Devin Murphy Books In Order

Publication Order of Destroyer Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Devin Murphy is a renowned American author, who is famous for writing historical fiction and nonfiction novels. He is particularly popular for writing the book, The Boat Runner. The book was recently published by the Harper Collins publication and has received appreciations from all corners of the country. It has even received very nice reviews from international critics as well. Author Devin was born and brought up in a small town near Buffalo, New York. His family is believed to have the roots of the Dutch. Author Devin earned his BA/MA degree from the St Bonaventure University. Later, he followed it up with an MFA degree from the University of Colorado State. Devin even holds a PhD, which he obtained from the Nebraska University in Lincoln. Such academic achievements helped author Devin to get a job as an assistant professor at the Bradley University, teaching the art of creative writing to his students. He continues to do this job even today and manages to give some time to his writing career from the ones left after fulfilling his teaching duties. Prior to entering into the world of teaching, author Devin had tried his hand at a number of other jobs. At one point, he was involved in doing different kinds of jobs at various national parks throughout the country. Devin even had a 3 year stint working at the sea. This job opportunity allowed Devin to travel to as many as 50 different countries throughout the seven continents. The fictional works of author Devin have made appearances in more than 40 anthologies and literary journals. Some of the publications that feature his works of fiction include Glimmer Train, New Stories from Midwest, The Missouri Review, Confrontation, and The Chicago Tribune.

Author Devin is happily married and resides with his beloved wife and kids in Chicago. Devin’s debut novel has been praised numerous critics throughout the world for being a fantastic debut novel and for being a tragic, thrilling, timely, and well paced story. The book seems to ask the readers about the how much can a person can tolerate before standing up and taking action. It also makes them question about the means used by a common man to resist the powerful entities. The book tends to give the readers the pleasure of being a satisfying read and a page turner. In terms of being an allegory to the present time, the book reminds people about a world war that took place not long ago, in which factory owners, fishermen, mothers, and children had taken the role of reluctant heroes and had stood against the twisted evil with a lot of bravery. With respect to his unique writing skills, author Devin is described as belonging to the category of the rare writers whose prose are filled with beauty and authority and weave the story of the coming of age children, who rise through the dark hours of the 20th century. Each and every page of the book seems alive with surprise, discovery, and mystery driving the human heart.

The book as such is an unforgettable story of human victory. It is set on its journey by an electricity that continues to spark and crackle even after the lights go out all across Europe. Finally, the book helps the readers understand the meaning and the cost of resistance as the only weapon of the innocent people against the tyrants, who threatened to destroy the civilization. Author Devin has said about his debut novel that it describes the story of a rich family from Holland, whose world gets shattered during a 4 year course at the time of Nazi occupation in World War II. The family faces a lot of struggle to stay together and stay whole. Their youngest son of the family trails through the French forests and England’s stormy beaches to unravel the deep secrets of the missions planned by the German Navy. While doing so, the 14 year old boy named Jacob Koopman gets confronted with a moral dilemma that goes on to change his life completely. Devin says that he was fascinated by the learning how the Germans used propaganda, news, and controlled information, to establish their power, and this inspired him to write a story based on his own imagination and understanding of the situation at that time.

The Boat Runner written by Devin Murphy was released by the Harper Perennial publishers in the year 2017. It is a historical fiction novel set during the WWII and describes the tale of a rich Dutch family. Author Devin has mentioned the primary characters in this book as Jacob Koopman, Edwin Koopman, Uncle Martin, etc. The plot opens during the 1939 summer in a tiny Dutch town. At the start of the story of the book, Jacob Koopman is introduced as a fourteen year old boy. He and his elder brother named Edwin live their lives with contentment and prosperity in a small Dutch town. Their family is held in high esteem by the locals of the town. A number of residents have connections to the light bulb factory owned by the Koopmans. When Edwin and Jacob are not playing with their friends, they join their Uncle Martin for fishing in the North Sea on his private boat. Lately, German ships become too common in the area, but no one has any ill feeling about it as a war is not expected to happen. Even the boys are sent by their father to the Youth Camp of Hitler for securing business for the Koopman factory and does not have the slightest of fear of anything going wrong. But soon, war breaks out between the European countries and this causes the lives of the Koopmans to turn upside down. A lot of hardships are faced by Jacob Koopman in particular. He moves through the forests and stormy beaches of the neighboring countries in an attempt to discover Hitler’s evil plans. He intends to unravel them so that the Hitler is not able to cause further destruction. Jacob breaches into the German Navy and becomes successful in knowing about their secret missions. However, he comes across a moral dilemma and eventually, his life changes forever. On the whole, the story seems epic and features a thrilling narrative with elegant and precise language. It describes how the Dutch boys get indulged into the Nazi campaign and risk everything to provide safe passages for the helpless Jewish refugees. Through the harrowing tale of one boy’s personal redemption, author Devin has narrated the power of the voices and stories of people that shine light through the darkest days.