Customer Reviews

Devil's Handshake

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This is an excellent, exciting and well-crafted story, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It details an attempt by the Allies to assassinate Hitler in his residence in the Obersalzberg. The book begins with the difficulties in selecting an appropriate assassin, and then getting him into the proper shape, and getting properly informed, before parachute-dropping him behind enemy lines. There he makes the aquaintance of Ilse, who becomes at first an unwilling accomplice, and a lover. There is some excellent attention to detail, and I particularly liked Beck's fleeting but significant polite gesture on the train! The idea of infiltrating an Allied officer into Hitler's inner circle, indeed, posing as a wounded German officer, is rather intriguing. The ending of the book has already been decided by history, but I found that it's handling was perhaps a little too "soft", for want of a better word. I would have liked it developed a little more. Also, the novel takes us to some very scenic places: London, the African desert, and southern Bavaria. I found the descriptions of these places a little wanting. Otherwise, I have little to criticise in this novel, except perhaps Davies' choice of the names: Cricklemarsh, Purefoy, Nye, and Lusty! And then Jäger (read "Hunter") for one of the German characters. One wonders where he came up with them! But that's peanuts, all things considered!