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31 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
An uneven debut, December 15, 2009
This review is from: Fortunes of War (The Sentinels Series Book One) (Sentinels (Greenleaf)) (Hardcover)
When it comes to historical fiction authors have a lot they can/should work with. Some put more history than fiction into their works, others more fiction than history. This work is easily part of the latter group. Aside from simple dates being off, battle for Stalingrad is still taking place past February 1943, there are other chronological errors that take away from creating an atmosphere of WWII Europe and America. Further, the dialogue misses the nuances of the time, it sounds like these characters are hanging out in the Europe and America of today. Lastly, characters are flying around Europe as if there isn't a war on. Bored in NY or England? Just hope a flight through occupied Europe! While this is a fictional narrative, a sense of reality usually helps. The book is a page-turner, no doubt about it, problem is, once you turn that page what you find isn't always something special. The idea behind the book, six "elite" doctoral students trying to steal money from German industrialists, is intriguing but already pushes the envelope. The biggest problem for me was I could not form any type of relationship with the characters, I honestly did not care what happened to them or if they succeeded. With the book being a little less than 300 pages, much of what happens seems cut-down in form. In reading a novel I am actually interested in the minutia and the details of how things work/happen/occur, etc. Aside from learning some banking terms, details about California's wine country, and a few things about skiing, the rest was simply not memorable. I would have preferred the book to be much longer, contain fewer main characters, with a more developed and in-depth storyline. They attempt to steal from high ranking German industrialists, they get caught doing it within a few pages of trying, the war ends, so what? There is some potential, but for me, it was simply an "uneven debut."
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10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
First in Series, February 13, 2010
This review is from: Fortunes of War (The Sentinels Series Book One) (Sentinels (Greenleaf)) (Hardcover)
The Sentinels: Fortunes of War by Gordon Zuckerman begins with a flashback to a meeting of group of German industrialists who decide to back a new fellow on the scene, Hitler for financial reason. They are concerned about their own pockets, not what is best for the country. Jump forward and it appears that World War II is about to end and these same industrialists want to get their money out of the country safely without Hitler knowing. The want to be able to use their money once the Reich is no more. Getting in their way are the Sentinels, a group of six very intelligent young people who attended grad school together and were quite a think tank. They have since stayed in touch but each has been involved in their own way changing the world. They realize that if these men get their money out of Germany they will again back someone else and it will only be a matter of time before the cycle begins again. Thus, they develop a plot to stop these men from profiting further. They have financial and business connections and develop a plan to take the industrialists' money and use it in a more positive manner. They are a likeable group of four young men and two women. As they put their plan into effect it soon becomes clear their lives are in danger. They are hunted down, some kidnapped but they are determined to carry through with their plans despite the danger. I could not put the book down as there are many plot twists and turns, there is political intrigue, conspiracy, and romance. As I finished reading it I realized I really didn't want to leave the Sentinels and then I read that more books were forthcoming and I was excited. Gordon Zuckerman is in the same class as other thriller writers including Robert Ludlum and David Baldacci. He has a clear understanding of history, creates an interesting page turner and develops likable characters. I am looking forward to the next one in The Sentinel series.
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Fails to convince, June 28, 2011
This is a basic heist novel, but one where the main characters lack skills in fighting or subterfuge. A group of wealthy people (none of whom earned their wealth, they inherited it) go to graduate school together and years later reunite with a plan to steal millions of dollars from a group of German industrialists who are seeking to get their money out of the country before the collapse of the Nazi government. I won't speak to the nature of the plan, as I am not well versed in economics or banking. However, their plan to get away with it is horrible (hiring people connected to their businesses to carry out the mechanics of the forgery, ignoring the fact that they are known to be connected via graduate school and continuing relationships) and they are quickly exposed, putting their lives in danger. Fortunately, they have virtually limitless resources (due to the fact that they are super-rich) and their enemies are dumb so they get to keep the money. The book, as some other reviewers have noted, is riddled with factual errors. For example: nobody was flying into La Guardia during World War II - it was known as New York Municipal Airport. More importantly, commercial transatlantic flights were not landing there during the War - no matter what you call the airport. Characters travel to Switzerland by flying over occupied Paris, a needlessly dangerous move. The French Resistance is a major player in protecting characters, which is odd when you consider the actual numbers and power of the French Resistance. The anachronism is heavy - characters never think or act in a way that is influenced by their time and place. There is no real point in having them be from multiple countries - they all come across as late 20th century Americans. More off-putting than the casual research are the characters themselves. These characters have everything they could want and multiple opportunities to help victims of the Nazis (especially when you consider their weath and political connections - one character is even the goddaughter of the Nazi Deputy Finance Minister). However, the first time they manage to bestir themselves is when they have the opportunity to steal hundreds of millions from German industrialists towards the end of the war. At one point, a character thinks of herself as an "enemy of fascism." No, you're a thief - and a lousy one at that. Some of the main characters are clearly profiteers - the English one talks about how he has taken advantage of depressed economic conditions to buy up art and first editions and the Italian one buys up thousands of acres of Napa Valley wine country from families hit hard by Prohibition and the War. This may be normal business, but it hardly makes them admirable people. Neither does it make me likely to believe that these are the selfless type of people needed to keep the world safe from the military industrial complex (while we're on that subject, how believable is it that six rich people - four of whom are intimately connected to banks in three different countries - aren't already positioned to check the military industrial complex? Why do they care now?).
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