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Wolf's Mouth
In 1944 Italian officer Captain Francesco Verdi is captured by Allied forces in North Africa and shipped to a POW camp in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, where the senior POW, the ruthless Kommandant Vogel, demands that all prisoners adhere to his Nazi dictates. His life threatened, Verdi escapes from the camp and meets up with an American woman, Chiara Frangiapani, who helps him elude capture as they flee to the Lower Peninsula. By 1956 they have become Frank and Claire Green, a young married couple building a new life in postwar Detroit. When INS agent James Giannopoulos tracks them down, Frank learns that Vogel is executing men like Frank for their wartime transgressions. As a series of brutal murders rivets Detroit, Frank is caught between American justice and Nazi vengeance. In Wolf ’s Mouth, the recollections of Francesco Verdi/Frank Green give voice to the hopes, fears, and hard choices of a survivor as he strives to escape the ghosts of history.
267 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 2016
11 people are currently reading
207 people want to read
About the author
John Smolens
21 books42 followersAccording to Northern Michigan University's website, John Smolens "...has published five novels Cold, The Invisible World, Fire Point, Angel’s Head, and Winter by Degrees, and one collection of short stories (My One and Only Bomb Shelter.) Cold was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award, and the Detroit Free Press selected Fire Point as the best book by a Michigan author in 2004... His short stories and essays have appeared in various magazines and newspapers, including: the Virginia Quarterly, the William and Mary Review, the Massachusetts Review, Yankee, Redbook, the Los Angeles Times, and the Boston Globe. His work has been translated into Dutch, Greek, Italian, and Turkish, and has been published the United Kingdom by Hodder & Stoughton, London."
His most recent publication is The Anarchist and has been well received.
His most recent publication is The Anarchist and has been well received.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews
October 23, 2016
First of all, as a Michigander, I enjoy reading books that either, a have an author from this state or, b the story takes place in Michigan. That would be the reason for reading this book, which starts out in the UP and is largely based in Michigan throughout the story.
The story has great potential and is interesting, from the beginning to the end, however... I didn't feel as if I was connecting with the characters, as if they were plastic people without backgrounds. Some of the scenes were kinda choppy, sometimes they went from, oh yeah I could see that happening, to, what the heck just happened and why? The ending, eh, it left a little to be desired, I really wanted to connect the characters and their situations to the wolves and the beautiful landscape that is the UP but I couldn't quite do it.
Overall, a good read and a refreshing point of view for a WWII story. Its nice to read a book based in the WWII era and write in a completely different perspective than the norm. Will look for more books from this author. Well done.
The story has great potential and is interesting, from the beginning to the end, however... I didn't feel as if I was connecting with the characters, as if they were plastic people without backgrounds. Some of the scenes were kinda choppy, sometimes they went from, oh yeah I could see that happening, to, what the heck just happened and why? The ending, eh, it left a little to be desired, I really wanted to connect the characters and their situations to the wolves and the beautiful landscape that is the UP but I couldn't quite do it.
Overall, a good read and a refreshing point of view for a WWII story. Its nice to read a book based in the WWII era and write in a completely different perspective than the norm. Will look for more books from this author. Well done.
March 12, 2016
My favorite books are the ones that make me think and feel at the same time, the ones that have changed me for the better by the time I have turned the final page. Smolens’ Wolf’s Mouth is a new favorite.
The story begins in 1944 as World War II is drawing to a close. Francesco “Frank” Verdi is a young Italian POW logging the forest at Camp Au Train in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. The labor is monontonous, but there is adequate food, comfortable lodging, and music, art and education on offer. He can even purchase beer if he wishes. Most significantly to Frank, he has his pal Adino, and soccer. It may not be summer camp–there are guards with Tommy guns, and the gates are locked at night–but it’s not the front lines, either.
It doesn’t take long for Frank to realize that just like summer camp, Camp Au Train has its bullies, but these ones are all too happy to kill anyone who refuses to toe the Nazi line. Frank knows he is next. But what can he do? No one has ever successfully escaped from Camp Au Train. Even if he makes it out of the woods and into the nearest town, his uniform and his accent will give him away and he will be returned to camp, where he will be tortured to death.
I’m a lifelong Michigan resident and I had never heard of POW camps in Michigan, and no one I talked to had heard of them, either. Turns out there were about 25 of them in 1944. Camp Au Train was real. POWs went into the forest to help civilian logging crews cut pulpwood for 80 cents a day. Some stayed behind at camp to cook and perform other chores. Similar camps existed all over the US.
It’s mind-boggling that this can’t be found in history textbooks. The people who were there, the ones who could talk about life in these camps, are all gone now. A significant part of America’s history is all but lost. Wolf’s Mouth gives readers a glimpse of life inside American POW camps, a glimpse we might not get otherwise.
But the novel is much more than a POW camp narrative. It’s about the complications of reinventing the self, the terrible things a person must do sometimes just to survive in war time, and the incorrigibility of Nazi vengeance. Yet it’s never depressing.
The plot is exciting, the dialogue crisp and the characters so real that you will wonder what they are up to when you put the book down. I have a preschooler so I didn’t have any choice but to put it down to attend to the constantly needy creature. Otherwise, I could have easily read all 268 pages in one sitting.
Wolf’s Mouth is a smart, thrilling novel that I won’t soon forget. It would make a terrific book club pick.
The story begins in 1944 as World War II is drawing to a close. Francesco “Frank” Verdi is a young Italian POW logging the forest at Camp Au Train in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. The labor is monontonous, but there is adequate food, comfortable lodging, and music, art and education on offer. He can even purchase beer if he wishes. Most significantly to Frank, he has his pal Adino, and soccer. It may not be summer camp–there are guards with Tommy guns, and the gates are locked at night–but it’s not the front lines, either.
It doesn’t take long for Frank to realize that just like summer camp, Camp Au Train has its bullies, but these ones are all too happy to kill anyone who refuses to toe the Nazi line. Frank knows he is next. But what can he do? No one has ever successfully escaped from Camp Au Train. Even if he makes it out of the woods and into the nearest town, his uniform and his accent will give him away and he will be returned to camp, where he will be tortured to death.
I’m a lifelong Michigan resident and I had never heard of POW camps in Michigan, and no one I talked to had heard of them, either. Turns out there were about 25 of them in 1944. Camp Au Train was real. POWs went into the forest to help civilian logging crews cut pulpwood for 80 cents a day. Some stayed behind at camp to cook and perform other chores. Similar camps existed all over the US.
It’s mind-boggling that this can’t be found in history textbooks. The people who were there, the ones who could talk about life in these camps, are all gone now. A significant part of America’s history is all but lost. Wolf’s Mouth gives readers a glimpse of life inside American POW camps, a glimpse we might not get otherwise.
But the novel is much more than a POW camp narrative. It’s about the complications of reinventing the self, the terrible things a person must do sometimes just to survive in war time, and the incorrigibility of Nazi vengeance. Yet it’s never depressing.
The plot is exciting, the dialogue crisp and the characters so real that you will wonder what they are up to when you put the book down. I have a preschooler so I didn’t have any choice but to put it down to attend to the constantly needy creature. Otherwise, I could have easily read all 268 pages in one sitting.
Wolf’s Mouth is a smart, thrilling novel that I won’t soon forget. It would make a terrific book club pick.
October 25, 2017
Read this one in 3 evenings. Fast paced, have been to many of the towns/cities in the story. Easy to read. Picked this one up because the author is a professor at the college my child attends. Glad I did.
July 15, 2017
finished this morning, 5:07 a.m. 15 jul 17 good story 4-star. great story-line.
July 18, 2017
Wolfs mouth
The book dragged at the beginning but when the main character escaped it became "Do Not Put Me Down. Great read
The book dragged at the beginning but when the main character escaped it became "Do Not Put Me Down. Great read
February 11, 2024
Very interesting book. Loved the historic, Michigan setting and the story built around a real AuTrain, Mi. WW2 POW camp.
January 12, 2018
As the book begins, Frank Green, previously Francesco Verdi, is an Italian in a POW camp, Camp Au Train, near Munising, Michigan. (Who knew there were POW camps in Michigan during WWII?!?) Even though it is an American-run POW camp, the Nazis, specifically Kommandant Vogel, a man known for vengeance, violence, and his strong belief in the Nazi ideals, runs the camp, meting out “justice” to anyone who does not follow Vogel’s commands or follow the Third Reich way. Verdi escapes after finding out that he’s been tried for treason for saving a child from a house fire (no Nazi should ever save an American as he might grow up and fight against them at a later date!) and sentencing him to death. He takes up a life in Detroit and then in Munising, but is constantly on alert looking for Vogel and his son Anton, who have vowed to kill him in some agonizing way for his desertion and treason. The novel poses the question, “Is it even possible to know your true self” when one is forced to change one’s life, name, place on earth, and even, possibly, one’s beliefs. And Verdi/Green comes to the realization that “survival isn’t enough. You don’t have one life, but many lives to live. With luck, you live them all.” It is a plot-driven novel with much suspense, action, drama, and historical relevance, one made more interesting by the Michigan setting and Michigan history during the 40+ years that the novel takes place; I found out a lot about Michigan and WWII that I’d never before known. It was an interesting take on what people, especially Nazis, might do, even after the war was over, to get "justice" or to continue the fight.
September 22, 2017
I would give this a solid 3.5.
At first, I thought this would just be a mediocre book about the UP. But it was so much more than that. It had twists and turns I didn’t expect, things that shock you, and an amazing ending. Who knew there were actually POW camps in the UP in WWII? Not I, and I’ve lived in Michigan my whole life. I wish that I could know more about the other prisoners and what they’re lives were like but then it would have been a thousand page book.
I think the reason this isn’t a complete 4 star for me is because I am struggling to cope with a part of the ending. I’m quite conflicted on how to feel about it. But it over all was a great read.
At first, I thought this would just be a mediocre book about the UP. But it was so much more than that. It had twists and turns I didn’t expect, things that shock you, and an amazing ending. Who knew there were actually POW camps in the UP in WWII? Not I, and I’ve lived in Michigan my whole life. I wish that I could know more about the other prisoners and what they’re lives were like but then it would have been a thousand page book.
I think the reason this isn’t a complete 4 star for me is because I am struggling to cope with a part of the ending. I’m quite conflicted on how to feel about it. But it over all was a great read.
May 6, 2018
We read this for my english class at northern and about 3 people of the 20 liked the book. The characters started out with great potential but turned out really bland. Actually, the entire book was horribly bland. Could have been finished in a few chapters but seemed stretch out too much. Plus transitions were really choppy. Honestly, would not recommend this book to anyone.
May 17, 2024
I enjoyed this book as it was written about our local area. I wasn't aware that so much had occurred here during this time from (camps, etc). It was eye opening. I hope to explore and find the area that the book is written about.
March 6, 2019
In 1944 Italian officer Captain Francesco Verdi is captured by Allied forces in North Africa and shipped to a POW camp in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, where the senior POW, the ruthless Kommandant Vogel, demands that all prisoners adhere to his Nazi dictates. His life threatened, Verdi escapes from the camp and meets up with an American woman, Chiara Frangiapani, who helps him elude capture as they flee to the Lower Peninsula. By 1956 they have become Frank and Claire Green, a young married couple building a new life in postwar Detroit. When INS agent James Giannopoulos tracks them down, Frank learns that Vogel is executing men like Frank for their wartime transgressions. As a series of brutal murders rivets Detroit, Frank is caught between American justice and Nazi vengeance. In Wolf ’s Mouth, the recollections of Francesco Verdi/Frank Green give voice to the hopes, fears, and hard choices of a survivor as he strives to escape the ghosts of history
September 18, 2025
I probably wouldn't have picked this book up if it wasn't selected for a local history book club. The style of this book was not for me, but I'm generally not a fan of books with graphic real-life violence or thriller elements. If you are, you'll like the book. It definitely has its audience.
I was also not a fan of the "instant love" sub-plot or the way every man in the book feels the need to make crude sexual comments about women (though I suppose you could argue that was intended to make the book sound "real" and "gritty").
Still, it was interesting to learn a bit more about WWII prisoner of war camps, though at times the protagonist felt like someone explaining historical events and mores rather than someone living them.
I was also not a fan of the "instant love" sub-plot or the way every man in the book feels the need to make crude sexual comments about women (though I suppose you could argue that was intended to make the book sound "real" and "gritty").
Still, it was interesting to learn a bit more about WWII prisoner of war camps, though at times the protagonist felt like someone explaining historical events and mores rather than someone living them.
July 14, 2019
In 1944 Italian prisoner, Francesco Verdi, is sent to UP Michigan. The camp commander, Vogel, is convinced prisoners must do what they can to cause trouble and kill or they must fight Americans. After Francesco saves a baby from a burning house he is convicted and sentenced to death. He knows he must leave or he will be killed.
He escapes to the burned-out house and eventually is helped by a neighbor.
This is an excellent story with many twists and turns as well as a love story and back woods drama.
He escapes to the burned-out house and eventually is helped by a neighbor.
This is an excellent story with many twists and turns as well as a love story and back woods drama.
February 22, 2020
The shadows of war stretch far. Prior reviews give details about the plot, which I won't rehash here. I was not aware of the POW camps in the UP during WWII, so that was interesting. And the Nazis' continued efforts to find "traitors" long after the war ended was also interesting. But some plot twists needed more development such as (spoiler alert here: the quickie second marriage after the death of his beloved wife??) I also wished I knew more about Adino's life when he returned to Italy.... Finally, the whole wolf metaphor/comparison didn't work for me.
June 22, 2021
Lucy (HB) gave this to me.
WWII prisoner of war camps in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan - based on true story.
The Nazi's and their cruelty, the prisoners and their life in a prison which is almost unescapable due to it's location, not the guards who take the prisoners shopping in town, etc.
A prisoner rescues a baby from a house fire while in town. He then realizes he will be killed or physically tortured til he is disabled unless he escapes.
This is his story and the story of the prison camp and personnel.
A very good read.
WWII prisoner of war camps in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan - based on true story.
The Nazi's and their cruelty, the prisoners and their life in a prison which is almost unescapable due to it's location, not the guards who take the prisoners shopping in town, etc.
A prisoner rescues a baby from a house fire while in town. He then realizes he will be killed or physically tortured til he is disabled unless he escapes.
This is his story and the story of the prison camp and personnel.
A very good read.
October 12, 2018
A chilling story of an Italian POW held in a camp in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan among the many German POWs where he watched the cruelty of the Nazi Kommandant to the prisoners. Post POW camp life seemed good, but held so much sorrow, and perpetual fear of being pursued by the relentless Nazi. I had no idea of these camps or this history, even though I have been to the UP. A welcome book to know some of the hidden horrors of history.
May 4, 2018
Nazis in the U.P? Nazi’s in Detroit? Who would have guessed? Short book, couldn’t put it down, has the life story of the good guy hero and his evil nemesis.
The wolf is symbolic of I’m not sure what. Perhaps the wolf is Frank’s spirit helper.
The wolf is symbolic of I’m not sure what. Perhaps the wolf is Frank’s spirit helper.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Currently reading
December 18, 2019Join us for a friendly, informal discussion led by members of the Friends. This month's title is Wolf's Mouth by John Smolens. Discussion will take place at Kent District Library's Cascade branch, on January 20, 2020 from 10-11 am.
July 23, 2025
History comes alive
Being from Michigan, and specifically having lived in Marquette and Munising, this book brought to life history of the area that I was actually unaware of. I enjoyed the pace of the book and the characters were relatable.
Being from Michigan, and specifically having lived in Marquette and Munising, this book brought to life history of the area that I was actually unaware of. I enjoyed the pace of the book and the characters were relatable.
December 19, 2017
Gripping well written historical novel of WWII and post war era, centered in Michigan. Quiet, intense heroism; persistent and all-too believable evil. Exceptionally well-told tale.
February 14, 2018
The story of an Italian officer's time in a prison camp of war in the US and the Nazi officer who tracked him down after he had escaped.
July 11, 2018
I lived in Southeast Michigan my whole life and never knew that these prison camps existed! This is a great story and we should all be aware of the personal struggles and the side effects of war.
July 23, 2018
I had to read this book for class. This book was okay. I didn't really get too invested in the story, but it was an alright read.
August 1, 2018
I read this book while staying at a campground in Munising.
August 17, 2018
As a Michigander I was attracted to this book because of its setting. And I enjoyed the story along the way! I also learned parts of Michigan history I was not aware of.
August 26, 2018
Fascinating.
September 21, 2019
Short easy read. A story based on truth I never knew
August 16, 2020
Great story!
July 6, 2022
Set in Upper Peninsula (Michigan) with some chatter about Wisconsin (Green Bay, Milwaukee). Good peek into WWII POW camps in the U.S., and an outlyer POW.
March 12, 2023
Interesting story. Love the
different settings
different settings
Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews