The Undesirables

By: Chad Thumann

Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld

In the winter of 1941-1942, Leningrad is under siege, and Karen Hamilton, a seventeen-year-old American musician, finds herself trapped and struggling to survive. Throughout the city, people are dying of starvation and frostbite, and Karen knows that if she doesn't escape immediately, she will share their fate. If she has any hope of leaving Russia and reuniting with her fiancé, Bobby, in New York, she must do the impossible: cross enemy lines and then stow away.

On her harrowing journey, Karen encounters Petr, a young conscripted Russian soldier. She isn't sure she can trust him - he is equally wary of her. But as the two join forces in order to stay alive, an unexpected romance takes root.

Now, as Karen gets closer to the reality of escape, she has a choice to make: Will she return to a safe life in America with Bobby, or remain in war-torn Russia with Petr?

©2016 Chad Thumann. (P)2016 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

Made me want to research Russian history

Great listen and story. Highly recommend if you want a historical romance and more so since it is during the siege of Leningrad and you have 2 men on opposite sides who love you. What more can I say?

decent book

the performance was great, I'm a fan of the Audio performer now. the issue I had with this book was basically the character of Bobbie, he felt unnecessary and like he was added to be a plot device, everytime the story switched to him I was instantly bored, his segments were so short it was impossible to truly get to know him or care about him. I'm not a fan of characters added to be plot devices so that was my main sticking point for this book. the historical fiction nature and everything else about it was really good.

A Surprising Change

This was a lonely departure from my normal science fiction, romance, and mystery genres. I found myself caught up in the historical world disciption. Feeling the poverty and struggle of the characters. However, as much as I truly loved this book, and I do mean cover to cover. I will not pursue another of this genre. It took alot out of me emotionally, but I will miss the rollercoaster. Well written Chad Thumman and Saskia Maarleveld. Well written. #romance #historical #tagsgiving, #sweepstakes

A somewhat interesting story

The reader was just okay, I feel asleep many times while listening. I liked the overall story, but did not like some of the language and description on love scenes.
Also, it makes cheating on someone okay, which I do not agree with.

Did I miss it?

I’m more concerned with the characters story than all the history explanation. What eventually happened to each character after they left?
Sometimes when reading historical fiction the reader can tell when the author is more about history/historical facts and the story is just a way to talk about history. The characters are well developed so why not as much focus about their stories at the end as there was at the beginning?
A tad frustrated