The Odessa File [Paperback]

Frederick Forsyth (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 1999

The  suicide of an elderly German Jew explodes into  revelation after revelation: of a Mafia-like  organization called Odessa ...of a real-life fugitive known as the  "Butcher of Riga"..of a young German journalist  tumed obsessed avenger.......and, ultimately, of brilliant, ruthless plot  to reestablish the worldwide power of SS mass  murderers and to carry out Hitler's chilling  "Final Solution."

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Every bit  as exciting as its noted predecessor and even  eerie."--Cosmopolitan.

"A carefully thought out, meticulously researched,  documented... highly suspenseful work of  fiction."--Chicago Tribune.

"Much more complex than the Jackal...  intriguingly fact packed with relentless exporting, a  protagonist propelled by an unstoppable force as  suicidal as that of a lemming, and a time-factored  chase ticking off to an explosive  climax."--The Cleveland Press.

"A highly  superior combination of real-life facts and suspense  fiction."--Publisher's Weekly --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

From the Publisher

"Much more complex than the Jackal... intriguingly fact packed with relentless exporting, a protagonist propelled by an unstoppable force as suicidal as that of a lemming, and a time-factored chase ticking off to an explosive climax."--The Cleveland Press.

The suicide of an elderly German Jew explodes into revelation after revelation: of a Mafia-like organization called Odessa.

"A carefully thought out, meticulously researched, documented... highly suspenseful work of fiction."--Chicago Tribune.

...of a real-life fugitive known as the "Butcher of Riga"

...of a young German journalist turned obsessed avenger.

"Every bit as exciting as its noted predecessor and even eerie."--Cosmopolitan.

...and, ultimately, of brilliant, ruthless plot to reestablish the worldwide power of SS mass murderers and to carry out Hitler's chilling "Final Solution."

"A highly superior combination of real-life facts and suspense fiction."--Publisher's Weekly --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Bantam Books (August 1, 1999)
• ISBN-10: 0553147579
• ISBN-13: 978-0553147575
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (82 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,430,101 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Frederick Forsyth is the author of fifteen novels and short-story collections. He lives in England.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

52 of 53 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Story to Remember, September 29, 2006

By 

Edwin C. Pauzer (New York City) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Odessa File (Mass Market Paperback)

Even the start of the novel is gripping, and it is fraught with coincidences. If John F. Kennedy hadn't been shot, Peter Miller would not have pulled over to listen to the radio announcement. He would have missed the ambulance that he eventually followed. As an investigative journalist he thought he might be following a story. The ambulance's destination was the suicide of an old Holocaust survivor. "No story here," the detective advises him. Shortly thereafter the detective calls to tell him that the old man left behind a diary that describes the unspeakable cruelty he experienced in a concentration camp. Miller reads the story into the night. His attention is turned to one incident he reads over and over again. The diary ends with the old man's plea that someone please say Kaddish, the Jewish Prayer for the dead, for the sake of his soul. The coincidences build from here. The next day Miller decides to hunt a Nazi camp commandant, but not for the reasons we suspect. The story takes Peter Miller through other parts of Germany and Austria where he is being chased by the people he is pursuing. The journalist eventually finds and confronts the Nazi. The ultimate coincidence is revealed. His personal mission has far-reaching consequences.

In the end we learn about the fate of the characters, some fateful and some ordinary. This was the most stirring part for me. A young Israeli paratrooper enters the Hall of Remembrance in Jerusalem. His red beret satisfies the requirement of a yarmulka, and he fulfills the request of the old man whose soul died years earlier in a concentration camp near Riga.

With Forsythe's ability to mix fact with fiction, 1964 was a year in which a number of Nazis were found and brought to justice. Stirring.

This novel is lesenvergnuegen.

Alles Gute!

ECP

37 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Forsyth's best book by far!!!!!!, August 6, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Odessa File (Mass Market Paperback)

After reading "The Day of the Jackal", I thought that there couldn't be a better suspense thriller than this, but I still hadn't read "The Odessa File". Its set in the early 1960's, where a young freelance German journalist comes across the personal diary of an old German Jew who's committed suicide. Reading the diary through the night, the journalist, Peter Miller finds out that the Jew was a prisoner in the Nazi concentration camp at Riga, Latvia during World War II. As he reads on, he's shocked by the graphic description by the Jew of the atrocities committed on the camp inmates by the camp commandant, Eduard Roschmann. Millers vows to track down Roschmann and bring him to justice. But while doing so, he comes across a super-secret organization known as Odessa, which protects Nazi ex-SS members from being captured and brought to justice. When Miller starts getting too close to the Odessa, his life is in grave danger. But he decides that it will end with him bringing Roschmann to justice for his crimes, or with his death.

"The Odessa File", as with all other Forsyth books, has a super-shocking twist in the end, where we get to know the real motive behind Miller wanting to find Roschmann. In the process, Forsyth manages to include The Beatles' short stint in Hamburg, the background of the brief Arab-Israeli war and last but not the least, Kennedy's assasination. As usual, Forsyth's factual knowledge is accurate to the point, and his research is deep and minute. "The Odessa File" is undoubtedly Frederick Forsyth at his very best.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Kameraderie, October 30, 2003

By 

J. H. Minde "Everything I need is right here" (Boca Raton, Florida and Brooklyn, New York) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Odessa File (Mass Market Paperback)

THE ODESSA FILE is one of Frederick Forsyth's classics. Cleverly written, meticulously researched, and absolutely readable, THE ODESSA FILE recounts the story of Peter Miller, a young German crime reporter who decides to infiltrate the secret Nazi support network in the early 1960s in order to discover the whereabouts of Captain Eduard Roschmann, "The Butcher of Riga," who sent some 80,000 people to their deaths in the Riga Ghetto.While Miller's outrage at the twisting of Germany by the Nazis is real and intense, his motivations are unclear...until the O. Henry ending.

This is fine historical fiction, melding historical figures (like Roschmann)and fictional characters (like Miller) together seamlessly.THE ODESSA FILE is an intense thriller, and rates as one of the finest and most memorable works of its genre anytime and anywhere.