I liked how the author, David Robbins, created several characters on both sides of the conflict that, though they were secondary characters, they were well developed in their creation and you felt sympathy and interest in them all throughout the story.Īs far as the book goes. The pompous German aristocrat who has developed into a sniping killer contrasts well with the Siberian hunter who becomes an unwitting hero to the Russians when they desperately needed a hero in that struggle. I liked the detail and getting into the heads of several characters as they perform.

I thought the writing was quite balanced between the German and Russian participants as far as sympathies go, thought the emphasis certainly is on the Russian life in Stalingrad at this time. I really liked the book of which there are several written about the sniper duel between Russian and German experts. Based on a true story, this is the harrowing tale of two adversaries enmeshed in their own private war-and whose fortunes will help decide the fate of the world. Joining the Russian sniper's cadre, she soon becomes one of his most talented assassins-and perhaps his greatest weakness. But an American woman trapped in Russia complicates this extraordinary duel. Each man has his own mission: to find his counterpart-and kill him. These two marksmen are equally matched in both skill and tenacity. Through this twisted carnage stalk two men-one Russian, one German-each the top sniper in his respective army. The combat is horrific, as soldiers die in the smoking cellars and trenches of a ruined city. German soldiers call the battle 'Rattenkrieg, ' War of the Rats. If Hitler's forces are not stopped, Russia will fall. For six months in 1942, Stalingrad is the center of a titanic struggle between the Russian and German armies-the bloodiest campaign in mankind's long history of warfare.

War of the rats by david l robbins