In the Wake of the Northern Lights

In the Wake of the Northern Lights was originally written as two unique historical novels. The central character in each book, Karl Meister, is an Austrian immigrant who makes his home on the shores of Lake Michigan. In Book One, The Wreck of the Tres Belle, Karl Meister becomes a national hero when he saves the crew of a Canadian freighter during the worst storm of the century. In Book Two, The Schildwache, Karl is recruited by OSS and sent to Nazi Germany as an American spy. The title of the compilation is derived from two unusual and vivid displays of the Northern Lights. The first occurred over Lake Michigan in November, 1940, shortly before the great Armistice Day storm of that year. The second ominous display of the Northern Lights spread through the night skies of Germany as the leaders of the failed anti-Nazi coup were executed.