I have finally caught up with my reading this week and I think I might just hit or even exceed my target set on Goodreads! Here are the two books that I enjoyed:

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about the sequel to Rory Clements’ The Man in the Bunker: The English Führer. Somehow I had managed to miss this book, #06 in his Tom Wilde series. I hurried to put the book on request at the Library’s website and it dropped on to my iPad last week. This is the blurb:

“WHAT IF HITLER HAD SURVIVED?

In the gripping new spy thriller from the Sunday Times bestselling author of Hitler’s Secret, a Cambridge spy must find the truth behind Hitler’s death. But exactly who is the man in the bunker?
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Germany, late summer 1945 – The war is over but the country is in ruins. Millions of refugees and holocaust survivors strive to rebuild their lives in displaced persons camps. Millions of German soldiers and SS men are held captive in primitive conditions in open-air detention centres. Everywhere, civilians are desperate for food and shelter. No one admits to having voted Nazi, yet many are unrepentant.

Adolf Hitler is said to have killed himself in his Berlin bunker. But no body was found – and many people believe he is alive. Newspapers are full of stories reporting sightings and theories. Even Stalin, whose own troops captured the bunker, has told President Truman he believes the former Führer is not dead. Day by day, American and British intelligence officers subject senior members of the Nazi regime to gruelling interrogation in their quest for their truth.

Enter Tom Wilde – the Cambridge professor and spy sent in to find out the truth…”

This book was so good that I couldn’t put it down! Here is my response on Goodreads (I gave it the full five stars):

The Man in the Bunker by Rory Clements
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Another excellent book in this great series. Set in the time just after the end of WWII, this is an exciting and gripping thriller. Post-war Germany is described in vivid terms with heart-breaking detail.

The plot is centred around the interesting question: what if Hitler had survived the war? The quest to find him takes the reader on a journey around Germany involving dangerous situations and sinister characters. There is also some light in the gloom. Moments of humanity and bravery as people struggle to find new lives after such tragedy. The end notes describe the fates of the real characters mentioned in the book.

This is a terrific read and highly recommended.

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My second book of the week was very close to five stars, but the sheer horrific gruesomeness (is there such a word) made me knock off one…

The book was the final episode of Blake Crouch’s Wayward Pines trilogy: The Last Town. This is the blurb:

“What’s inside was a nightmare. What’s outside is a thousand times worse.

Welcome to Wayward Pines, the last town.

Secret Service agent Ethan Burke arrived in Wayward Pines, Idaho, three weeks ago. In this town, people are told who to marry, where to live, where to work. No one is allowed to leave; even asking questions can get you killed.

But Ethan has discovered the astonishing secret of what lies beyond the electrified fence that surrounds Wayward Pines and protects it from the terrifying world beyond. And now that secret is about to come storming through the fence to wipe out this last, fragile remnant of humanity.

The Last Town at last pitches Ethan Burke and his fellow residents into all-out war against the forces outside the town’s gates – and in doing so delivers every bit the riotously horrific, breathlessly action-packed conclusion that the Wayward Pines trilogy deserves.”

And this was my response (I was probably shaking as I typed!):

The Last Town by Blake Crouch
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I could have given this five stars or none, but eventually decided on four. To be honest, I was shocked by the sheer brutality of the opening scenes. I almost put the book down altogether and gave it 0 stars. In the end, my curiosity got the better of me. As I haven’t had the opportunity to watch the TV series, I had no idea how the story was going to work out and I felt that I really needed to know!

So, my final feelings about this book and the trilogy as a whole? There are some plot holes and sheer improbabilities, but the ending was great and the journey to reach that end was exciting, imaginative, scary and totally gripping. Super series!

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Most of you are probably too busy with the run up to the festive season to read, or perhaps you manage to revive yourselves with a good book! Anyway…

Happy Reading to you all!

Love and best wishes,

Anne

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