
A Bitter Rain
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $25.00
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
David deVries
-
By:
-
James D. Shipman
About this listen
A former professor descends into darkness in this provocative story of a Nazi soldier torn between duty and conscience.
East Prussia, Nazi Germany, 1939. History professor Erik Mueller is a model citizen and a family man. He's also a decorated sergeant in the Gestapo. Proving his courage on the battlefields of Poland and the Soviet Union, and proud of the German army's victories across Europe, he embraces what he thinks is the righteousness of the Third Reich's cause.
But his loyalties are soon tested when he crosses paths with his old university friend Trude Bensheim. Forced into unemployment for being Jewish, Trude and her husband start a secret organization to help Jews escape Germany. But when they are betrayed by someone they thought they could trust, their lives hang in the balance.
Erik feels responsible for Trude's capture, and he knows he's in a position to help them. But when everything he holds dear is at stake, will he save his friends...or himself?
©2017 James D. Shipman. (P)2017 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Beyond the Wire
- By: James D. Shipman
- Narrated by: Robert Fass
- Length: 11 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
October 1944: In the long, narrow undressing rooms in Auschwitz-Birkenau, prisoner Jakub Bak toils under the scrutiny of SS guards. Like other members of the Sonderkommando, Jakub was selected on arrival for an unthinkable job: sorting through the clothes of the dead and moving their bodies from the gas chambers to the crematoriums. Jakub clings to the promise he made to his murdered father - to live, at any cost - and to the moments he is able to spend in the company of Anna, imprisoned in the women's camp.
-
-
Holocaust Auschwitz Story brings knowledge
- By Arley on 08-10-24
By: James D. Shipman
-
Irena's War
- By: James D. Shipman
- Narrated by: Romy Nordlinger
- Length: 12 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
September 1939: The conquering Nazis swarm through Warsaw as social worker Irena Sendler watches in dread from her apartment window. Already, the city's poor go hungry. Irena wonders how she will continue to deliver food and supplies to those who need it most, including the forbidden Jews. The answer comes unexpectedly.
-
-
Well written and well read
- By Adam Basua on 10-25-24
By: James D. Shipman
-
It Is Well
- A Novel
- By: James D. Shipman
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 10 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jonathan Beecher, a middle-aged widower and small-town store owner, has never asked for much. But lately, all too much is being asked of him. The bombing of Pearl Harbor plunges America into World War II and deeply fractures Jonathan's own family. His eldest son, a civilian contractor, is trapped on a Japanese-occupied island in the Pacific. Jonathan's feckless younger son ignores his father's pleas to stay home and joins the army.
-
-
WWII Homefront Struggles
- By Sara on 01-03-18
By: James D. Shipman
-
Where the Sky Begins
- A Novel
- By: Rhys Bowen
- Narrated by: Emma Griffiths
- Length: 11 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
London, 1940. Bombs fall and Josie Banks’ world crumbles around her. Her overbearing husband, Stan, is unreachable, called to service. Her home, a ruin of rubble and ash. Josie’s beloved tearoom boss has been killed, and Josie herself is injured, with nothing left and nowhere to go. Evacuated to the English countryside, Josie ends up at the estate of the aristocratic Miss Harcourt, a reluctant host to the survivors of the Blitz. Now a threat looms larger than anyone imagined. And a dangerous secret is about to upend Josie’s life again.
-
-
Probably the worst Rhys Bowen book I have read
- By Tony on 08-14-22
By: Rhys Bowen
-
The Nine
- The True Story of a Band of Women Who Survived the Worst of Nazi Germany
- By: Gwen Strauss
- Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson
- Length: 13 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Nine follows the true story of the author’s great aunt Hélène Podliasky, who led a band of nine female resistance fighters as they escaped a German forced labor camp and made a 10-day journey across the front lines of World War II from Germany back to Paris. Drawing on incredible research, this powerful, heart-stopping narrative is a moving tribute to the power of humanity and friendship in the darkest of times.
-
-
Soooo good!
- By anne simpson on 09-28-21
By: Gwen Strauss
-
Beneath a Scarlet Sky
- A Novel
- By: Mark Sullivan
- Narrated by: Will Damron
- Length: 17 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Pino Lella wants nothing to do with the war or the Nazis. He's a normal Italian teenager - obsessed with music, food, and girls - but his days of innocence are numbered. When his family home in Milan is destroyed by Allied bombs, Pino joins an underground railroad helping Jews escape over the Alps, and falls for Anna, a beautiful widow six years his senior. In an attempt to protect him, Pino's parents force him to enlist as a German soldier - a move they think will keep him out of combat.
-
-
The Best Thing? It Really Happened!
- By Chip Atkinson on 08-07-17
By: Mark Sullivan
-
Beyond the Wire
- By: James D. Shipman
- Narrated by: Robert Fass
- Length: 11 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
October 1944: In the long, narrow undressing rooms in Auschwitz-Birkenau, prisoner Jakub Bak toils under the scrutiny of SS guards. Like other members of the Sonderkommando, Jakub was selected on arrival for an unthinkable job: sorting through the clothes of the dead and moving their bodies from the gas chambers to the crematoriums. Jakub clings to the promise he made to his murdered father - to live, at any cost - and to the moments he is able to spend in the company of Anna, imprisoned in the women's camp.
-
-
Holocaust Auschwitz Story brings knowledge
- By Arley on 08-10-24
By: James D. Shipman
-
Irena's War
- By: James D. Shipman
- Narrated by: Romy Nordlinger
- Length: 12 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
September 1939: The conquering Nazis swarm through Warsaw as social worker Irena Sendler watches in dread from her apartment window. Already, the city's poor go hungry. Irena wonders how she will continue to deliver food and supplies to those who need it most, including the forbidden Jews. The answer comes unexpectedly.
-
-
Well written and well read
- By Adam Basua on 10-25-24
By: James D. Shipman
-
It Is Well
- A Novel
- By: James D. Shipman
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 10 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jonathan Beecher, a middle-aged widower and small-town store owner, has never asked for much. But lately, all too much is being asked of him. The bombing of Pearl Harbor plunges America into World War II and deeply fractures Jonathan's own family. His eldest son, a civilian contractor, is trapped on a Japanese-occupied island in the Pacific. Jonathan's feckless younger son ignores his father's pleas to stay home and joins the army.
-
-
WWII Homefront Struggles
- By Sara on 01-03-18
By: James D. Shipman
-
Where the Sky Begins
- A Novel
- By: Rhys Bowen
- Narrated by: Emma Griffiths
- Length: 11 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
London, 1940. Bombs fall and Josie Banks’ world crumbles around her. Her overbearing husband, Stan, is unreachable, called to service. Her home, a ruin of rubble and ash. Josie’s beloved tearoom boss has been killed, and Josie herself is injured, with nothing left and nowhere to go. Evacuated to the English countryside, Josie ends up at the estate of the aristocratic Miss Harcourt, a reluctant host to the survivors of the Blitz. Now a threat looms larger than anyone imagined. And a dangerous secret is about to upend Josie’s life again.
-
-
Probably the worst Rhys Bowen book I have read
- By Tony on 08-14-22
By: Rhys Bowen
-
The Nine
- The True Story of a Band of Women Who Survived the Worst of Nazi Germany
- By: Gwen Strauss
- Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson
- Length: 13 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Nine follows the true story of the author’s great aunt Hélène Podliasky, who led a band of nine female resistance fighters as they escaped a German forced labor camp and made a 10-day journey across the front lines of World War II from Germany back to Paris. Drawing on incredible research, this powerful, heart-stopping narrative is a moving tribute to the power of humanity and friendship in the darkest of times.
-
-
Soooo good!
- By anne simpson on 09-28-21
By: Gwen Strauss
-
Beneath a Scarlet Sky
- A Novel
- By: Mark Sullivan
- Narrated by: Will Damron
- Length: 17 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Pino Lella wants nothing to do with the war or the Nazis. He's a normal Italian teenager - obsessed with music, food, and girls - but his days of innocence are numbered. When his family home in Milan is destroyed by Allied bombs, Pino joins an underground railroad helping Jews escape over the Alps, and falls for Anna, a beautiful widow six years his senior. In an attempt to protect him, Pino's parents force him to enlist as a German soldier - a move they think will keep him out of combat.
-
-
The Best Thing? It Really Happened!
- By Chip Atkinson on 08-07-17
By: Mark Sullivan
-
The Tattooist of Auschwitz
- A Novel
- By: Heather Morris
- Narrated by: Richard Armitage
- Length: 7 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In April 1942, Lale Sokolov, a Slovakian Jew, is forcibly transported to the concentration camps at Auschwitz-Birkenau. When his captors discover that he speaks several languages, he is put to work as a Tätowierer (German for tattooist), tasked with permanently marking his fellow prisoners. Imprisoned for more than two and a half years, Lale witnesses horrific atrocities and barbarism - but also incredible acts of bravery and compassion. Risking his own life, he uses his position to exchange jewels and money from murdered Jews for food to keep his fellow prisoners alive.
-
-
A hopeful perspective on a harrowing time
- By melyssa57 (A Page Before Bedtime dot com) on 10-10-18
By: Heather Morris
-
Code Name Hélène
- A Novel
- By: Ariel Lawhon
- Narrated by: Barrie Kreinik, Peter Ganim
- Length: 17 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It is 1936, and Nancy Wake is an intrepid Australian expat living in Paris who has bluffed her way into a reporting job for Hearst newspaper when she meets the wealthy French industrialist Henri Fiocca. No sooner does Henri sweep Nancy off her feet and convince her to become Mrs. Fiocca than the Germans invade France and she takes yet another name: a code name. As Lucienne Carlier, Nancy smuggles people and documents across the border and earns a new nickname from the Gestapo for her remarkable ability to evade capture: The White Mouse.
-
-
Mixed Feelings
- By carpsmarsh on 02-14-21
By: Ariel Lawhon
-
The Lieutenant's Nurse
- By: Sara Ackerman
- Narrated by: Lauren Ezzo
- Length: 9 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
November, 1941. She’s never even seen the ocean before, but Eva Cassidy has her reasons for making the crossing to Hawaii, and they run a lot deeper than escaping a harsh Michigan winter. Newly enlisted as an Army Corps nurse, Eva is stunned by the splendor she experiences aboard the steamship SS Lurline; even more so by Lt. Clark Spencer, a man she is drawn to but who clearly has secrets of his own. But Eva’s past - and the future she’s trying to create - means that she’s not free to follow her heart.
-
-
Nice story but irritating narrator!!
- By Susan Sun on 03-12-19
By: Sara Ackerman
-
Code Name Sapphire
- By: Pam Jenoff
- Narrated by: Nancy Peterson
- Length: 13 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
1942. Hannah Martel has narrowly escaped Nazi Germany after her fiancé was killed in a pogrom. When her ship bound for America is turned away at port, she has nowhere to go but to her cousin Lily, who lives with her family in Brussels. Fearful for her life, Hannah is desperate to get out of occupied Europe. But with no safe way to leave, she must return to the dangerous underground work she thought she had left behind.
-
-
Such a disappointment.
- By V. Temple on 03-29-23
By: Pam Jenoff
-
The Woman Outside the Walls
- By: Suzanne Goldring
- Narrated by: Alison Campbell
- Length: 10 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hamburg, 1942. Seventeen-year-old Anna knows she can never tell her proud parents the truth about where she is going. She must hide the fact that she is pregnant, that the father of her unborn child is dead, and that she is on her way to a special maternity home, where her baby will be given to a perfect family. She tells herself that this is the best solution. She doesn’t expect to feel the rush of love for her beautiful baby boy in the white blanket or the devastation when he is snatched from her, never to be seen again.
-
-
Great Story in the End… a little slow to start!
- By Ali on 02-26-23
By: Suzanne Goldring
-
Tears of Amber
- By: Sofía Segovia, Simon Bruni - translator
- Narrated by: Will Damron, Angela Dawe
- Length: 15 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With war looming dangerously close, Ilse’s school days soon turn to lessons of survival. In the harshness of winter, her family must join the largest exodus in human history to survive. As battle lines are drawn and East Prussia’s borders vanish beneath them, they leave their farm and all they know behind for an uncertain future. But Ilse also has Janusz, her family’s young Polish laborer, by her side. As they flee from the Soviet army, his enchanting folktales keep her mind off the cold, the hunger, and the horrors unfolding around them.
-
-
A remarkable book - compelling story
- By just asking for some common sense on 05-11-21
By: Sofía Segovia, and others
-
Mila 18
- By: Leon Uris
- Narrated by: David deVries
- Length: 21 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It was a time of crisis, a time of tragedy - and a time of transcendent courage and determination. Leon Uris’s blazing novel is set in the midst of the ghetto uprising that defied Nazi tyranny, as the Jews of Warsaw boldly met Wehrmacht tanks with homemade weapons and bare fists. Here, painted on a canvas as broad as its subject matter, is the compelling story of one of the most heroic struggles of modern times.
-
-
Mila 19 - WOW!
- By Logophile on 07-19-18
By: Leon Uris
-
Into the Forest
- A Holocaust Story of Survival, Triumph, and Love
- By: Rebecca Frankel
- Narrated by: Natalie Pela
- Length: 11 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the summer of 1942, the Rabinowitz family narrowly escaped the Nazi ghetto in their Polish town by fleeing to the forbidding Bialowieza Forest. They miraculously survived two years in the woods—through brutal winters, Typhus outbreaks, and merciless Nazi raids—until they were liberated by the Red Army in 1944. After the war, they trekked across the Alps into Italy, where they settled as refugees before eventually immigrating to the United States.
-
-
Great story with an added benefit
- By Scottsville Stu on 12-30-21
By: Rebecca Frankel
-
The Diamond Eye
- A Novel
- By: Kate Quinn
- Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld
- Length: 12 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the snowbound city of Kiev, wry and bookish history student Mila Pavlichenko organizes her life around her library job and her young son—but Hitler’s invasion of Russia sends her on a different path. Given a rifle and sent to join the fight, Mila must forge herself from studious girl to deadly sniper—a lethal hunter of Nazis known as Lady Death. When news of her three hundredth kill makes her a national heroine, Mila finds herself torn from the bloody battlefields of the eastern front and sent to America on a goodwill tour.
-
-
Excellent narration!
- By Denise Diener on 04-15-22
By: Kate Quinn
-
The German Wife
- Inspired by True Events, an Absolutely Gripping and Heartbreaking WW2 Historical Novel
- By: Debbie Rix
- Narrated by: Tamsin Kennard
- Length: 11 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Germany, 1939: Annaliese is a doctor’s wife, living in an elegant grey stone house with ivy creeping over the balcony. But when her husband is ordered to work at the Dachau labor camp, her ordinary life is turned upside down by the horrors of war. And Annaliese finds herself in grave danger when she dares to fight for love and freedom. America, 1989: Turning the pages of the newspaper, Annaliese gasps when she recognizes the face of a man she thought she’d never see again....
-
-
Ridiculous story
- By christina on 02-22-22
By: Debbie Rix
-
The Girls in the Attic
- By: Marius Gabriel
- Narrated by: Mary Jane Wells
- Length: 10 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Max Wolff is a committed soldier of the Reich. So when he is sent home wounded, only to discover that his mother is sheltering two young Jewish women in their home, he is outraged. His mother’s act of mercy is a gross betrayal of everything Max stands for. He has dedicated his life to Nazism, fighting to atone for the shame of his anti-Hitler father’s imprisonment. It’s his duty to turn the sisters over to the Gestapo. But he hesitates, and the longer Max fails to do his duty, the harder it becomes.
-
-
impact of The War in Germany on Germans
- By Florida girl on 11-02-21
By: Marius Gabriel
-
The Teacher of Warsaw
- A WWII Novel
- By: Mario Escobar
- Narrated by: Zach Hoffman
- Length: 8 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
September 1, 1939: Sixty-year-old Janusz Korczak and the students and teachers at his Dom Sierot Jewish orphanage are outside enjoying a beautiful day in Warsaw. Hours later, their lives are altered forever when the Nazis invade. Suddenly treated as an outcast in his own city, Janusz--a respected leader known for his heroism and teaching--is determined to do whatever it takes to protect the children from the horrors to come.
-
-
thank you for writing this book
- By BarbieAlaska on 06-12-22
By: Mario Escobar
What listeners say about A Bitter Rain
Highly rated for:
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- robert jarmanRobert
- 07-16-20
Poxy.
Detest writing reviews.It was okay if you like it but please don't ask me to review.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- paula wright
- 01-19-18
Such an exciting audio book that kept me nervous
I loved hearing about everyday German people who helped the Jews to their detriment. I disliked that I had to constantly remind. Myself that some of characters I liked were Germans and nazis and Americans enemy. They could have been fighting my own daddy and uncles. They were our enemy but a human side was shown of one major character. A Nazi who do get against the allies I disliked led the fact that so many evil nazis and Germans escaped to South America
The audio was so good I highly recommend it
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
- sandy
- 06-06-18
Great read
Great read for an airplane flight, beach day or as I was, sick in bed. You can not put it down . Read it in two days. Took you back to the days of war and survival.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Wangdo Kim
- 11-30-17
War criminals and escapees were regarded as war heroes in some countries.
he said in his Nobel acceptance speech. “What I discovered in Auschwitz is the human condition, the end point of a great adventure, where the European traveler arrived after his 2,000-year-old moral and cultural history.”
Imre
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Michele
- 10-01-19
Great book
The storyline is excellent and keeps your attention. Highly recommend this selection. May look for other books from this author.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Robert Schneck
- 08-05-18
WWll Thriller
Although a slow start, the book picked up speed and was spellbinding. I liked the way the author developed two story lines. The setting of Konigsberg, East Prussia a city founded in 1255 and abandoned in 1945, was an interesting choice of venue. David DeVries did a creditable job of narration although his voices of the two children was ludicrous. I liked this book because of the subject matter, in the darkest of times, there are always good people willing to follow their convictions and put their lives ahead of their personal safety, to protect others. The author could have devoted more attention to ending however in fairness, he did devote the last chapter to political foot notes and put the book into historical perspective. Recommended
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- L S
- 12-02-19
Selfish Female Lead
struggled to finish this story the mother has little concern for those around her, except for how she can use them
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Gina Brendley
- 08-31-18
Good story
The story at its base is very good but I found it a bet wordy at places and a little unbelievable in some points. The reader was not at all good and I found him distracting from time to time. The book is worth it if you enjoy ww2 novels but there’s so many better books to choose.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
- Amazon Customer
- 04-13-18
A Birtter Rain
This book wonderfully written,brings the reality of concentration camps and the victims to the fore front. The realization of our part as Americans or our lack of being a part of this war to help grieves me..
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
9 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Cat
- 10-28-18
My first
This book can be read/ listened to by any age. Clean basic Nazi history we are so close to repeating with our political disaster mr. Trump. Listen and learn from history.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
3 people found this helpful