Hugo-winner Kris Rusch departs from her usual science fiction to write a gripping crime novel set in Germany on the eve of Adolf Hitler's ascension.
This much is true: Hitler had an affair with his niece, Geli Raubal. On the night of September 19, 1931, Geli was found shot to death in Hitler's apartment. Her death was ruled a suicide, but the suspicion of murder has remained.
Rusch begins in Munich in 1972, when a young American woman criminologist comes to interview Fritz Stecher, one of Germany's most famous detectives. Fritz wants only to tell the untold story of his investigation of Geli's death. He begins in 1931, just before Hitler's rise, when he could not have known that what he did would determine the course of history.
Rusch's taut, suspenseful novel is a fascinating exploration of the might-have-beens of this dark and fateful time.
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"Good thriller, but ending is slightly dissapointing I thought."
— Nik (4 out of 5 stars)
“I've always been fascinated by her ability to tell a story…Rusch has style.”
— Charles de Lint, author, The Onion Girl“O’Malley articulates German names and places well.”
— Audiofile“O’Malley narrates with expert intonation and inflection. Her reading in generally precise, intense, partially voiced, and pleasantly low-pitched. Her range of characters and emotions…comes across clearly and convincingly.”
— Kliatt“Fans of the Nazi what-if genre will find this one worth reading.”
— Booklist" The idea was interesting, but there was some blocking me from becoming completely involved in it. "
— Lynn, 9/3/2013" A truly super alternate history. "
— Karen, 2/6/2013" A pretty good mystery novel. It makes you wonder how the world would have developed had Hitler been imprisoned for murder in the early '30s, rather than rising to political power. "
— Craig, 1/18/2013" Had potential, but lost it's way in the middle and became too predictable. "
— Fi, 11/15/2012Kris Rusch is an award-winning mystery, romance, science fiction, and fantasy writer. She has written many novels under various names, including Kristine Grayson for romance and Kris Nelscott for mystery. Her novels have made the bestseller lists worldwide and have been published in fourteen countries and thirteen languages. She is the former editor of the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. Before that, she and Dean Wesley Smith started and ran Pulphouse Publishing, a science fiction and mystery press in Eugene, Oregon. She lives and works on the Oregon Coast.
Susan O’Malley (a.k.a. Bernadette Dunne) is the winner of numerous AudioFile Earphones Awards and has twice been nominated for the prestigious Audie Award. She studied at the Royal National Theatre in London and the Studio Theater in Washington, DC, and has appeared at the Kennedy Center and off Broadway. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.