Blood of the Reich
William Dietrich

Harper
release June 28, 2011/ ISBN 9780061989186
Thriller – Historical / WW II Nazis
Amazon

Reviewed by Bob Walch

William Dietrich combines World War II history, Nazi plots and a present day subplot as he weaves together two stories that are separated by time and place yet deeply connected by the dangerous secret at their core.

With World War II about to rip Europe asunder, explorer Kurt Raeder is given the assignment to search for a legendary energy source hidden somewhere in the mountains of Tibet. Reichsfuher SS Henrich Himmler believes such a powerful “treasure” exists and he is convinced that it could assure the Nazis victory.

American zoologist Benjamin Hood is the only man who can possibly stop Raeder and his team from locating the energy source dubbed “Vril”. Assisting Hood in his quest to stop Raeder, an old adversary, is Beth Calloway, an aviatrix who flies him across China and into the mountains.

Making a parallel journey seven decades later is Rominy Pickett, the great-granddaughter of Hood, and investigative reporter Jake Barrow. The pair are on a dangerous quest to discover the secret that her ancestor was looking for deep in the Himalayas.

Moving back and forth in time from 1938 to the present, this thriller roams from the real life SS castle of Wewelsburg in Germany to Lhasa’s Potala Palace and the Large Hadron Collider near Geneva. There are strafing Japanese planes, communist bandits, forbidding gorges, political intrigue, romance and betrayals plus some fascinating scientific elements to this riveting novel that moves at breakneck speed.

If you enjoy exotic settings and a little history mixed with your adventure reading, this is a novel you’ll find entrancing from start to finish. Take it along on vacation and you’ll have something to read at the airport or on the beach while soaking up some sun.