Noble's Savior

by Jerry Sacher

To purge Benjamin of his desire to join the Army, his father, a senior British diplomat, entrusts him with a mission to Tsar Nicholas II's headquarters. On the way to Russia, Benjamin encounters Sergei Breselov, an officer in the Imperial Army, lying wounded in a field hospital. He persuades the authorities to let him escort Sergei to Petrograd, but their trip is halted when their train is attacked by deserting soldiers. Sergei and Benjamin must band together to survive and make their own way to the capitol.

The handsome Sergei Breselov stirs something in Benjamin, and to his surprise, his feelings are returned. Despite the forbidden nature of their association, their bond tightens as Sergei heals, and they are again thrust into the thick of war as the revolution rages around them, threatening to topple the Russian court forever.

Genres: Historical

200 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 27, 2014

About the author

Jerry Sacher was born and raised in the Chicago suburbs, but he's always had a soft spot in his heart for San Francisco. He has been writing stories since he was able to put pen to paper, and he's come a long way since those stories about the Titanic. He currently lives in the Boystown area of Chicago in an apartment crammed with books.

Reviews

[Christopher Moss · Rating 4 out of 5]

Told individually and together, the stories of these two very different men keep the reader constantly on edge and fascinated. Sergei is from a simple farming family but forced to try to make his way in a changing society that was on the brink of ruin, the Russian economy. Benjamin, his “Angel”, is from comfort and wealth in a diplomatic family from England. In spite of their disparities, the two men find each other on a hospital train on its way to Petrograd, and, with no consideration of social standing or rank, fall in love. There road seems continuously blocked by the circumstances of their times, the Great War, the dissolution of the imperial government in Russia and the Bolshevik Revolution. All I can say is thanks be it’s a novel or these two men would never have found each other again, but.. there is a psychic connection , of Sergei reaching for Benjamin and Benjamin reaching for Sergei that [SPOILER] explains the inevitability of their reunion.
Along the way the two men have liaisons that in no way detract from their focus on the other. This was refreshingly real to me, the reviewer, as having them tragically alone would have not felt right. Benjamin finds colleagues, both well and ill intentioned, seek his company, but he is ready with his arms wide when Sergei steps into them after that fateful wrong turn. Sergei has a long term affair with a Bolshevik rabblerouser which leads him into danger but ultimately provides him with the shelf where he can wait until time to find Benjamin again.

Along the way one encounters the people of history, in particular Nicholas II, that hapless czar almost too poetically doomed to be believed, though every bit of his description is historically accurate. The massacre of the workers in 1905, the slow dissolution of society as soldiers in Russia walk off the field after assassinating their officers, all is familiar from numerous account the historically literate has at hand.
Their backgrounds so different the two men are spiritual twins, a condition necessary for them to connect. The stories of life first on the battlefield in Russia and later in the deteriorating Petrograd and later on the killing fields of France keep one forever guessing what will happen to our boys next.

There were a couple times when the back and forth storytelling styl seemed to get mixed up, particularly when in Petrograd Benjamin is looking for Sergei and just misses him that left me bemused and confused. Why have Benjamin take the actions that were just described from Sergei’s point of view? This is a brief sequence that does not take away from the story however.

All in all a fascinating storytelling style from an author who appears to know his history and how to weave it effortlessly for the reader. Well done.

From GLBT Bookshelf www.glbtbookshelf.com

[nisie draws · Rating 1 out of 5]

Did not enjoy. I felt the connection between Benjamin & Sergei felt forced - like there was zero tension between them and then they're suddenly kissing. Later when Benjamin returns from the front and he and Sergei are searching for each other, it makes zero sense why Sergei stays in Russia amidst all the turmoil when he could go to England with Benjamin. Then towards the end, when Sergei is searching for Benjamin, it felt contrived how he miraculously found his way to Benjamin across Europe.

[Heather C · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was really looking forward to reading a WWI love story, since I haven’t read many of those…nor were any of them primarily set in Russia. So I was really excited to read this book! Two soldiers fighting for different armies; forbidden affair in so many ways… Whats not to love? Unfortunately, I struggled a bit throughout the story.

My thoughts:

I really loved the setting. The dark and desolate time in Russia during WWI and the subsequent revolution. There were many detailed specifics surrounding the war and the Russian Revolution, and while I found those pieces interesting, I felt like it took too much away from the romance of the story.

It took me a long time to really feel anything of the connection between Benjamin and Sergei. Their early, brief encounter when Benjamin escorts Sergei home felt too forced and superficial to me and I didn’t really see what they saw in each other. In fact, it felt like the majority of their getting-to-know-each-other scenes were “told” and not “shown”. It wasn’t until much later, until their reunion, before I ever starting rooting for a HEA between them.

I wanted more of the letters that were shared between Benjamin and Sergei to also be shared in detail with me. I was “told” what was in some of the letters, but I wanted to “see” the letters. I wanted to learn more about the characters’ lives and their childhood. Why was there this connection between them? What did they have in common? I wanted to fall in love with them just as they feel in love with each other. Yes, I know there were no intimate feelings or communications shared in those letters, but I wanted more romance. Share it with me! Don’t just tell me about it.

In the beginning, the frequent POV switches kept pulling me out of the story because it felt too choppy. Eventually, I think I just got used to it because it stopped bothering me…but the POV switches were still there and as frequent until the very end. I’m sure that was probably intentional on the author’s part, it just didn’t come across as a smooth telling story for me.

By the end, I was totally cheering for Benjamin and Sergei to be reunited. I just had to know how they would ever find their way back to each other; and even though their reunion was totally implausible, it was still a sweet HEA.

Now I want to see John Mason get his HEA.

Reviewed for The Blogger Girls

[Susan Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although I’m not of Russian extraction, I’ve had a fascination with Russian history since high school, even taking a college course in it. Reading Jerry Sacher’s Noble’s Savior made the Russian revolution much more personal and immediate for me. He created two very believable protagonists that had very human responses to their own situations, the first world war, and the Bolshevik revolution. Given the time period, I was not sure the MCs would have a HEA, but was glad they did (or at least a HFN). I found the trope of finding love during wartime beautifully executed and quite touching. I am looking forward to reading more of the author’s other novels. Anyone who enjoys historical genre fiction should like this book.

[Misty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Noble's Savior is a dramatic and creative novel that totally strays from the beaten path and that's always what I'm looking for!