Based loosely on a true story, this concerns the shenanigans revolving around an entire warehouse of gold reserves, smuggled away from Nazi hands early-ish in WWII. The problem is the difficulty in remembering who is who and what side they're on and what their intentions are – there are a lot of sides to keep track of in this sort-of espionage-based drama. Two and a half stars.

Love this story, was unaware that it's a duology so can't wait for part 2 to come out! Love the historical references in the back. Super intriguing

An interesting graphic novel about a real-life event, the moving of gold from Europe's central banks during WWII, to protect it from the Nazis. The story was interesting and the artwork was ok, but this is very much in the style of old comic books, with the same sensibilities, although there was some slight concession to modernity with respect to race. Ends on a cliffhanger, which made me that much more indifferent to it. Thank you to Europe Comics and to Netgalley for making this ARC available to me.

trigger warning
<spoiler> colonialism, racism, war themes, gun violence, mention of suicide, implied alcholism</spoiler>

1940: Belgium has send their gold reserves and those of Poland they're supposed to keep safe away, to be taken care of of the French military who also protects French gold. Of course, in a war, nothing is as easy as it's supposed to be.

Very boring. We have exactly three women, one of them only getting one panel and a sex scene at that. The second woman who gets maybe three panels has something to say, but the woman who is mostly seen is there to be pretty and annoyed at the lack of nice things in a war zone.

We have a few black men, who feel like the only real people. Everyone else feels like the authors picked a stereotype and didn't bother to do anything else - if they even went that far.

I just didn't care. Too much jumping between different characters at different locations to show the full picture, which would be fine if we'd had a non fiction title, but doesn't work for a comic at all.
Won't read on.

The arc was provided by the publisher.

A fun caper book! A number of folks are chasing 138 tons of Belgian gold bars around French Africa. The Germans feel the gold belongs to them since they conquered Belgium. The Gaullist French want the funds to support their resistance, the Vichy French feel that assisting the Germans is their duty, the British want the money, and then there are the Africans themselves that would not mind getting rid of everyone. A fun adventure nicely drawn and colored that will be continued in Part 2!

Thanks Netgalley for the opportunity to read this title!

My thanks to the publisher and netgalley for a chance to dive into this graphic novel. Quick review: I liked it. The graphics were superb, the story a fun time. Only downside is I wish there wasn’t a cliffhanger at the end, but I will sure to come back for the second part.

A glimpse into one of the lesser known intricacies underpinning WWII's covert history!

This comprises of the first part of a desperate scramble - by a small commando unit, cobbled together in a risky attempt to put a spanner in the works of the Nazi's need for capital - to hunt to ground and intercept Belgium's National Bank reserves of gold and ultimately keep it out of Germany's hands. Making this a well put together account of what might have happened to the gold and those impacted by the chase to recover it.
A covert part of WWII history, I'll admit to knowing nothing about but am now deeply intrigued and invested in reading about its conclusion.
The detailed art work perfectly jumps you back in time and works harmoniously with the choice of accompanying script to bring the story to life with such colour, vibrancy and sharp wit. As it adds a deeper personality and subtle thread of humour to heighten the cunning, clever and downright recklessness and bravado that underpins the subterfuge and sabotage afoot. Literally bluntly blurring the lines between right and wrong, in the profound name of liberating a country's fortune in gold with the shared hope of preventing the prolonging of war and Nazi tyranny.
A very well crafted graphic comic that works well, holds you engaged and whets your appetite for more in the promise of its concluding chapter! I must say, I'm rather looking forward to it!!

I had no idea that something along these lines happened during WW2. The art is well done, the dialogue is easy to follow, and the subject is interesting