Martin Bora

Martin Bora is a series of historical fiction thriller novels by Ben Pastor, the Italian author currently living in the United States. The first novel in the series was the 1999 published “Lumen” that was published to rave reviews. Ben Pastor went on to publish several more titles featuring the lead character Martin Bora, that were just as popular with the fans over the years. Bora the lead protagonist is a German Wehrmacht officer, a catholic and German aristocrat with the reputation of being an honorable and model soldier that fights for causes he believes in. Pastor crafts sharp prose that are a combination of existential mediation and psychological thrillers, that are more than just entertainment. The mix of reflection and detection in the different mysteries in the novels are also an explication of theology and catholic belief, as juxtaposed against Nazi regime realities and inner light. The Martin Bora novels provide highly detailed historical details of the World War II Nazi machine, including the infighting, organization, and army life in some of the most thrilling of narratives. They are not your typical war memoirs, but rather military explications that focus on the life and times of a single wartime protagonist and his friend a Jesuit priest. Some recurring themes in the novels include the exploration of human condition in periods of war and classical antiquity, coupled with themes of post-modernism. The novels also combine aspects of the psychological, historical, and mystery novel for great historical fiction reads.