Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A startling, believable scenario that might have been., October 24, 2002
SS-GB deals with life in Nazi-occupied Great Britain, about one year after the German Army successfully overruns the British Isles. I found it to be utterly believable, completely convincing. Churchill has been secretly executed by a German firing squad, and the King is imprisoned in the Tower of London under special SS guard. America considers the war to be over. And therein lies the tale. The end will rock you and sock you.The book deals with one Detective Archer, a detective with Scotland Yard, which is itself under the command of a German police General. There is a murder to be solved, and as one might guess, there is more to the murder than meets the eye. Archer must solve the murder and deal with the political rivalries that affect his German masters. Deighton's novel captures the sense of defeat--the dark, moody time (which in real life was only just barely averted) after the all hope is lost and the British have suffered utter defeat. But life goes on, and this is what SS-GB is really about. There is a story here, about seemingly real people, and Deighton tells it. This is a book that I have made a permanent part of my library, and I re-read it every couple of years. It is that kind of book.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliant "alternative history" thriller - vintage Deighton, December 7, 2004
It's November 1941 in Nazi-occupied Britain, and Detective Inspector Archer of Scotland Yard finds himself reporting to SS Gruppenfuehrer Fritz Kellermann. The King is a prisoner in the Tower of London; Churchill has been shot after a brief trial in Berlin; Germany and the USSR are still the best of friends; and the USA is reluctant to intervene. Austerity holds Britain in its icy grip, with luxuries more or less limited to the German occupying forces and those who succeed in ingratiating themselves.
The successful invasion left swathes of ruin and destruction that have not yet been repaired. The blackened shell of a Panzer IV tank still sits halfway up Wimbledon high street. Anyone violating curfew, or breaking regulations, is likely to be shot or sent to a concentration camp. Yet there is no point in rebellion - that would just get more people killed. Apparently, the only way forward is to cooperate with the Germans. Kellermann hints to Archer that his young son might possibly attend the good German school in Highgate... On the other hand, perhaps he should be sent to a training school for young Nazis in Germany.
While developing one of his usual opaque plots, Deighton cleverly shows the dilemma facing Archer and others in positions of responsibility. We see the British resistance as more like the present-day Iraqi insurgency (depicted as terrorists, criminals and diehards) than in the heroic light that has retrospectively fallen on those who persisted in fighting the Nazis after their governments had surrendered.
As usual in a Deighton story, it is no use trying to work out which side anyone is on. Mostly, each of the leading players is on his (or her) own side. The question is: who can profit most by cooperating with whom? The answers turn out to be surprising indeed. Tension starts to build with the abrupt arrival of SS Standartenfuehrer Huth from Berlin - a man who stands for no nonsense, works for Himmler, and has dauntingly direct methods. Can the Resistance exploit tensions between the German Army and the SS to rescue the King? What is the secret of the scientist who is found shot dead, apparently suffering from an extreme case of sunburn? Add a beautiful American journalist, a sinister British secret service officer, a US military expedition, sundry criminals, black-marketeers and collaborators, stir vigorously... and get ready for some stunning entertainment.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Deighton's best, February 17, 2004
By A Customer
"SS GB" is a thoroughly fascinating, absorbing, terrific novel--a first-rate murder mystery wrapped in a huge, wartime conspiracy, with a detailed, completely believable backdrop of Britain defeated and occupied by the Nazis. It is literally impossible to put this book down once you've started. The characters are unforgettable: cool but overwhelmed Detective Superintendent "Archer of the Yard," the sleek, frighteningly menacing SS Standartenfuhrer Huth, the double-edged General Kellermann, loyal Harry Woods, vivacious Barbara Barga--all come to life in a crackerjack spy plot executed on a global basis. Do not miss this book!
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