Customer Reviews

1945

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(43)
3 star:		(16)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

Once you get into 1945, you won't want to put it down as the stakes raise, the action keeps rising and the plot thickens in a story that might have become history. The United States emerges from World War II the victors over Japan and the far east, however the United States never battled Germany, who now controls Europe and has its eye on Soviet Union, or maybe they now have the US in their sites as they left as the only two remaining super powers.

The characters in the story are a little one sided but still very good. Twist and turning sub plots and action they engage in easily make up any shortfalls in the charatchers though for it and make the novel interesting and exciting. The only downside is that the sequel for the book has yet to be written and may never be. However, don't let it stop you from reading 1945 for its stand alone value.

What makes the book interesting is that for the most part is its use of real historical characters, political and military, of the time, a few are made up as needed, but for the most part, it helps make the novel seem highly real.

It's 1945, but it could have been our future...

I really enjoyed this book. It was the first alternate history book I had ever read. As a history buff, I found it entirely plausible. The Isolationist factions in the U.S. at the time were doing a very good job at keeping America out of 'Europe's War'. If Germany had not declared war on the U.S., we very well could have continued to support the British and the Russians with what material we could send, but our military force would have been centered on Japan as fighting a one front war is much easier than fighting on two fronts. Some of the characters were a two-dimensional in their make-up, but for the most part believable in composition. This wasn't heavy reading, by any means, just an enjoyable story for those of us that like to think 'what if?'. The only down-side to '1945' is after the fast pace at the end of the book, there's NO SEQUEL! Give us a break, the story was left hanging in mid-air. What happen's next? Do the surviving Nazi commandos get out of the country or do they have to set down in the mountains to be possibly helped by Charles Lindberg and sympathizers from the German-American Bund? Does former-Sergeant York hunt them down with the help from the gang from the VFW hall and then have a final sniper-on-sniper confrontation with Skorzeny? Will the A-bomb fall into Hitler's hands? What, check back with us about five years later to find the answer to these and other questions? Throw us a line guys! Where's the next one?

As an avid reader of Alternate History and techno-thrillers Ithought, "1945" was a great book. The weapons involved wereaccurate and the premise of Germany surviving the second world war intact, is hardly outlandish. I felt that the raid on Oak Ridge was stretched, but not totally impossible. Unfortunately it seems too many people let their political beliefs cloud their literary judgement, and chose to ignore a good book. This narrow-mindness has apparently doomed the sequel to this entertaining novel. I just hope that the publisher will reconsider and go ahead with the second part, myself and quite a few others would be most appreciative.

Finally, I have a parting word of advice for those still unable to read a novel written by the Speaker. First, purchase the paperback; now rip off the cover and enjoy. This way you won't have to see the author's name and you can enjoy a great read.

I borrowed this and read it in a day, because, well, I had to go back to school.

Amazingly enough, I did enjoy this, up to a point. After the "gimme", it sets up an interesting premise (which I won't bother going into). Unfortunately, the dialogue and writing are atrocious, for the most part. I'm fairly sure real people did not and do not speak the way they do in this novel. Also, the writers are rather tech-happy, too much so for their own good.

Now, the saving grace in this book is the raid on Oak Ridge. Forschten/Gingrich wrote this very well, and I was deeply impressed. I also thought the political element (i.e. the locals taking to arms to defend against the raid) were nicely put, but not obtrusive.

It is unfortunate that the sequel, Fortress America, never found a publisher. Oh, well. Maybe in a few years, it will.

In order to enjoy this book you must have a basic understanding of technology at the end of WWII. All the aircraft and technology existed at the end of the war but in very limited quantity. It was really a page-turner for me as the "What ifs" poured out.

The only weak point was the war with Japan. It was mentioned only in passing and it was portrayed as a walk over. Even with the full might of the armed forces Japan should have put up more of a fight than alluded to.

Having the Doughboys of WWI come in, lead by Sgt. York, really brought some humor into the story and if it did stretch plausibility a little far.

The market for such a book may have been too small and I am sorry that the following books never were published.

Great story , no end in site.

This is a great novel that showes that these guys know history. It also shows what a delicate balance history has, that any simple sequence changed or left out of place and we all fall into peril. What I find most amazing is Newt's complete lack of politics in this book, it is truely Newtral. Martel is a great hero, one you pull for through the whole book. Even though there was little description of him in the book, my mind's eye could see Skorzeny vividly. He and his death defying paratroupers are vivid reminders of how dangerous an unstable and paranoid Germany could be. Finally, the injection of "Sgt. York" and the simple yet courageous Volunteers of Tennessee almost brought a tear to my eye. We as Americans may not be fancy, but we get the job done! I know, it is only fiction. But remember, the ultimate purpose of fiction is to tell the truth. My greatest disappointment comes with the knowledge that no sequel has been written yet. Please, Newt, William, finish this story. Tony Montanari

Looking for something to read, I found thisbook, and from front to back, enjoyed the technical aspects immensely. I've spent many years studying some of the german weapons from the close of the war. Their systems and theories resulted in a significant number of our jet designs and rocket programs of the 50's and 60's. I'm really not concerned about who writes a book it if is well written. Being ex-military myself, and having done work on German capabilities in WWII, the raid on Oak Ridge is quite plausable, and in fact, would have had a high chance of success, had such a thing happened. Some of the intelligence reports I've read and other documents I've researched are more fantastic than what is in this book. I was hoping that this would be a 2 or 3 book serial novel, however, I am saddened by the fact that there isn't a sequel to it and we're left hanging with anticipation. We rebuked the NAZI's for burning books and suppressing free press/speech. I don't like Gingrich much, but I am not so closed minded to not read anything of fiction by him or anyone else. Perhaps maybe in reality, we are not much different from the NAZI's when we do this???

As a long-time fan of alternate histories, I got ahold of this book as soon as I could. The premise---that Hitler was out of action due to injuries when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, and that without a declaration of war by Germany, Roosevelt could not bring the US into the European Theatre, is plausible and has been examined in other alternate histories. On the whole, I thought it was a competent, Clancyesque job. Although not up to the level of the true classics of the genre, it appeared to be reasonably well-done, with historical characters behaving as they might actually have in these altered circumstances. In my own opinion, a lot of the savaging this book got was due to antagonism against the author-of-record's political stances, instead of being based on an honest reaction to the book itself. It deserves a chance on its own merits.

I enjoyed reading this book very much. Newt has a good grasp of the history of the time the book is set in. Using Otto Skorzeny, Hitlers master commando, as the major protaganist in the novel is both entertaining , and accurate, this is just the type of operation that Skorzeny lived for ,and excelled at. Only one negative.....where is the rest of the book???? Bring on the sequel Newt.