Blood of the Reich
William Dietrich
Trade Paperback
Uncorrected Proof
432 pages
Publisher: Harper
Expected Release Date: June 28, 2011
ISBN: 978-0061989186
Sometimes a book is published at exactly the right moment in time and Blood of the Reich may have hit the jackpot in the way of timing. By that I mean that it may eventually sell a lot of copies due to its timely publication in correlation to the World War II Nazi stories that currently inundate the news. The Associated Press published an emotional article this past week about the grandchildren of high-profile members of the Nazi Party. Also, this week, an Ohio autoworker, John Demjanjuk, was found guilty of 28,060 counts of accessory to murder, one for each of the Jews exterminated during the six months that he worked as a guard at the Sobibor death camp in Poland. This may well be the last Holocaust war crime to capture the public’s attention. The timing may ultimately also help sales of Blood of the Reich.
I enjoy historical fiction and World War II is especially fascinating to me, a child of a WWII veteran. Throw in some action and a little suspense and you have something that piques my interest. However, while Blood of the Reich has its moments, especially the intriguing pre-WWII story line, it fails to pull all the sub-plots back together into a neatly-bundled conclusion. Some suspense/action writers (Steve Berry and James Rollins, for instance) have the remarkable talent of putting us at the edge of our seats and then, as the story concludes, drawing all the sub-plot arcs together into a compact, complete, and satisfying climax. While Dietrich tells a good story and makes a descent attempt at bringing it all together I think it could have been done much better. Indeed, the closer to the finale I got the more hurried it felt. I suspect this had more to do with publication pressure rather than actual writing skill but since I have never read anything by Mr. Dietrich before this is only a guess. However, it felt to me like a book that was forced too soon out of the writer’s hands. On the other hand, perhaps Blood of the Reich might have been more impactful and my opinion less negative had the story not already been told so well by Spielberg, Lucas, and company in the Indian Jones saga. Still, for the die-hard WWII suspense fanatics out there, you should probably check this one out for yourselves.
3 ½ stars out of 5
The Alternative
Southeast Wisconsin
Additional Reading:
William Dietrich
William Dietrich’s Official Website
Blood of the Reich
Blood of the Reich Amazon Pre-order Page
Current News
3 comments:
I couldn't finish it.
It lacked "page-turner" appeal. Perhaps I am just Clavell-spoiled. But, I expect a lot more from a with multiple publications to his credit than this book promised to deliver.
I literally tossed it across the room when he compared aged log cabin chinking to the teeth of a drunken sailor; one forced simile too many.
It reads like a first effort. Do not buy.
It is perfect time to make a few plans for the longer term
and it's time to be happy. I've read this post and
if I may just I want to counsel you some attention-grabbing issues
or tips. Maybe you could write next articles regarding
this article. I wish to learn even more things about it!
my homepage - http://www.69videosporno.net/beata-dance-strip-and-hole-opening/
I like the valuable info you supply to your articles. I will bookmark your
weblog and check again right here frequently.
I'm quite sure I'll learn a lot of new stuff
proper right here! Best of luck for the next!
Feel free to surf to my site www.asiansexyteens.org (dansksextube.dk)
Post a Comment