Black Cross

Greg Iles’ alternative fiction novel Black cross, is described in a Publisher’s Weekly review as “an action-packed yet thoughtful yarn about a mission to stop the Nazi development of two new poison gases, Sarin and Somin, in a small concentration camp”. 

Set just prior to D-Day in 1944, the two men chosen to complete this mission could not be more different. An American pacifist doctor and poison gas researcher, Mark McConnell and Jonas Stern, a militant Zionist of German descent. 

They travel to Germany, where the gases are being developed and tested on human subjects, and attempt to destroy the camp with the Allies small supplies of the same gas. 

A Booklist review describes Black cross as “[a] remarkable story from a remarkable writer,” deserving “the acclaim it's certain to receive.” 

Iles, Greg. Black cross, London: Harper, 2014.

References:

Greg Iles' Website

Books in Print Professional Reviews

Kirkus Review 

Goodreads Reader Reviews

Farthing

Farthing is the first in Jo Walton's acclaimed World War Two alternative history Small Change trilogy. It was first published in 2006.

The main action in Farthing occurs in 1949, eight years after a group of upper crust Englishmen (known as the Farthing Set) have overthrown Winston Churchill and negotiated peace with Nazi Germany.

With Hitler in control of the European continent, the somewhat fascist members of the Farthing Set attend a weekend retreat at the country house of Lord and Lady Eversley. There Sir James Thirkie, the main architect of the “Farthing Peace” and Prime Ministerial prospect, is murdered with a yellow Star of David pinned prominently across his chest.

The murderer is immediately suspected to be David Kahn, the Jewish husband of the Eversley's estranged daughter Lucy. Both had unexpectedly been invited to the weekend get-together.

Inspector Carmichael of Scotland Yard is assigned to the case and quickly realises that Kahn may have been set up by this deeply anti-Semitic crowd.

This well-written and -researched novel revolves around the Inspector's investigations and Walton delves deeply into themes of homosexuality, fascism, class and anti-Semitism.

As the first book of the Small Change trilogy, the plot twists in Farthing set up the context of the following two novels admirably.

Walton, Jo. Farthing, London: Corsair, 2014.


Small Change trilogy

• Farthing (2006)
• Ha'penny (2007)
• Half a crown (2008)

References:
 
Books in Print Professional Reviews
Jo Walton's Website
Goodreads Reader Reviews

Fatherland

 

Fatherland is the 1992 alternative history novel written by Robert Harris, author of several other best-selling thrillers with historical and contemporary themes including Archangel, Enigma, The fear index, The ghost and Pompeii.

Set 20 years after Hitler's victory in the Second World War, Fatherland begins with the body of a prominent Nazi being found in suburban Berlin. Police investigator Xavier March investigates the death in a world where the cold war is between the US and the Third Reich.

In this dystopia the father of JFK, Joseph Kennedy is the US President. Britain has surrendered to Germany and Edward VIII is restored as king with Wallis his queen. Winston Churchill, King George VI and Princess Elizabeth have all fled to exile in Canada.

With the help of an American journalist and love interest Charlotte “Charlie” Maguire, March delves deeper into the case and they discover other suspicious murders in the Reich.

They conclude that each victim was involved in the Wansee Conference, (a real event in our world), where the Nazis formulated the Final Solution. This was the Nazi attempt to exterminate the world's Jewish population.

In Fatherland the world knows nothing of the Holocaust and March realises the deaths are an attempt by the Reich to keep it that way.

This best-selling novel is a rollicking read and will be thrilling for anyone with an interest in World War2 and the many ways it could have played out.

Harris, Robert. Fatherland, London: Arrow Books, 2009.

References:

Books in Print Professional Reviews
Robert Harris' Website
Goodreads Reader Reviews

Himmler's War

Robert Conroy explores a fascinating “what if” in Himmler's war. What if Hitler had been accidentally killed during the latter stages of World War 2 and Himmler, the brutal head of the SS had assumed control of the Nazi war machine? How would the rest of the war – and indeed the 20^th Century – have panned out?

In Himmler's war, the new Führer, Heinrich Himmler, expands Germany's search for a super weapon. The Allies consider their options. Fight to the bitter end or negotiate peace with the new, more rational, NAZI leader? (Himmler actually listens to his generals, unlike his predecessor).

This is a very readable book, however Conroy sometimes stretches the bounds of possibility. Chris Nuttall, writing in the CGN book reviews blogspot, states that “[h]istorically, the German nuclear program was unable to produce a bomb. The idea that they can jump to building a working device – and then slipping it to Moscow to blow up Stalin – is implausible, to say the least”.

Conroy, Robert. Himmler’s war, Riverdale, NY: Baen Books, 2011.

References:

Robert Conroy's Website 

Books in Print Professional Reviews 

Goodreads Reader Reviews