My Rating

There are stories and then THERE ARE STORIES, the kind which bleeds your heart, rips into your soul and all you want is to curl and cry for the loss, for the grief, for the helplessness, but at the same time wonder about the strength and resilience some humans carry inside them and are ignited with the hope that LOVE conquers ALL.

What does it say about an author’s writing that each page of the book had a line or two underlined because it resonated with me in more ways than one. One Day In June is more than just a fictional story of a man’s journey to the light. We meet Adrian as a language teacher working in Germany, we get to know of a secret he is carrying on his shoulders, that burdens him to an extent that he prefers being alone and in his company and by his own words comfortable with “isolated protectionism”. The author then takes us across to the east coast of England where we see a different scene with an old lady under progress. The conceptualization of these parallel scenes was outstanding so much that I could see them like a movie playing out in front of my eyes. It is the climax of these two scenes that open up Pandora’s box and forces Adrian to acknowledge that the secret he has hidden deep inside the recess of his mind may not be anything compared to what would finally be revealed to him.

Being a fan of historical fiction, I have read several books centered around the world wars and it is always difficult to imagine the utter depravity that seized human beings under Adolf Hitler. One Day In June is not historical fiction, it is a thriller drama that connects to it but the story had me teary-eyed in many places coz of Sam Martin’s wonderful narration. The emotional connection that the author has crafted into the plot is vibrating with a pulse of its own that many a time I just had to stop reading and walk around to calm my overflowing heart.

Adrian’s past that shows his agony of having to watch a loved one suffer from the motor neuron disease, the helpless torture of seeing his father deteriorate in front of his eyes, causes unendurable grief. I have no idea how much of the author’s writing has come from his personal experiences but the writing of it is powerful in the impact that I was ADRIAN, I was in his shoes suffering the effects of this disease probably multiplied by the effects of having seen for a short time, though not directly, how MND ravages not just the person inflicted with it but shreds apart the whole family.

One Day In June is a part action thriller and I loved how Sam Martin crafts the whole thriller with so many layers that it is difficult to slot this story into any particular genre. The epilogue of the story with Charlie Kramer is a marvelous touch and like he says at the end,

“Love is far greater than anything which can ever stand in its way”

One Day In June, Sam Martin

I am at a loss of words to recommend this story, One Day In June has to be read, read by one and all to understand that it is worth living for LOVE. I understand from the author’s mail that this brilliant plot is being made into a movie and I am so thankful that it is so, coz living thru Adrian for the entirety of his story, I know ONE DAY IN JUNE has the magic to be viewed on the big screen.

Exceptional!

Many thanks to the author for the chance to read and review this book. All opinions are expressed voluntarily.

All his adult life Adrian Kramer had carried around with him a secret. But was it as big a secret, or one as explosive or life-threatening as the secret he stumbled into? Based on a true story and series of historical events, One Day In June is one man’s journey of self discovery into the dark and bleeding heart of Europe.

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