Customer Reviews

Goering's List

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

While I had some trouble first getting into the book due to the myriad of characters, I liked the plot concept, so I perservered. I was not disappointed. Once I was able to get all the characters straight, this was non-stop action with an ending that delivered! The characters were believeable and not so glam damn perfect as to be boring. Even the romance angle was well-written. Hats off to JC Pollock for a tightly written suspenseful gripping trip through an often written about genre! I will look for more of Pollock's work as this book was entertaining, complicated, and intelligent. Much better than a Clancy novel!! Kudos Pollock!

I loved this book -- an excellent example of this genre. Characters were believable (within the context of this genre) -- likable, not too perfect, & basically good-hearted. Interesting plot, good pacing, satisfying ending. I recommend this book highly.

This is a fun and fast paced World War 2 based current day book that actually works. The author has the CIA, the Mossad and the Stasi all after some old masters that were stolen by guess whom? The author has done a good job here, the characters are well developed and there are enough sub plots to keep you interested but not to overwhelm the central story. I was concerned with the number of people running around, maybe dropping a few would have done the book good and the biggest issue I have is the love story. Why have this in the book? It is not needed, rushed and just done poorly. Overall I thought the book was above average and interesting.

There is not a dull moment in this book. I truly could not put this book down. An East German former Stasi operative inherits a list of paintings that were taken by Herman Goerring from his father a former SS officer. The list contains the names of people who purchased these stolen paintings from the Nazis.This list is used by the Americans to trick the Russians who also have a copy of this list. The Russians think that this list is enabling them to blackmail the owners of the stolen art. The CIA are feeding the Russians false information. The East German terrorist decides to steal the paintings from the owner and sell them in order to finance terrorist activities of the Red Army Faction. American CIA operative Mike Semko teams up with a Mossad agent to attempt to catch and kill the Terrorist. This results in gun battles all over the world. The terrorist even kills a bunch of the Russians. Like I said,there is never a dull moment in this book. The ending, a gun battle in the Black Forest, closes the book out with a bang. An excellent book. Be sure to read it.

Pollock sets the stage well for suspense and intrigue, even if his plot is predictable. Semko develops into a lovable heavy, and the villain, Strasser, is believably heartless. For those looking for spook stories with historical threads, this is worth the read

Pollock sets the stage well for suspense and intrigue, even if his plot is predictable. Semko develops into a lovable heavy, and the villain, Strasser, is believably heartless. For those looking for spook stories with historical threads, this is worth the read

First let me say that I am still reading this book, and I am more than 3/4 of the way through it but I can't stand it anymore. I have to say something. I do not pick up books like this expecting them to be Pulitzer material. I just want a fun, well paced, put-together read.
So far my head is spinning with all of the characters the author has tossed into the fray. Rather than narrowing his focus, Pollock gives us an ever-expanding cast of characters. It seems he liked all of the usual key espionage players so much he couldn't bear to leave anyone out. The resulting mess is filled with Mossad, CIA, Russian intelligence, British intelligence, local police - you name it. In fact it gets so out of hand that Pollock and his editors failed to realize that he changes a character's name entirely! On page 111 we have "Paris station chief, Parker Britin Stevenson II."
Oops! Apparently he didn't like his name too much because on page 331 he becomes "Palmer Stevenson, Paris station chief". What makes this even more ridiculous is that Parker Stevenson is actually the name of a celebrity, albeit a minor one nowadays. But if anyone remembers Parker Stevenson as one of the Hardy Boys on TV (and now as Kirsty Alley's husband. Or maybe they divorced - who knows?) this ridiculous editing gaffe is even more obvious. Not to mention the typos. Maybe it's because I am a journalist, but I always try to read my own stuff before it goes to print. This novel (although it has some great action scenes) is laden with trite coincidences, riddled with cliche (OK, anything in this genre has SOME, but come on) and could have used some more attention and reworking before it went to print, because the basic idea is terrific.

This is the first book I've read by J.C. Pollock, and I thought it was a well-worthwhile and entertaining thriller. Perfect for a rainy day. When an old, forgotten S.S. officer passes away, his son comes into possession of a list of art sales Herman Goering made to various art collectors. A former Soviet-spy and terrorist, the son sees the value of the list as a way of filling his bank account by stealing the art himself. What he doesn't see is the true value of the list, and that leads much of the world to chase him down. A definite read.

The love interest is so thin, so predictable. The plot is too implausible: it's so easy to find the bad guy, but so hard to eliminate him.

The back cover of this book states "From the ashes of the Third Reich... To the ashes of the Cold War..." No doubt, "Goering's List" is an entertaining and clever novel about a valuable list that falls into the wrong hands. When Heinz Stasser, a former major in the Waffen SS, dies of a heart attack, his terrorist son learns of the secret life he led prior to the end of World War II. He also stumbles upon a list, Goering's List, a detailed account of the illegal sales of stolen art to prominent collectors all over the world. Many of the collectors are still alive, and the son sees great potential value in stealing the prized art to fund his various terrorist activities. However, the terrorist son does not yet know the true value of the list... And that secondary value has the Israelis, the Americans, and the Russians hot on his heels.

This is a great old-fashioned potboiler that World War II history buffs will find great pleasure in perusing. I've never read J.C. Pollock before. I just picked the book off the shelf, intrigued by its cover. But I'll definitely read more of his work in the future.

Britt Gillette
Author of "Conquest of Paradise: An End-Times Nano-Thriller"