this was a 4.5 star - readI found this book was a really enjoyable read - seemingly the author made a serious search about the WW2 and what happened immediately after the Red Army seized Berlin after a bloody battle.The storyline was interesting also: Hitler didn't committed suicide, and a special Russian unit chased him and his 'rescuers' through the battled and ruined Germany and Italy, followed by the American OSS. The characters and the storyline was well build, there was always something happening, but the author kept all the things real and believable, so I could connected myself with the characters. Unfortunately there was no place enough for character-buliding (I know, I know this is my constant whim!;), but for a thriller/historical fiction this isn't too important. I could truly like almost all characters, Gunther Brumm and Vasily Ivanich Petrov - they were very detailled and good written characters, but I can say it also about the other Russian team-members, and it was very good how the author illustrated the atmosphere in Kremlin and Stalin's character. The only thing what disturbed me, and why I couldn't give this book 5 stars, the obligatory romance - there was already two(!), but fortuantely it didn't take too much pages from the story.Summary: if you need some good read for lazy afternoons, this book is highly recommandable.
Priča je interesantna i spada u istorijsku špekulaciju, koja za motiv ima pretpostavku da se Hitler nije ubio 30-tog Aprila 1945-te. Priča je počela sjajno, sa interesantnim likovima i zapletom i sa solidnom dinamikom. Ali... Oko polovine knjige sam primetio da me na momente smara. Neki postupci likova mi nisu imali mnogo smisla (ni u momentu čitanja, a ni nakon pročitane cele knjige). Romanse u knjizi su nepotrebne. Postoji čak i cela, potpuno neporebna sporedna priča (sa svojim takođe nepotrebnim likovima) koja se samo na momenat preklapa sa glavnom i ničim joj ne doprinosi.Ideja knjige je dobra, ali je realizacija trebala da bude sažetija i fokusiranija. Na taj način bi knjiga bila još dinamičnija, a od mene bi dobila veću ocenu i ušla u red knjiga za preporuku.Ovako je ostalo samo još jedno razočarenje na kraju...
What do You think about The Berkut (1988)?
***** SPOILERS!!! *****The book starts of nicely and then gradually loses steam towards the end. There are main characters without any purpose (Valentine). Some plot elements make no sense at all: why would the Russians want to blame the Jews for the sinking? And why would they leave Brumm alive but kill a whole ship full of emigrants? The epilogue hit the final nail into the coffin: the scene does not belong to historical fiction but into cheesy horror books. Completely unrealistic.The writing style leaves much to be desired.This is my first Heywood book and I rarely read the thriller genre. But this book can't hold a candle to any of the Ludlum books, for example.It's not extremely bad, but not much better either.
—Tihomirg
This story takes place at the end of WWII. A group of Russian soldiers are ordered by Stalin to search for Hitler. Apparently the Soviet dictator does not believe the Facist dictator took his own life.Heywood takes the reader on a very detailed, and very real journey through post-war Germany, and writes about the likelihood of Hitler managing to escape. He introduces familiar characters throughout the story, and this imaginative book is one of my favorites. If you enjoy WWII thrillers, you will love this book.Keep on reading!DavidWho's Minding the Store?
—David Lucero
