I enjoyed reading this book. It had a good variety of characters in it. It is my first book that I read by this author. It was a well written book. I hope to read more books by this author.

The Madness Locker
by Eddie Russell
Pub Date: Oct 13 2021

Many thanks to NetGalley and BigSky Publishing for the opportunity to read The Madness Locker by author: Eddie Russell. This book was published in October of 2021.

It starts out on Christmas Day in 1986 but goes backwards a half a century earlier to the Third Reich, where it ramps up its offensive to arrest and deport to the East the Nazi regime’s classification of undesirables.

It's a strange story at times but definitely worth reading. Some chapters were tough to read and confusing at times. Keep in mind, this is a work of historic fiction.

Wow!!!! What a very powerful story to read! Coming from a German background whose grandparents were in WW2. I wish that I was able to hear more about it, but it was a hard thing for them to talk about. The story is kinda confusing at times. Just trying to keep up with who is who and what is happening since it does jump around a lot. But it is a story that should not be glossed over. I was not happy with the ending it seemed to just end. But I understand why it was the way it was. If you enjoy powerful storytelling especially based around WW2 this is a definite must read. It really hits home. Even with the confusing nature of it I still have to give it 5 stars.

Wow, what a heavy book but I am glad I read it. On Christmas Day, 1986 an elderly woman is found inside a garbage can in Australia. Despite a long investigation, the police cannot find out a motive or suspect. The book goes to times of the Third Reich and describing life in those times and the atrocities people endured and witnessed in Auschwitz. This book also has revenge elements.

This book was very different to the synopsis. I would class it more as historical fiction rather than a thriller.
It was also very confusing. The POVs changed without any warning. They are also written in 1st and third person. Makes it difficult to know where we are in the story and what is going on

Thank you NetGalley for giving me the chance to read this book ahead of time in exchange for a review. You should read it!

The Madness Locker is a tale of love and loyalty, of unravelling secrets and confronting the ghosts of the past. It will appeal to fans of the genre and anyone who enjoys a good crime mystery set against a richly detailed historical backdrop.

Wow!

Great novel about antisemitism before and during World War II and lingering consequences. Vengeance was sought and mercilessly attained.

The characters are realistic and so very, very flawed.

I did not finish this book. I stopped at 37% after multiple attempts to complete it.

I found it to be too dissimilar from the story presented in the authors blurb. I feel more like I'm reading a historical fiction than any type of mystery or thriller. It is quite boring to me and I don't enjoy forcing myself through. Also, the writing itself seems disjointed and there isn't much cohesiveness. I understand a slow burn but this is like reading 3 different novels in the same book. I was actually concerned at one point that I was reading an entirely different book altogether and had to go back to check the title and author.

This book was kind of weird and confusing to start with but man was it worth it!! I could not put this one down.

At first I was excited because this was market as thriller based in the 80s and WW2. In this story we follow different characters who seem to be related to this body that was found in Australia. This was more historical fiction than thriller.
It was SO confusing. There are multiple POVs and they changed without any warning. They are also written in 1st and third person. Makes it difficult to know where we are in the plot.
I enjoyed reading from the perspective of the SS soldier, mostly because he was not your average soldier. because it explored having to do immoral things in able to get by.
I liked how it talked about different boxes that we use to put our thoughts, especially when it’s coming from somebody who is suppressing their trauma as holocaust survivors.

Thank you to NetGalley, author Eddie Russell and Big Sky publishing for the ARC and opportunity to review this book.

This was one that I normally would not have chosen but wanted to step out of my comfort zone and try something new. Sadly, this book just didn’t do it for me and I stopped reading at 50% through.

I found it very difficult to follow, it was confusing due to so many time shifts and too many characters. Admittedly, I don’t know much about the history of this time but I just felt lost the whole time I was reading.

The language was difficult to follow. Many words in different languages with no English explanation. I felt in parts I needed a translator to help me decided what was going on.

I did rate it a 3 star because perhaps it is just my lack of history and war understanding that caused much of my confusion and maybe other readers would enjoy it.

The Madness Locker by Eddie Russell is truly a one of a kind exploration into the varying degrees of right and wrong, the difference between purgatory and hell, and just what it means to be human. And for this to be Mr. Russell's debut book is an absolute astonishment. I can't begin to explain how many times I wanted to put this book down and say I wasn't going review it, or how many times I had to pause because I was crying too hard continue. And what's worse, I was at work a couple of I ended up crying in front of customers, and couldn't explain to them what was wrong! My manager thought I was crazy!

When you read about the book, you think it's about an older woman from the Concentration Camps now living in Sydney, Australia and after many years runs into a young girl (now an older woman herself) she used to know that ends up murdered, however this book is absolutely NOTHING like that at all.

The Madness Lockerhas has three main characters, though it seems to really focus on two of them during WWII. The woman you think it's about has just a tiny portion in 1986, and even less during the war, but her part is very critical to the story. The other two, give the readers the most understanding and yes, uncomfortable telling of WWII from both a Shutzstaffel (SS agent, who didn't want to be in the war but did horrific things to survive, and ended up deserting, thus abandoning family and country) point of view and the point of view of a young German girl who is accused of being Jewish and taken to a Concentration Camp where on her first day she sees her aunts neighbors get killed in a gas chamber. As the years pass this girl is so traumatized from everything that has taken place: mass killings in gas chambers, shootings, rapes (to others and herself), starvation, daily threats of life, forced to strip dead bodies, and mor so much more.

This book brings so many different character traits to light, showing what really creates a person, especially times of such drastic measures. For two of the characters, it's all about trying to survive, though they use completely different techniques. One uses lying about everything to fit in: lying about ethnicity, lying about family, lying about where about where he is from, and lying about being in the war. This character has no backbone, no moral character. He does what is told of him just long enough to stay alive then flees in the middle of the night to start his lies all over again somewhere else. The other character bites her tongue, does what she is told, and tries not rock the boat even though she dreams killing the German captures. And when she is forced to endure the most degrading acts another person can perform against her, she keeps a level head. She knows any action on her part will get her killed, so she does the jobs assigned to her to the best of her ability and doesn't complain. She refuses to be a burden, and she survives the Concentration Camps until the end of the war.

I can't be positive, but I believe this book is loosely based on the 1986 cold case murder of Ms. Tatiana Sokoloff in Sydney, Australia. Mr. Russell says a couple of times this book is based loosely on the cold case murder of a Jewish woman found in a wheelie in 1986 on Christmas Day, and Ms. Sokoloff is who I was able to come with last night after I finished the book. The police are not releasing any information on suspect right now from everything I've been able to see. This just goes to show how amazing an author Mr. Russell is, turning only partial information into a story of what COULD HAVE HAPPENED. The upside is the police finally caught the killer. The downside? It took them over 32 years!

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to review the Madness Locker by Author Eddie Russel. This is a genre that I enjoy reading, albeit with sadness and I was not left disappointed with this literary masterpiece. An absolutely riveting page turner of a book.
Although the subject matter deals with the Holocaust and reign of Adolf Hitler, the characters and storyline of Ruth, Fredrich, Helga and Emma and the trials and tribulations of their life will draw you in with the sadness, complexities, implications and the real life horror. A little back and forth in timelines, it is gripping and powerful and a highly recommend read for those wanting a riveting book.

This was a DNF for me. Had a hard time keeping up with the language/ word choices. There was also too many characters to keep track of for me to find it enjoyable. The plot seemed to be ok.

I never did History in School but have seen documentaries and read in magazines of the years of Hitler and the crimes and what happened there in Auschwitz.
Wow this book was such a powerful storyline of true historical crime that captured my attention. For me it was a real eye opener for the days of the Germans and the Jews with the Hitler Nazi regime.
It’s one of these story lines that tend go to back and forth in years and seasons and characters so once you get into reading and getting to know who is who, it all works out perfectly. I found myself reverting back a page to see what year I had just read and where I was now.
The book starts with Winter 1941 and I got interested in the character of Ruth who is 10 years old and is Jewish. At that age, you are not sure of what is happening around you. Her loving parents made sure she was sheltered from it all. Ruth had a best friend Anna and their lives are told throughout the book as they grow older.
Another character is Friedrich and Emma, more characters that you follow and see where they fit within the story.
Just reading this book I was reduced to sadness of hearing a character and her family being squashed in a boxer train thinking they were heading to some safe place. My heart actually broke reading this and I could feel their pain and frustration and sadness. Then for the train journey to finish and then this girl called Helga who has to endure being separated from family, harsh labour in different ways, being starved and deprived, being raped, seeing people being killed or people just dying from starvation or disease. This made me think back to all the people that did die in Auschwitz.
It certainly is a page turner as you need to know what happens. I was captivated with all the characters in the story and some more so than others but then the story of Helga who really has been through so much, has this vision of revenge and her journey takes her to Australia.
As I finished the book, I felt the tears roll down for the people that died, for the people that got away from true crimes and for the people that lost so much.
I see this is a true debut crime book by Eddie Russell the author. An exceptional read which I am so glad I was able to read. It is such a powerful read and certainly had me gripping my pillow as I read. Eddie says on the front of the very haunting cover that it is inspired by true events.
Thank you to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book. I think it will be a great best seller for sure. Just want to congratulate you.

This is a dark and brutal novel about individual tragedy in the midst of one of the biggest in history and how, even when you think you’ve escaped horror, it can find you again. There is a huge depth in this book that will have the reader questioning who is right or wrong, what revenge looks like and how people can do such terrible things.

Tragic yet beautifully written, I enjoyed this book's plot overall, especially knowing some things were based on historical events. However I felt the writing of some characters was erratic at best and there was confusion over what was a flash back and what wasn't.

Very great, historical novel set in WW2. I really loved the story line, but did find the timeline/characters to be confusing at times. I could often not tell which was a flashback and what was current without reading the first paragraph or so - headers might help! Overall, recommend to lovers of historical fiction.

I loved the different characters and their stories, although tragic was captivating. This book is beautifully written and captures you from the beginning.