Black Cross [Hardcover]

Greg Iles (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1995

An American doctor and a Jewish soldier embark on a perilous mission into Nazi Germany to ensure a D-Day victory for Allied forces by uncovering a doomsday weapon and committing a soul-destroying act of devastation. By the author of Spandau Phoenix. 100,000 first printing. $100,000 ad/promo. Tour.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Henceforth, any recommended reading list of thrillers about commando raids behind enemy lines will have to include this second novel by Iles (Spandau Phoenix), who has come up with an action-packed yet thoughtful yarn about a mission to stop the Nazi development of two new poison gases, Sarin and Somin, in a small concentration camp. Mark McConnell, a pacifist American doctor and poison-gas researcher, and Jonas Stern, a Zionist assassin, are chosen by the British to attack the camp. They are instructed to kill all its occupants (including the inmates) by unleashing Britain's own meager supply of Sarin, and to return with information about the manufacture of the gases. The story of McConnell and Stern's training and raid alternates with that of several people interned in the camp, among them Stern's father. The two strands come together in a swift and moving story about mercy, sacrifice and the horrors of war. The mission's purpose is problematic: Would Britain's use of Sarin to kill everyone at the camp really have convinced Himmler to discontinue further research and to persuade Hitler never to use poison gas for fear of Allied retaliation? But Iles builds suspense around the mission itself, not its aftermath, and winds up with an unusually resonant, gripping thriller that's a strong bet for bestsellerdom. Literary Guild alternate; audio rights to Penguin HighBridge; author tour.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

After Dr. Mark (Mac) McConnell dies, his grandson discovers the American pacifist had served the war effort 50 years ago: D-Day is imminent when British Prime Minister Churchill learns that the Nazis have a "Black Cross" class of deadly nerve gases. The British coerce Mac, then a defensive chemical warfare researcher at Oxford, into accompanying a battle-hardened Zionist to execute a plan to convince the Germans that the British also have the gas. Mac and his accomplice must penetrate the German concentration camp where the gases are being developed and tested, then destroy the camp with the Allies' own tiny supply of Black Cross gas. Aided by a German nurse, they pull off the improbable plot. Like Iles's previous book, Spandau Phoenix (LJ, 4/15/93), this is graphically violent and fast paced, but it is more tightly written and better focused than that first novel, which was a New York Times best seller in paperback. A tribute to World War II valor and sacrifice, this suspenseful, above average thriller is recommended for popular fiction collections.--.
V. Louise Saylor, Eastern Washington Univ. Lib., Cheney
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 528 pages
• Publisher: Dutton Adult (January 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 052593829X
• ISBN-13: 978-0525938293
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.9 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (111 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #722,283 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Greg Iles was born in 1960 in Germany where his father ran the US Embassy medical clinic during the height of the Cold War. After graduating from the University of Mississippi in 1983 he performed for several years with the rock band Frankly Scarlet and is currently member of the band The Rock Bottom Remainders. His first novel, Spandau Phoenix, a thriller about war criminal Rudolf Hess, was published in 1993 and became a New York Times bestseller. Iles went on to write ten bestselling novels, including Third Degree, True Evil, Turning Angel, Blood Memory, The Footprints of God, and 24 Hours (released by Sony Pictures as Trapped, with full screenwriting credit for Iles). He lives in Natchez, Mississippi.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

46 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thrilling and chilling, June 17, 2002

By 

Bill Garrison (Oklahoma City, OK USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Black Cross (Paperback)

I've now read all of Greg Iles' books, and Black Cross just might be his best. Black Cross, along with Spandau Phoenix, are unlike his more recent efforts in that they relate to WWII and mix actual history with fiction to come up with an exciting story that could actually be true.
Black Cross is the story of an American pacifist Dr. Mark McConnel and a Jewish soldier Jonas Stern who are sent to Germany to make the Germans believe the Allies have just as much poison gas as the Germans do. This is done to convince Germany that the allies will retalliate if the Germans use gas to stop the Normandy Invasion.
Black Cross stands out because Iles takes us inside a German concentration camp and lets us meet all kinds of characters. We get to know Jewish and Polish prisoners, sympathetic German nurses, spies, and even a German officer is made to look somewhat sympathetic. Iles portrays him as a soldier who puts up with the German brutality because he has no choice, and because it is his duty to fight for his country.
Iles also bookends the book with McConnel's grandson finding out the truth about his grandfather. So what happened in WWII isn't a secret, but is tied to the present. Therefore while reading, we want to know how everything turns out but you want to know what happened to these characters for the rest of their life. The conclusions aren't breathtaking or startling, but they are satisfying.
I do think Black Cross might have been a bit two long. The ending seems to go one and on until the mission is accomplished. Also some of the logistics of the plan seemed a bit far fetched. Like what were the German guards in the tower doing when all this was happening. But these are minor problems in what is a great novel. Maybe in the future Iles will return to this genre.

43 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfection, thy name is Greg Iles!, December 27, 1999

By 

Craig A. McCausland (Toledo, OH) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Black Cross (Paperback)

This book has everything: history, adventure, espionage, even a dash of romance. It's a page turner, with not a wasted word, and is unbelievably gripping. Definitely worth staying up all night and losing sleep for. It's also thought-provoking. How do you cope with sheer horror on a day-to-day basis without losing your sanity and humanity? Set in the concentration camps of WWII, it answers (in its way) the question of why Hitler never used his stockpile of poisonous gas. Get this book NOW and spread the word!

34 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars this book gripped me and would not let go!, July 31, 1998

By 

Kate C. (Lansing, MI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Black Cross (Paperback)

this was the first book about WWII i read and i must admit that i was a bit timid when i started, but the first line teased my curiosity and i felt compelled to read more. the characters: the angry Jewish terrorist, the american pacifist, the desperate Jewish mother, and the nurse employed by the Nazis were wonderfully and honestly written, which is truly the treasure of this novel. the last 100 pages held me at the edge of my seat as if i were on a rollercoaster and Iles conducted the story like a true master of fiction.