of WWII. This is a quick read that mixes together the coming of age trope with a wintery setting. It was a perfect read for a cold, rainy December day under a flannel blanket. This read has me craving a trip to Norway.

One Last Gripe: I felt like some sections just skimmed the surface. I wanted more depth. The novel is super short, so I wanted 

Favorite Thing About This Book: Adding to my historical knowledge

First Sentence: Kari looked up from mending a damaged sheep pen when she heard the faint buzzing noise.

Favorite Character: Kari

Least Favorite Character: Moltke

I read this based on the description on NetGalley, which said it was a book for fans of The Nightingale and All The Light We Cannot See, both of which I loved. Land of Hidden Fires is the short tale of a downed WWII pilot and the teenage girl who saves him, and their trek across Norway to reach the free border of Sweden. Its short length makes the story seem more urgent as the pace builds quickly, and I enjoyed the awkward interactions between the main characters. The book world is flooded with WWII stories, but The Land of Hidden Fires still manages to leave a favorable impression.

A run of the mill resistance story and not terribly compelling.

A fan of historical fiction set in WWII, I had high hopes for this novel, all the more so since the Norwegian venue is rarely featured in this genre. Alas, I was disappointed. I wish the characters had been more developed and the ending a bit more satisfying. Although I liked that the book did not end in a cliche, I wish the reader had been given some clues about what lay ahead for Kari and her father. Another carp: some of the metaphors struck me as labored. Nevertheless, the book held my interest all the way through and the author did a good job of creating a sense of place. And what an interesting place.

Land of Hidden Fires was an interesting story about a young Norwegian teenager who helps a downed American soldier travel to safety. I found the narrative of the young teenaged girl to be authentic and interesting, however while I enjoyed the story it felt a little sparse at times.

A lot of the journey (which is essentially the entire story) was a bit vague. I wanted more details of the beautiful Norwegian wilderness, and the gritty realities of trying to survive in harsh conditions, both emotionally and physically. Basically I wished everything was more “fleshed out”, but the base of the story was still an engaging read.

The narrative is told through four perspectives, and normally I am not a fan of the multiple narrative, but the author made it work. Everyone's voice added meaning and intrigue to the story. Despite my qualms I did like this overall, but I generally prefer more expansive and detailed writing.

Buy, Borrow or Bin Verdict: Borrow

Land of Hidden Fires is a World War II novel, set in Nazi-occupied Norway, and told from three perspectives. The first is Kari, a young woman who wants more out of life than her father's rundown farm can offer her. The second is Kari's father, a man who was left broken by his wife's death and finds himself unable to connect with his daughter. The third is a Nazi officer who feels he's being forced to keep order in Norway as some sort of punishment. Fortunately, this isn't one of those stories that tries to do the whole "look at the story from the Nazi's point of view until you feel sorry for him" thing. Kjeldsen is pretty upfront about the fact that the Nazi is a horrible human being. All three characters are somewhat stereotypical as none of them really bring new insight into the tropes they embody. But their interactions with each other are well-developed, especially the gradual progression of Kari's relationship with her father. My biggest complaint with this story is the length. I don't think the reader is given enough time to really get to know the characters past what we're shown at the surface level. If the book had been longer, we could have more backstory into what has made these characters into the people we now see.

I am just bowled over to how such an amazing story can fit into so few pages. In this book a young girl with every step she takes leaves behind everything that was the innocence of being a child through war time in Norway on a remarkable journey that will change some lives and end others. Not everyone can have a fairy tale ending.
Fifteen year old Kari  lives with her father that can not see past his own grief after losing his wife years before to be able to form any sort of relationship with her, except as provider of a roof over her head and food.  When she sees a small plane go down in the mountains she is determined to be first on the scene where she finds an American pilot stuck in a tree.   Lance realising that this girl could be his only chance of survival soon sweet talks her into helping him down and she in all innocence of day dreams, fairy tales and happy ever afters says she is part of the resistance and can get him over ruggered mountains in the heart of winter to the safety of Sweden.
OMG what a tremendous and perilous journey that not only has its battles with nature in the wintery mountains of Norway but also a determined German Officer and Nazi Oberleutnant Conrad Moltke hot on the pairs tails and gaining ground all the time along with his hot shot team of soldiers that are intent on capture of the American pilot and the traitor that is helping him.  Erling, Kari's father has finally woken up to the fact that he has a daughter and he must find before the Nazis get to her. A race against time and the elements.
Wow, Wow, Wow,  what an outstanding story Kirk Kjeldsen tells with such vivid and crisp descriptions of this beautiful country that I could close my eyes and I was there. The contrasts then between such beauty and the ugliness of invasion was so very dramatic. If the beauty of this country wasn't taking my breath then fear was. I can't find the right words for how I felt because helpless and frightened just don't do it.
I would say to anyone read this book because it is more of an experience than just reading words. Outstanding! I wish to thank Kirk Kjeldsen for a NetGalley link to this book which I have chosen to review.

I desperately wanted to like this book. After all, it was recommended for readers who liked "The Nightingale" (which I loved) and "All the Light We Cannot See." But the plot was simplistic, and the characters did not seem fully developed. I don't think we heard the American pilot speak more than 10 words during the entire book--and we learned nothing of his backstory. The insights Kari gleaned from her adventure weren't all that deep, either. I was disappointed by this book. I feel it could have been so much more than it was.

I really like WW2-era fiction and that was what initially attracted me to this book. It's a nice, short book and I liked the authors writing style, but I had a hard time connecting with the characters. Overall, pretty good.

The land of Hidden Fires is an interesting tale. I think it is well written and the characters develop well.