Dang had me up all night finishing this book.

Pleasantly surprised by this book. Interesting mix of historical fiction. Nicely written. Will read more from this author.

This could have been a strong story if the author had kept to one timeline; perhaps give us more detail about the night witches ( true WWII fighters) and Nina's escape. Instead we bounce around from dare and do to Jordan's inane love affair and suspicion of her step mother based only on a photograph. We never did find out why Anna wanted to keep Ruth.
Overall a disappointing read.

Quinn is an amazing storyteller. A completely enthralling book.

A good story poorly presented. Too many auxiliary stories and too much jumping about in time and location. A story should be told from the first or second person perspective and in a linear time line.

A compelling plot and exciting conclusion. Can a person's character really combine such opposite extremes of cruelty and kindness?

If you think you are done with WWII themed novels than sit up and take note of The Huntress. The author pulls the story into the 1950’s to give us a fresh approach to this historical story line. Fate brings War correspondent Ian Graham and a famous Russian female bomber named Nina Markova together to hunt down the elusive Nazi war criminal called the Huntress. This story is told in alternating timelines and settings which keeps the plot moving forward and it features some pretty interesting and nuanced characters. . History lovers will pick up some fascinating knowledge about the little known Night Witches which were an all-female Russian bomber squad in WWII but the book also offers some good tension and a bit of romance for those who are not drawn to the history.

Kate does it again with a brilliantly researched and intriguing aspect of WWII which I wasn't very familiar with, the Russian Women Fighter Pilots of the 588th. This regiment who fought so valiantly, flying silently through the night sky on over 23,000 sorties and dropping over 3,000 tons of bombs blasting the Nazis, who were so threatened by them they nicknamed them the Night Witches! I thoroughly savored this read and particularly enjoyed the two timelines and the perspectives of a fierce and out of the box Night Witch and that of an unconventional young Western Woman coming of age in the 1950s. Meaty storytelling, provocative characters combined with enough suspense and tension to keep you turning pages long into the night - making me a 'reading witch' indeed.

Just as "The Alice Network" was a compelling book so is this newest by Quinn. It masterfully combines fiction against the backdrop of WWII and its aftermath in the U.S. The women hold first place in this novel - the Night Witches of the Russian Air Force. A truly enjoyable book.

Following on the heels of The Alice Network, Kate Quinn has again given flesh and bone to lesser-known aspects of WWII. I had never heard of the Soviet Union's WWII 588th Night Bomber Regiment, the "Night Witches," an all-female regiment that flew more than 20,000 combat missions in sluggish, open-cockpit, wood-and-canvas planes.

Quinn masterfully pulls together her narrative using a fictional Night Witch pilot, Nina Markova; a composite of two real-life women who figured into the Nazi regime; a couple of committed Nazi hunters (former British war correspondent Ian Graham and Jewish American soldier Tony Rodomovsky); and an ambitious young American woman, Jordan McBride. The book interchanges flashbacks with the characters' lives in the late 1940s and early 1950s when, as people long to forget the terrible war, interest in tracking down and prosecuting former Nazis increasingly winds down. Yet, for their own reasons, Nina and Ian are specifically determined to track down the elusive "Huntress."

Besides the story itself and the way Quinn pulled seemingly disparate pieces and people together, the characters are expertly developed. Each is distinct and memorable. This is excellent historical fiction - a solid plot, excellent writing and an ending that was satisfying without being trite.

Also, it's well worth reading the author's notes at the end of the book. They provide context and background that make the story even richer.