The Lebensborn Experiment

Book 1

By: Joyce Yvette Davis

Narrated by: Kevin Gallagher

Length: 6 hrs and 6 mins

Publisher's summary

Amid the chaos and destruction of World War II, racial profiling runs rampant. After kidnapped children whose appearances fails to meet the Nordic ideal are taken to concentration camps, some are used in experiments to satisfy the Reich's quest for Aryan superiority. It is April 28, 1945, and a sinister struggle between life and death secretly takes place high in a dingy tower of a medieval castle in the Black Forest. Under the watchful eyes of Nazi Colonel Otto Strass, notorious inventor Dr. Josef Weiss injects a 10-year-old Polish boy with an experimental serum, killing him - that is, until the child, Adok, is miraculously resurrected with unforeseen side effects. Meanwhile, somewhere in the castle dungeon, a Negro American soldier, Sergeant Kapp Johnson, awaits ceremonial execution. But things go awry. On that same day, Hitler's unexpected suicide throws the castle into bedlam. In the ensuing confusion, Kapp is mistakenly given the serum. In a matter of minutes, Kapp has been given a gift even God cannot bestow upon him: eternal life on Earth. In this exciting historical thriller, an American soldier and a Polish boy who unwittingly become victims of the Nazi regime in the final days of World War II must find a way to escape their fate and find their way back home before it is too late.

©2014 Joyce Davis (P)2016 Joyce Davis

The Lebensborn Experiment

This was a good, dark,suspenseful book.During Hitlers reign children are kidnapped from all over the world if they match the Nazi profile.Some are lucky and get homes.Some are experimented on.They also use captives in their experiments.Two black US servicemen are lying in a cell waiting for death.One gets it but the other is given a shot that changes him.Also, a serum is given to the wrong one and revenge is served to the regime.Kevin Gallagher is the perfect narrator.I was provided this book by the author, narrator or publisher for review.

Lebensborn Experiment

It was a good well written and narrated book. I was expecting something different though.

A powerful and unique tale.

If you enjoy well-written historical fiction books or stories occurring during the period of World War II, you will like “The Lebensborn Experiment: Book 1” written by Joyce Yvette Davis and narrated by Kevin Gallagher. The author weaves a fictional tale around actual historic events taking place by Nazi Germany. These Lebensborn experiments were conducted in a hope to rapidly increase the German population by building an army of pure and healthy “Aryan” people. The population growth and experiments were initiated by kidnaping children from other countries, mostly Poland, and indoctrinating them through brainwashing and other techniques to become German Nazi soldiers. The term “Lebensborn” translates roughly to “fount of life” in English, and Germany was hoping these practices would permit them to turn the tide of the second world war.

Historic fiction is a genre I do not often listen too, nor is the subject matter something I actively seek to read, however I will say that I thoroughly enjoyed the ride the author and narrator took me on; often surprising me along the way. The story was very well crafted and unique in the many twists and turns it took from start to finish. The author did an exceptional job of balancing the character’s current and backstory details so one could better understand why they acted in the way they did. The story helped me to understand the despite reasoning of the Germans who were attempting to win the war at any cost, even if that meant sacrificing many of their own people to achieve their ultimate outcome; it was a very dire time.

This is a very powerfully written book including some quite shocking events showing how ruthless and relentless the Nazi party was in attempting to create the ultimate perfect race for their war effort. The book educates the reader on the many atrocities carried out against other races which the Nazi party believed inferior. I thought the author’s inclusion of the racist attitude of the Americans towards colored people serving overseas during the war was also quite informative. It made me think of the “Tuskegee Airmen” and the struggles they faced during the war. Although it is not something our society likes to hear or remember, it is historically accurate during this time.

It will be interesting to see the direction the author decides to take this series as it could go in many different directions. The ending of Book 1 closes out many of the open plot details revealed in book one, however there are some open-ended items that will lead into at least an additional book. As this is book 1 in a currently unnamed series, I could not find any details on the number of books the author expects; so for some readers this “unknown” may make it difficult to start the series until this information is released.

I will say that I enjoyed the book’s flow and descriptive nature along with the writing itself. I often found myself experiencing extreme emotional highs and lows while listening to this book, and I’m sure this would be heightened for those having more background on the events of World War II. At times, although it was used infrequently, the author injected humor as a release mechanism for the reader; which was welcomed.

The book is exceptionally narrated by Kevin Gallagher. Like his other two book I have previously listened to, Mr. Gallagher is able to heighten this already powerful story by adding the right amount of inflection to the characters and his ability to correctly pace the flow of the story. He is spot on with the German accents and those of the many other main characters. When he speaks on behalf of a number of children and woman characters in this book, he does not leverage a falsetto voice, and is still able to capture the character’s voice quite well.

The audio quality is excellent and the narrator has done an exceptional job of cleaning up any audio artifacts picked up during the recording process. There are no pops, clicks, or swallows I detected while listening to this book. Although Mr. Gallagher has narrated only eight book, at the time of this review, he has quickly become one of my go to narrators when I’m looking for something new to listen too.

Disclaimer: This book was provided to the reviewer at no charge by the author, narrator, or publisher in exchange for publishing a non-bias review.

Disturbing yet Suspenseful

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Some of the content was disturbing but it made for a suspenseful, unique type of listen.

Any additional comments?

"This review copy audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost."

startlingly macabre minds of radicalism

frightening realistic story of children kidnapped for experimental testing and tourtous example for a radical raciest regiem..
This review copy audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost."
 

Very interesting read!

I didn't find myself over the moon about this book, but I did think it was a very good story with good characters and a good ending. The story follows a couple of different characters as they each make their way through WWII. There's a young Polish boy kidnapped and sent to a home from which German parents adopt pure bloodline Arians. Then there's a black soldier who is captured and administered a drug by mistake by a doctor. Then the doctor himself is the subject of several chapters. The book does a good job of giving the reader these different perspectives about how the war affected them. All in all, I really enjoyed following them and hearing their inner thoughts. The book touches slightly on religion, racism, Nazi propaganda and indoctrination and the utter loss felt by millions during the war.

The narrator did a good job telling the story. The characters were easily discernable from each other and there wasn't much in the way of overlap between voices or accents. Kevin did a great job!

Overall this was a good book. I liked the ending. Definitely room for following books to develop as the characters deal with the ramifications and effects of the war.

I received a free copy of this audio book for an honest review.

Disturbing, weird and creepy

Disturbing, weird and creepy. I loved it. Really enjoyed the writing style and the bad guy was just awesomely bad. Some parts were really cringe worthy. The history mixed with sci-fi was pretty cool. The whole book was very different from what I usually read so some parts were a bit slow for me. But overall I really recommend it.

The narrator gave a good performance.

This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review.

Interesting and Disturbing

This is a historical science fiction novel primarily set in Germany during World War II. It is loosely based on a true Nazi experiment. The book is interesting and subject matter is disturbing. If you like history with a science fiction twist I think you might like the story. The narration was good.
I was voluntarily provided this review copy audiobook at no charge by the author, publisher and/or narrator.

Interesting take on the genre

I'm not totally sure what drew me to this book since I'm not usually into books set during WWII or zombie-esque stories. However, I'm glad I took a chance on it because I thought it was an interesting take on both genres. There are a few cringe-worthy moments, mostly during the torture scenes including an unfortunate bunny. For the most part I thought the subject matter was handled well and Davis took an interesting direction by telling the story from both sides of the fight.

Kevin Gallagher did an excellent job narrating. His accents felt natural and not super fake, although they did get pretty thick at times. His female and children voices were also very good. But mostly, he has a great pace that might be a bit fast for some listeners, but was perfect for me.

**I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.**

WW II and science fiction

If you could sum up The Lebensborn Experiment in three words, what would they be?

WW II and science fiction and authentic. I liked this book. I love anything WW II and it wasn't so 'out there' in science fiction that. I wish there had been more and I'd like to read the follow up books for this series.The performance and story were interesting. It was authentic for the time period and added true historical details in the story. I would recommend this book.

What did you like best about this story?

I liked the true historical background that made the story feel right.

What about Kevin Gallagher’s performance did you like?

Sometimes who did the performance can make or break an audio book. He was easy to listen to.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

No but I was into it. I listened to this 6 hour book in one day.

Any additional comments?

Waiting for the next book of the series!