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3.87 AVERAGE
3.87 AVERAGE
This was a page turner dealing with what Germany would have been like if they’d won the war. It’s April 1964 and a body is found naked in a lake near Berlin, what unravels nexts is a conspiracy that the lead character March wasn’t expecting. This is well written and fast paced, i highly recommend and can’t wait to read Munich.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This is the first time I've read this book, although I have read a few other novels by Robert Harris. I really enjoyed this book, a great mix of police procedural, action thriller and alternative history. Harris always researches his work thoroughly (IMHO of course!) and this certainly enhanced the background feel of the book. Easy to read, great plot and highly recommended, I won't give away any spoilers.
challenging
dark
informative
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Excellent and chilling. Great historical fiction with a great way to handle the "what-if" scenario. Really enjoyed it.
The audio cassette reading of this abridgement of Fatherland is read by two-time Emmy Award-winning Werner Klemperer (who won twice for his portrayal of Colonel Wilhelm Klink on the former Television show, "Hogan's Heroes.") His fluency with the German language makes one feel as is one is in the middle of Germany right along side the detective Xavier March, the main character of the story.
I thought that perhaps the alternate history component of the novel--namely, that Germany won World War II--would be a larger part of the story; however, the murder mystery actually has its origins in the 1930s, during the rise to power of Hitler. As March uncovers clues spanning three decades--the action takes place in the mid 1960s--one feels linked not only to the story itself, but the days of a horrible past gone by.
One such clue is a series of diary entries by a visitor to one of the concentration camps the Germany ran to destroy the Jews. The reading of the diary sneaks up on the listener and suddenly the listener is aware that this novel isn't just fiction, but contains a chilling historical account of the life and death of the victims of the Jewish Holocaust by Nazi Germany.
Toward the end of the novel one genuinely wants Marsh and his investigative reporting American ally to succeed in their efforts to uncover the conspiracy and bring the truth to the world. If they succeed it would bring this alternate history closer to reality--in that the real world knows what actually happened to the Jews, that they had not just "disappeared" as this alternate world believes.
The running time of this audio abridgement is three hours. I wish it had run longer as I was hooked into the plot and characters by the novel's end.
I highly recommended this story, but for mature listeners only. This story contains foul language (in English and German!), as well as graphic descriptions of violence and death.
I thought that perhaps the alternate history component of the novel--namely, that Germany won World War II--would be a larger part of the story; however, the murder mystery actually has its origins in the 1930s, during the rise to power of Hitler. As March uncovers clues spanning three decades--the action takes place in the mid 1960s--one feels linked not only to the story itself, but the days of a horrible past gone by.
One such clue is a series of diary entries by a visitor to one of the concentration camps the Germany ran to destroy the Jews. The reading of the diary sneaks up on the listener and suddenly the listener is aware that this novel isn't just fiction, but contains a chilling historical account of the life and death of the victims of the Jewish Holocaust by Nazi Germany.
Toward the end of the novel one genuinely wants Marsh and his investigative reporting American ally to succeed in their efforts to uncover the conspiracy and bring the truth to the world. If they succeed it would bring this alternate history closer to reality--in that the real world knows what actually happened to the Jews, that they had not just "disappeared" as this alternate world believes.
The running time of this audio abridgement is three hours. I wish it had run longer as I was hooked into the plot and characters by the novel's end.
I highly recommended this story, but for mature listeners only. This story contains foul language (in English and German!), as well as graphic descriptions of violence and death.
Absorbing and fast-paced. An interesting conceit - March uncovering a mystery we all know too well already. Which places more of the interest on the alternative world.
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Recommended by my brilliant history professor, who specializes in World War II studies. He told us that this one one of the best contingent historical fiction novels he had ever read. It definitely lived up to his recommendation!