The Code Breaker's Secret

I admit I am a huge fan of Ms. Ackerman, having now bought and read all of her books. My short review: this one may be my favorite so far. It builds links between the attack on Pearl Harbor and the opening of the Manual Kea Hotel in 1965 on the Big Island. Great characters, even the minor ones, enough Hawai’ian flavor (though less “local” than some of her other books), poignant story, and as usual with her, I learned something new, here about our female codebreakers. There are a lot of convenient coincidences, but I loved them. I usually read pretty dense stuff, and read rather quickly, so I finished the book in about three hours, but they were three delightful hours. Extremely enjoyable book. I write this review as someone with strong ties to Hawai’i, having lived in Honolulu from the 7th to 9th grades in the early Sixties, and having spent a fair amount of time on three of the other four major islands. I last visited the big island in 1989, circumnavigating it with my new family, so all of the places mentioned were familiar to me, and accurately depicted. I shudder to imagine what Kona must look like now. But part of me will always be in Hawai’i in spirit, the most beautiful place I have been in this world, and I have been a lot of places in my 75 years. Ms. Ackerman always gives me a lift in that regard, even though she is a Big Islander and my heart belongs to the north shore of Kaua’i.

Overall, I loved this book because it focuses on the Pacific Theater of WW II, which tends to get overshadowed by books on the European Theater. It also takes place in Oahu and The Big Island, which I had just spent 2+weeks visiting, so I had a personal interest. I found the history to be very interesting, the storyline intriguing and there is a relatively happy ending with romance involved. My only critic is that the story seemed a bit contrived in order to make all the pieces fit together nicely in the end. Still, I really did enjoy the book and would recommend to anyone interested in the topics of WW II and the Hawaiian Islands.

Book review of my latest book...The Codebreaker's Secret by Sara Ackerman This historical fiction was set in one of my favorite places Hawaii. The author is from there and she is so descriptive that I felt like I was back there. This story is told with dual time lines and I have to say I loved both time lines. Our first one is set in 1943, and Isabel Cooper is a super smart girl working in DC as a codebreaker. Her dream is to go to Hawaii and retrace the steps of her big brother, Walt, who died at Pearl Harbor. She gets her chance to work with a group of all male colleagues and she soon tracks down her brother's best friend, hot shot pilot Matteo. Sparks fly between the two. She is struggling to decipher codes that can help win the war. Our other time line is set in 1965, still in Hawaii. Journalist Luana Freitas has been asked to cover the grand opening of one of the Rockefeller's newest projects, a spectacular new hotel, the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel. Lu befriends the crotchety photographer assigned to cover the opening and together the get wrapped in the murder mystery of one of the elite guests. I loved the twists and turns, the descriptions that made me feel like I was in Hawaii and all the characters. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I highly recommend it and absolutely loved our chat with the author last night. #bookfriendsbookclub #bookstagram #crazybooknerd #historicalfiction

I enjoyed Sara Ackerman’s newest book The Code Breaker’s Secret. This novel contains interesting WWII history, an intriguing murder mystery, and a sweet romance. It starts with the story of Isabel, a code breaker during WWII, and the challenges she faces being one of just a few women doing this type of work. We also meet Lu, a journalist who stumbles across a murder mystery when she ends up in Hawaii 22 years after the war. Sara Ackerman does a great job bringing these characters to life and tying the two storylines together. And you can’t beat the setting, the remote and beautiful north coast of the Big Island of Hawaii.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It is my first Sara Ackerman book and I am sure it is not the last. I really enjoyed the love story aspect and the few twists and turns the story took. I would definitely recommend and reading this makes me want to visit Hawaii.

I love historical fiction, and this novel did not disappoint. It is a page-turner with interesting characters. Only wish I was in Hawaii while reading it.

Too often I’m disappointed in some of the books I read, but this one kept my interest all the way! The author took a subject that could have been dry and boring and turned it into a very interesting story. While I didn’t see how the various story lines were going to develop, she tied everything into a very nice package. Good job!

Good characters, well I fleshed out. Exciting story line, felt dramatic but also the events felt real; like they could have really happened. That, to me makes a good book great.