H. W. Buzz Bernard is an acclaimed thriller author, who has published numerous bestsellers in the genre. His work ranges from natural phenomena to the gritty World War II history that has inspired many of his stories.
Do you have critique partners or beta readers? I have an experienced cadre of beta readers I rely on; my wife serves as a critique partner when I need more immediate feedback on what I’ve written.
What book are you reading now? THE KILLER ASCENDANT by Barry Eisler
How did you start your writing career? In high school as sports editor for the school newspaper; later, my first commercial efforts were writing short articles for magazines and Sunday newspaper supplements (if anybody remembers those).
In your book, what is your favorite chapter? Chapter 23, near the end of the book where a Luftwaffe major—who is not a Nazi—faces off against the SS commandant of a Nazi death camp.
Please share your favorite quote from your book: “I will take no more of your time, gentleman. I only wished to acknowledge that there are instances in which our enemies probably carry the same values we do and fight for the same things we do—country, family, fellow soldiers. “Perhaps—” Jim tilted his head and looked toward the sky “—they are not really our enemies, only our opponents.”
What is the hardest part of writing your books? The research, making sure I get correct the items and speech appropriate to the 1940s. And that the weapons, uniforms, and tactics I write about are appropriate to WWII.
Did you have an author who inspired you to become a writer? I guess that would be my father. He was a prolific author, but of textbooks, not novels.
What is your favorite part of the writing process? Sitting at my keyboard and creating a scene, watching it unfold in my mind’s eye and being able to describe in words, words that will eventually be part of a book.
Describe your latest book in 4 words: Discovering WWII’s darkest secret.
Tell us about your next release: It will be a follow on to WHEN HEROES FLEW: THE ROOF OF THE WORLD which is about the pilots who flew deadly airlift missions over the Himalaya Mountains in WWII. In the follow-on novel, a pilot realizes he must put his career on the line and challenge the highest levels of command authority if he is to rescue the woman he loves, a flight nurse in the China-Burma-India theater of operations.
EXCERPT:
JIM WATCHED through a set of field glasses as the nut-gatherer disappeared into a small church in the center of Hörbach. For several minutes, nothing happened. The semblance of a bucolic spring day in an Austrian village continued.
Finally, the door to the church opened and two men in uniform stepped out, one waving a white flag. Jim judged their distance to be about three hundred meters from where he stood. He waved them forward and continued to watch them with his field glasses.
“Careful, Loot,” Bowerman said. “Don’t trust these bastards.”
“Got it,” Jim said. The two Germans moved toward Jim and Bowerman at a steady pace. One appeared to be an NCO, the other, an officer.
“Oh, good God,” Jim said.
“What?” Bowerman squinted at the approaching soldiers.
“SS,” Jim said, a catch in his throat. His heart rate ratcheted up even further.
“No shit, Loot?”
“Sure looks like it to me.”
“Talk about deep doo-doo.” Bowerman turned and issued an order to several of the platoon’s riflemen to keep their weapons trained on the Germans.
The two enemy soldiers approached within ten meters of Jim before Bowerman commanded them to halt.
The German NCO wore a camouflage field uniform and a green-gray field hat. The officer wore a camo field jacket slung over a black uniform—the uniform of Waffen-SS Panzer units. An iron cross hung beneath his throat. He glared at the two Americans. Jim caught something in the German’s stare that made him truly uneasy—something primitive, militant, maybe even desperate. An old scar slashed diagonally across the SS officer’s left cheek seemed to draw his mouth into a permanent sneer. As he halted, he appeared ready to render a traditional military salute, but then stopped, continuing to hold Jim in an icy stare.
“Ich bin Sturmbannführer Gerhardt Schäfer,” he snapped, drawing himself to rigid attention, “Bataillonskommandeur, 3.SS-Panzerdivision, Totenkopf.” His voice resonated with command authority.
Bowerman translated. “He says he’s Sturmbannführer— that means assault unit leader, equivalent to a major, I think— Gerhardt Schäfer, battalion commander in the Third SS Panzer Division, ‘Death Head.’”
“Wonderful,” Jim mumbled, “an SS field grade officer.”
He looked the German officer in the eye. “Second Lieutenant James Thayer,” he said, “platoon leader, 14th Infantry Regiment, 71st Infantry Division.” He resisted the temptation to salute a senior officer, and instead drew his sidearm.
“Zweiter Leutnant?” Schäfer said, his words coated with disdain.
“He don’t much care for the fact yer a Second Looey, sir,” Bowerman said.
“Well, I can’t help it. Maybe he’d like to give me a battle-field promotion.”
“I’d better not translate that, sir.”
“Okay. Let’s try this. If he’s a Panzer commander, ask him where his armor is.”
Bowerman spoke in German to the SS officer, who in turn growled a lengthy reply, all the while holding Jim in a death stare.
After he’d finished, Bowerman translated for Jim. “As near as I can figure out, Loot, his division was pretty much wiped out durin’ a fightin’ retreat from Hungary. Most of what was left of the outfit, which wasn’t much, I gather, ended up in Czechoslovakia, but part of his battalion made it here.”
“Ask him how many men he has left.”
Bowerman asked, but Schäfer, his voice edged in anger— or maybe frustration, Jim couldn’t tell which—refused to answer.
“What’s he want then?” Jim said.
Bowerman spoke to Schäfer again. The German replied, his voice rising in volume, his words coming out clipped and sharp. Jim, though he knew he held the upper hand, couldn’t help but feel a tinge of intimidation in the presence of the irate senior officer, enemy or not. He also knew he couldn’t display any uneasiness in front of his men.
Bowerman turned to Jim. “The major says he wants to surrender, but only to an officer of equal or higher rank.”
“Jesus, Joseph, and Mary,” Jim muttered. “Tell him I’m the only officer around.”
Bowerman did, but Jim could tell Schäfer didn’t accept that. He shook his head and shouted, “Nein, nein.”
“Sorry, buddy, but I’m it,” Jim shot back at him. The guy reminded him of a bully he’d known in high school.
Schäfer launched into a tirade, his anger now manifest, spittle flying from his mouth, his face turning a mottled shade of crimson. The NCO accompanying him took a step back, the white flag he’d displayed earlier clutched to his chest.
After the SS officer had completed his rant, Bowerman spoke to Jim. “I think the guy’s a nutcase, sir. He says he refuses to surrender to a junior officer. I dunno if it’s some half-assed code of honor these SS SOBs have, or if the major just doesn’t have all his sails up, but he says the only way he throws in the towel is if he kills you first, then himself.”
“Well, I’m not that keen on his surrender.”
Synopsis
Down a Dark Road transports readers to the shadowy forests of WWII Austria, where a weary and battle-worn Army platoon is about to discover the war’s darkest secret…
As the war in Europe draws to a close, young Army lieutenant Jim Thayer finds himself and his platoon on the point of the American advance into Austria. Jim and his men are no strangers to the horror of war. But what they find hidden in the forests of Western Austria is beyond anything they have yet experienced.
Battling remnants of the legendary Waffen SS, Germany’s elite fighting force, Jim and his men come face to face with the cruel brutality of the Nazi regime. And bear witness to the fields of death left in its wake.
Determined to hunt down the architect of this atrocity, Jim dispatches an unofficial team of unlikely allies—an American bomber pilot, a German Luftwaffe fighter pilot, and a young Austrian woman.
The war may be ending. But for these strange comrades in arms, the final battle has only just begun…
In Down a Dark Road, former Air Force officer H.W. “Buzz” Bernard plunges readers into the final dark and bloody chapter of the war, as they follow Jim and others into the true heart of darkness. Buy Now on Amazon
Book Genre: WWII historical fiction
Appropriate age for readers: 18+
Website URL: https://buzzbernard.com/
Social Media Links: https://www.facebook.com/hwbuzzbernard/
Book Purchase Links: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0B118ZVBQ?notRedirectToSDP=1&ref_=dbs_mng_calw_3&storeType=ebooks
WWII, Austria, Nazi death camp; Brig. Gen. James B. Thayer, German SS
