ANHOW Review of Books: "SS-GB" by Len Deighton -- Adilbrand Noblesword's Hall of Warriors

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Date Posted: 10:29:37 08/14/02 Wed
Author: mt. healthy mountaineer
Subject:

ANHOW Review of Books: "SS-GB" by Len Deighton

Published: 1978 by Ballantine Books
Genre: Historical Sci-Fi/Thriller

What is the genre for this type of book? The cover sets the premise of the book quite well: "What if Hitler had invaded England and won the war?" Is it sci-fi? Is it historical fiction? Oh well, its a pretty good book either way.

The main characters are investigators with Scotland Yard about 6 months after the fall of the UK to the Nazis. The USSR is still allied with Germany and the USA is still neutral since the UK collapsed about 3 months after the French in this book. The Scotland Yard is investigating the murder of a man who was connected with the Britain's nuclear research program and they come in contact with the British Resistance movement and internal schisms among the Germans that make all parties involved wonder who is really a friend and who is really a foe. Unlike some novels, the author does not choose to have hsitory "corrected" at the end of the novel, but he does give a hint of things to come with the possibility of American involvement.

There was a big problem with the book and that is the frequent use of German titles without telling the reader what the titles mean or which title signifies a higher rank. There are times in the book when I had to re-read pages because I realize that the character that I thought was in charge was actually a sergeant and the man whom I thought was un-important was a general. The British characters all know the difference, he should have clued the readers in as well.

I give this book a "B".

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