EVOLVED PUBLISHING PRESENTS: A Debt of War, a novel, by Michael Ringering.
A dying wish, a mysterious manuscript, and an ultimate price paid. A Debt of War is a propulsive, wrenching story, detailing an inconceivable friendship and the lives forever entwined in a debt owed between enemies.
At his mother’s funeral, Paul Bacca, an accomplished publisher, is approached by a mysterious decorated military veteran who claims he was sent to deliver her final request: an unpublished manuscript of the only novel written by an acclaimed poet.
Eager to learn the connection between the manuscript and his mother, Paul discovers a shocking family secret forever changing his life, and the life of his siblings.
In late winter 1944, Jakob von Rudel, an American-born German soldier unwillingly forced into war by his father, a member of Hitler’s inner circle, is discovered near death on the battlefield by American medic O’Dell Denny. Dressed in standard GI issue, Jakob’s identity is soon exposed as that of a member of the German Wehrmacht. What is left of Denny’s platoon attempts execution. Denny, the highest-ranking officer, declares the young German a prisoner of war.
Despite their status as that of sworn enemies, O’Dell and Jakob form an improbable friendship through their mutual love of horses and Jakob’s claim of U.S. citizenship. When catastrophe and tragedy strike, Jakob is forced into acts of treason when a solemn oath made, demands he aid and abet the enemy.
What follows is a heart-rending tale of one soldier’s undying commitment to pay a debt owed, transcending both ideology and racial divide.