The new blockbuster thriller from Graham Hurley is set against the final stages of the Second World War.
Confidant of Goebbels. Instrument of Stalin. What's the worst that could happen?
January 1945. The Reich is shrinking. Even Goebbels has run out of lies to sweeten the reckoning to come. An Allied victory is inevitable, but who will reap the spoils of war?
Werner Nehmann's war came to an abrupt end at Stalingrad, when the remains of General Paulus' Sixth Army surrendered to the Soviets, and Nehmann was taken captive. But now he's riding on the back of one of Marshal Zhukov's T-34 tanks, heading home with a message for the man who consigned him to the Stalingrad Cauldron. Although the Red Army are about to fall on Berlin, Stalin fears his sometime allies are conspiring to deny him his prize. He needs to speak to Goebbels – and who better to broker the contact than Nehmann, Goebbels' one-time confidant?
Having swapped the ruins of Stalingrad for the wreckage of Berlin, the influence of Goebbels for the machinations of Stalin, and Gulag rags for a Red Army uniform, Nehmann's war has taken a turn for the worse. The Germans have a word for it: Katastrophe.
Reviewers on Graham Hurley:
'Historical fiction of a high order' The Times
'Tense, absorbing and faultlessly plotted' Sunday Times
'Tense, absorbing and faultlessly plotted, this thoughtful thriller weaves it all together' Sunday Times Crime Club (Star Pick).
'A penetrating, compelling, and skilfully vivid slice of historical fiction. Fascinating yet thrilling, stimulating yet shattering, this riveting read opens a path into the very nature of humankind' LoveReading Expert Review.
'Hurley brings an almost noirlike sensibility to the surprising finale' Booklist.
'Liked this. Went someway to plugging the ginormous hole that Philip Kerr's sad passing has left in my life' Dermot O'Leary.
'So well-written you can smell the sweat and taste the fear' Peter May.
'Beautifully constructed, the result is compelling and richly entertaining' Daily Mail
