*
A British woman historian, an American architect, the Russian curator of the Hermitage art museum, and a female Israeli Mossad agent discover that their independent inquiries into the Third Reich are related by an incredible possibility: that Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun survived World War II and might still be alive "today," in 1985. In spite of the possibilities -- history and politics, art and architecture -- Wallace produces a trivial novel with very little information and no atmosphere whatsoever, and a plot that hinges on excavating the bulldozed Führerbunker (where Hitler and Braun committed suicide) in order -- get this -- not to find something. With one-dimensional characters (two of whom fall instantly in love), a tit-for-tat view of mass murder, and an absurd resolution that is hardly worth the 400-page wait.
"One of Wallace's characters asks the heroine, 'Another book on Hitler? There have been so many.' Too true, too true." - People, January 06, 1986
"[Wallace] hooks you on the first page and holds you until the last--not an inconsiderable achievement. But it's not enough, alas--not nearly enough." - David Shaw, Los Angeles Times, March 02, 1986
A British woman historian, an American architect, the Russian curator of the Hermitage art museum, and a female Israeli Mossad agent discover that their independent inquiries into the Third Reich are related by an incredible possibility: that Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun survived World War II and might still be alive "today," in 1985. In spite of the possibilities -- history and politics, art and architecture -- Wallace produces a trivial novel with very little information and no atmosphere whatsoever, and a plot that hinges on excavating the bulldozed Führerbunker (where Hitler and Braun committed suicide) in order -- get this -- not to find something. With one-dimensional characters (two of whom fall instantly in love), a tit-for-tat view of mass murder, and an absurd resolution that is hardly worth the 400-page wait.
"One of Wallace's characters asks the heroine, 'Another book on Hitler? There have been so many.' Too true, too true." - People, January 06, 1986
"[Wallace] hooks you on the first page and holds you until the last--not an inconsiderable achievement. But it's not enough, alas--not nearly enough." - David Shaw, Los Angeles Times, March 02, 1986