History comes alive in Mike Johnson's third historical novel, God's Perfect Scar. A survivor of the 1944 Warsaw Uprising finds himself in Auschwitz, working with a woman prisoner to plan and implement a harrowing mass escape. A former Polish lancer turned airborne trooper turned English instructor at the University of Warsaw finds himself targeted by the Kremlin-controlled secret police. Two brothers find themselves conscripted by a pair of ambitious rulers, each itching to fire the first shot in a war that will snare soldiers and nurses from Korea, America, Britain and New Zealand. An American priest, a former World War II chaplain, finds himself playing street soccer in Rome and plotting a rescue in Warsaw.

Inside Joseph Stalin's Kremlin office, readers will listen in on history-changing phone conversations between "Uncle Joe" and Kim Il Sung and Mao Tse Tung. Stalin's foreign minister, Molotov, and his head of secret police, Beria, fuel and follow their master's policies of evil.

Painstakingly researched, God's Perfect Scar is the story of ordinary people swept up in extraordinary, history-changing upheavals, contending with unrelenting stresses and making life-altering choices. For example, during his research Mike discovered Aline Gartner, a woman lost in the mists of time and history. He has found it very satisfying to bring this remarkably courageous woman "back to life."

As with Warrior Priest and Fate of the Warriors, the pacing in God's Perfect Scar is brisk, the tension palpable and outcomes unpredictable. As Mike says, "Buckle up for the ride."

Copyright © 2008 Mike Johnson's Books North Canton, Ohio