The Secret Hunters

by Ranulph Fiennes

Shipped from UK, please allow 10 to 21 business days for arrival. Good, signed book, Signed by Author. Published 2001. A very good, clean and sound copy with Dust Jacket. Dust Jacket is price clipped, and has previous owner's inscription on Title page.

Genres: Fiction, Audiobook, Thriller, Historical, War, Adventure, Africa

370 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Sir Ranulph Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes, 3rd Baronet, OBE, better known as Ranulph (Ran) Fiennes, is a British adventurer and holder of several endurance records.

Fiennes has written books about his army service and his expeditions as well as a book defending Robert Falcon Scott from modern revisionists. In May 2009, aged 65, he climbed to the summit of Mount Everest. According to the Guinness Book of World Records he is the world's greatest living adventurer.

Reviews

[Bandit · Rating 3 out of 5]

I once read that an overwhelming number of americans (whether through indifference, stupidity or insufficient public education) can't even name the actual years(causes,outcomes) of the major military conflicts on the last century, including World War 2. I found this incredibly disturbing and proceeded to test this fact, conducting small quizzes on my friends and acquaintances. Out of everyone I've asked, only 1 of my friends was accurate and 1 was very close. The rest (college educated no less) were dismally off. This is why books like these need to be written and read.
The Secret Hunters was an interesting story, presented as fiction that can possibly be a real life story of a man's quest to avenge the atrocities visited upon his Jewish family by the nazis, more specifically his pursuit of one man responsible for the death of his mother. As far as an adventure story goes, it's dynamic and well constructed. As far as a historical work of fiction goes, it's obviously well researched. Dramatic narration...at times was simply unbearable to behold. Of course, no one would expect a book about holocaust to be an easy read/listen, but this one was particularly difficult. Fiennes did not shy away from going into details, this was vivid, brutal and horrifying and I'm a seasoned horror genre reader. The fact that such things occurred and (in a grand scheme of things) so recently is disturbing and frightening beyond belief. History, tragic as it may be, must not be forgotten so that it doesn't repeat itself and books like these do a great job of reminding us of that. Smart, thought provoking, relevant and incredibly moving, this is an important book for the world that tends to forget its dark past. The audio narrator did a good job as well. Recommended.

[Les · Rating 4 out of 5]

Is it fact or is it fiction? A very good question.

This book leaves you wondering if it really is a true story. Basically it's a story based on a journal found in an abandoned Antarctic hut.

It is the journal of a 55-year-old Jewish Canadian of German descent named Derek Jacobs who had been stranded at the hut in the early 1990s. The journal proved to be Jacobs' account of his life, from the death march of wartime Germany to the advance of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia in 1974 to the Arctic, where Jacobs had come as a member of the Secret Hunters, an organization devoted to seeking out Nazi war criminals.

The story is fantastic and I found that I liked to assume that it was true. It's been called fiction by the author due to "several uncheckable facts that forced the decision to label the book as fiction rather than non-fiction".

Nonetheless, a very interesting story about a man who gets put through the meat grinder a number of times.

I'd love to meet Derek Jacobs...if he really exists at all.

[Nick Turner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unabridged audio with spoken narrator Christopher Kay.
Notes on narrator: Mature English male, quiet authoritative voice. Surrey? Measured delivery. Similar style to traditional (e.g. 1950s) BBC announcer (slightly distracting; reminds of sports results).
Adequate pronunciation of foreign names.

This story is well-suited to audio narration because with so much speech and dialogue, a skilled spoken narrator can bring each role to life. Some listeners may prefer a female spoken narrator for long speeches by women characters.

The interleaving of narratives was a little confusing late on in the grimly thrilling moments as the narrator is closing in on the men responsible for the murder of his relatives. It's understandable that the narrator reports his thoughts of the horrors that were recounted to him as a way to draw courage and humility in his own difficult and desperate times.

[Vee · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book I've been trying to read for a while. This story is based on a journal found in Antarctica. The journal belonged to Jewish Canadian of German descent Derek Jacobs who had been stranded at an Antarctic hut in the early 1990s. The journal was Jacobs' account of his life, from the death march of wartime Germany to the advance of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia in 1974 to the Antarctic, where Jacobs had gone as a member of the Secret Hunters, a group devoted to seeking out Nazi war criminals.
I read this after watching the movie Sophie's Choice, and let me tell you, I had major Nazi drama overload. I'll never do that again!
The book was very interesting, and it left me wondering what was fact and what was fiction.

[Tracey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whether fact or fiction isn’t the main point of the book. It’s accuracy on the atrocities, the camps, the death marches, the torture are what make it memorable. There are some things that cannot, and should not, be forgiven.

[E Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was very interesting and I would really like to know if it is fact or fiction.
It is a little far fetched and over the top so my bet is that it is a hoax. An entertaining one.
The hero finds out that his family were survivors of the Holocaust and had immigrated to Canada
after the war. He sets out to infiltrate a German expedition searching for gold in Antarctica
because there are ex-Nazis involved. The exploits and accomplishments of the hero are really
almost impossible. Supposedly his "diary" was found at a scientific outpost and published.

[Marc · Rating 4 out of 5]

After many attempts, false starts, I finally finished this. Whew! Glad I did too...is it real? I am not sure but the vivid descriptions of the Nazi horrors will stay with me...for those who are squeamish, skip over those bits. Reason I picked this one, it takes place partially in my hometown of Ottawa-mostly the city of Nepean...and some of northern Canada. It is well worth the read. Part mystery, part history, part thriller.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very sobering book to read, especially now. The story is purportedly drawn from an abandoned logbook, but the author, a famous explorer, Ranulph Fiennes -(climbed Everest 3 times, related to the actors -cousins), attempted to check out names and dates and was not able to do so. His failure to trace the victims, however (he was able to trace many of the Nazi names) is understandable in light of the lost lives and the poor records.

I listened to this on CD in the car, which was helpful, as I was able to skip over a bit of both the horrible-unbelievable- Holocaust cruelty and the Rwandan genocide atrocities. The horror is so intense it is difficult not to skip some of it. It is interesting that I first read about the Hutus and the Tutsies reading H Ryder Haggard's King Solomon's Mines when I was about 12. The tribes are still fighting (I'm 76), despite the fact that the Dutch once paid for a genetic study of the tribes that found almost no genetic differences-not surprising, as they have inhabited the same area for centuries and no doubt interbred. Man inventive in thinking up reasons to hate others.

I looked up a few things from the book to get another viewpoint; the collaboration of the Ukrainians, Poles, and Lithuanians and others with the Nazis, either out of fear, or in agreement with the elimination of Jews, the crippled, mentally disabled, Gypsies and others. This is true---to different extents in each area and for each population.

The idea that German Jews considered themselves loyal Germans before the war and lived side by side with their neighbors with little idea that their friends would turn on them was harder to look into, but as Jews before the war were in all areas of society, it seems likely.

I had once read, but did not quite grasp that converting to Christianity did not save Jews that were not religious and did this. Hitler wanted to see 3 generations of "pure" Aryan blood and meticulous record checking was done.

This is worth a read in this disrupted world, but steel yourself.

[Luke · Rating 5 out of 5]

The arrival of a plane bound for the military's top secret Alert Base is to change Derek Jacobs' life forever. Consumed by hatred, he is unable to restrain himself from attacking one of the engineers. Who is the engineer and what part did he play in the violent death of Jacobs' mother in Nazi Germany? Jacobs joins the Secret Hunters but can this elite group bring justice to the victims of genocide?

There was a huge debate around this book when it was released, it was on the fact, "is the story real? Or fake? Even the author admits that the chances of Dereks story being factual is slim, but still question remains, "who would write a story with so much detail about such a horrific moment in recent human history and then just leave it in an abandoned shack in Antarctica?" It's a big question, as this book explores Dereks adult life as well as the life of his family, from the origins and growth of the nazi party, and the prosecution of the jews in horrendous vivid detail, this has been the first book where i have cringed and had to stop reading as the imagery in my head was to much. Which is key because if i was feeling that way and worse by only reading about it, think how bad it was to live and experience such a cruel time in history. But here is the odd thing, no matter how uncomfortable or upset i felt, I kept coming back to the story because a part of me felt that whether the story of "Derek and his family" be true or not, this was something that happened to many people, to many people and I felt like, if i knew this story, that those that lost there lives would not be in vain or forgotten, because I will know there story and never forgot it. So back to the question, "is this story true or false?" And in my opinion, yes the story is factual, even though i wish that parts of this story weren't true and never happened and hopefully never happen again, so to end I say that if Derek was that your mission is complete your story is known and I'll never forget it. Never.

5/5 Stars GoodReads ⭐⭐⭐⭐🌟

100/100 prays 🙏 ♥

[Dilys · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is well written using good grammar and clearly defining the actions of the different characters. However, I think that the story lost its way.

It was interesting in that it took us from a vivid description of the life of a Jew in Nazi Germany and even if I did flinch at the details, they seemed relevant. But then, we find ourselves in the civil war in Rwanda which, as far as I could tell, bore absolutely no relevance to the plot; even the love interest was not followed up. But again, there were extremely gory, extended details of mass murder. That whole section was, in my view, totally irrelevant and contributed nothing to the story. We then end up in Antarctica which I found interesting because I know nothing about the area but again, there were loose ends that left me wondering why I was still reading the book.

At the beginning, I thought that this was going to be a spy story because of the links with the Fascists and the Stasi but no - that wasn't the case and while I liked some aspects of the background to the plot, these weren't enough to overcome my indifference; half way through the book, I thought that I would give it 3 stars but then I gradually demoted it. I was left with the impression that the author was determined to use as much of his background knowledge (gained from his time in the SAS / exploring) as possible and then tried to fit a story around it. It didn't work: I feel that either he should start with a convincing plot and work in his experience as appropriate OR write a documentary, which I think would be very interesting. As it is, this book doesn't fulfil either expectation.

[Henri Moreaux · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a very interesting book, purportedly based off of a log book Ranulph Fiennes found in an Antarctic hut this book is the reproduced memoir of a man named Derek Jacobs. Ranulph states it was published as fiction as he and his publisher could not confirm if it was or was not a hoax, however in the epilogue quite a fair bit of detail is gone into in regards to confirmation of events which took place in the memoir. Whether that means it's really true or just a really good hoax remains to be said.

Regardless of whether it is a factual memoir or merely a historical fiction work it is a very vivid and detailed look at what happened to the Jewish people during the Nazi regime in Germany. The work follows the life of Derek Jacobs from working as social worker in places such as Cambodia and Rwanda, meeting a strange yet familiar face, then learning from his aunt about a childhood in world war 2 Nazi Germany he can no longer remember.

Probably not for the light hearted as it contains genocide, murder, rape, torture - all the things prevalent in Rwanda & Nazi Germany. It is however a very detailed look at the darker side of humanity and I found the epilogue of particular interest in regards to the dissection of 'how could this happen?'

Would recommend for any one with an interest in memoirs, history, the holocaust, Germay/ww2, human nature; or someone looking for a particularly realistic historical thriller, as that is what it is at heart in whole.

[Tobias · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a disturbing listen, packed full of horrifically detailed descriptions of Nazi atrocities. Ostensibly the story of a German-Jewish born Canadian Nazi-hunter it spends an inordinate amount of time dwelling on the horrors of the Nazi regime. At times I became almost complacent about the unpleasantness because it was an all-consuming aspect of the story. Don't misunderstand me, such documentation is an important part of never forgetting the evil of the Nazi's, but the book doesn't set out to be a chronicle of those times, so I was slightly non-plussed at how much it dwelt on these matters. As a consequence, it ended up being a slightly rambling and drawn out story that would have benefited from being cut by about a third to tighten up the narrative.

It was also obvious that much as Fiennes asserts that this was a 'fictionalisation' of a real account there is a remarkable amount of the story that plays to Fiennes own subject matter expertise, notably the detail that he affords the story when events move into the Antarctic.

It is remarkably, unnervingly detailed in its account of the camps, death marches, etc, and is an impressive work in that regard. It might have even been a better story if it had simply been the telling of the Holocaust survivors rather than the blending of the two time lines. Worth a read but ultimately ended up with the sum of its parts being less than its whole.

[David Kidd · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ranulph claims that this book is a reconstruction of the memoirs of Derek Jacobs which he found in an abandoned scientific research hut in Antarctica. As incredible as that may seem it is nothing when compared to the extraordinary life Jacobs outlines. After escaping Nazi Germany as a child and a near death experience at the hands of the Khmer Rouge, he set out to find those responsible for the destruction of his family.

Whether it is a factual memoir or merely a historical fiction work it is a very vivid and detailed look at what happened to the Jewish people during the Nazi regime in Germany and a timely reminder that seemingly good people are capable of very bad things when hatred with weaponised

Not suitable for the faint hearted.

[Ruth · Rating 3 out of 5]

c2002 (6): There is a theme going with the reviews - is it real or is it not. But for entertainment value, it was a good read. That sounds a bit crass considering the subject matter - which is truly horrific - and whether its a true life story or not becomes irrelevant when you realise these things did happen - whether they happened to one family or whether it is a tapestry of people's experiences. For me, it tended to be erratic when it came to pacing and some bits were well padded out, I think. Recommended to the normal crew.

[Linda Amos · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fictionalised story of a notebook which was found. It details a particular person hunting the Nazis involved with his family throughout their life, the inhumanity of the treatment the Jews received from their countrymen throughout the 2nd World War. All of this is well documented but this book is personal and sometimes hard to stomach. The twist at the end of the story itself was expected. The investigations by the author in the Epilogue are also detailed - their results were also expected. Such things should not put you off reading this book.

[Eddie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating story that may or may not be true, but bolstered by historical research. Reads like a thriller with some historical detail thrown in. It brings you face-to-face with the horrors of the Nazi regime, so it's not an easy read, but an important one. I will seek out more books by this author.

[Doris Speed · Rating 4 out of 5]

Part document, part novel....it's the harrowing story of a Jewish family's treatment by Germans in WW2. Not an easy read but interesting and a lesson of how inhuman humans can be. May it never happen again!

[Gayle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I listened to this on audio. It was an unexpected find as I wasn't expectations a nazi related history hunt. Definitely recommended

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fact or fiction? Wondering about that made the entire read that much better. Either way, it was a fascinating read.

[Ruth Bingham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Audiobook

[Belinda Emery · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very disturbing descriptions of treatment of European Jews in mid 20th century. Interested to know if a true story

[Martin Ball · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short, not so sweet, but I do like the way he doesn't sit on the fence, and hates people if they earn it.

[Leonie MacDonald · Rating 5 out of 5]

Intriguing. Has stayed with me for some time now

[Anita Birtles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gripping story that relates some of the shocking atrocities of the second world war and the impact on the life of a survivor.

[Victoria Storey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I could not put this book down. It was fascinating to follow the main characters journey through different places and events.

[Mark Woods · Rating 2 out of 5]

The holocaust parts were interesting, but the non-linear storyline at times makes this almost unreadable.
Not for me I’m afraid .

[Gareth Otton · Rating 5 out of 5]

When it comes to topics like the Holocaust I am ashamed to admit that I am like most people in the world in that I approach the subject like an ostrich; sticking my head in the sand and trying to ignore that it ever happened.

From time to time however, a book or film that focuses on what is probably the greatest atrocity in the history of our species slips past my blinkers and every time I am equally horrified but also enthralled by the stories. This book was one of those occasions and though at times it was very hard to read (because of the content, not the quality of the writing) I am glad that I have read it.

This is the incredibly well written biography of a man born during the second world war and after learning of the terrible history his family suffered through, swearing vengeance against the men responsible. It can be effectively broken into two parts, the parts that detailed his life and then the story of his auntie as she recounted the horrors of Jewish life in Nazi Germany.

I am inclined to believe this story to be a non-fiction book even though the large majority of the book is unverifiable. The reason why I believe this is because of the absolute horror described in these pages.

I have read thousands of books in my life of various topics and watched countless movies to the point where I thought that I had become desensitized to horror elements in stories of both fact and fiction. This book proved me wrong on that front. The atrocities detailed in these pages had me often putting down the book in horror at what I was reading. Even the most disturbing fiction books I have read do not come close to this story and out of that thought alone I am inclined to believe that this book is true as I don't think anyone would ever lie about such things and expect to be believed as they all simply go too far. Only real life could ever be so blatantly bold and horrific.

Basically I think that this is an excellent book and a very important one. It is incredibly well written, gripping right from the start and deals with a topic that everyone should at least spend a small amount of time reading about if for no other reason than reading the stories of their suffering and making sure they are never forgot being the least that we can do for these people who suffered so greatly.

[Tweedledum · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ranulph Fiennes has delivered a tour de force in this sprawling and harrowing saga which reads as a compelling mystery while simultaneously bearing witness through many voices to the horrors of the genocide that began with the Third Reich but who's evil legacy continues in countries across the world. Fiennes challenges the reader to ask themselves " should such crimes go unpunished simply because a long time has passed ?" and "what are the long term consequences of a failure to hunt down and punish the perpetrators? " The Secret Hunters demands that we engage with the reality of man's unspeakable inhumanity to fellow man, that we do not forget or seek to diminish the truth or pretend it did not happen like that. In the end it is a warning against complacency. History shows us time and time again that it is all too easy to persuade whole communities to identify an "enemy" and having done so from there it is but a short step to racist attacks. When racist attacks become sanctioned by an authority or state it seems there is no end to the brutality that can be unleashed.

A very important contribution to holocaust literature. And a challenge to the ordinary citizen to be vigilant for "wolves in sheep's clothing". Fiennes reminds us that Hitler came to power because he promised prosperity and pride in the fatherland. How many ordinary Germans realised then that this would ultimately mean either directly oppressing and murdering their neighbours or colluding in this one way or another by doing nothing or turning a blind eye. Yet the writing was on the wall long before... Or rather in Mein Kampf!

The statistics Fiennes presents are mind blowing but in writing the story in a fictional way Fiennes helps us to move away from statistics to the stories of real people. Somewhere here we hear the story of the torment of the homosexual, the twins, the mentally or physically handicapped, the gypsy, the elderly as they are forced to walk the Via Dolorosa alongside their Jewish fellow sufferers.

I highly recommend this book for anyone who wants to seriously engage with the legacy of Nazism.

[Helgaard Botha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ranulph Fiennes, as I wasn’t aware, is described as the world's greatest living explorer. He undertook numerous expeditions and was the first person to visit both the North and South Poles by surface means and the first to completely cross Antarctica on foot. In May 2009, at the age of 65, he climbed to the summit of Mount Everest. Fiennes also became the first person ever to have crossed both polar icecaps. He is also the only man alive ever to have traveled around the Earth’s circumpolar surface (more people have been on the moon!)

Fiennes is also an accomplished writer and has written 15 books. The Secret Hunters was first published in 2001. The idea for this book came on a trip to Antarctica when he was dispatched to investigate a deserted hut where scientists worked in the 1950s. One of the books that he retrieved was the logbook of a yacht which also contained the remarkable story of a 55 yeard old Canadian (Derek Jacobs) that was stranded in the hut in early 1994.

As a child, Derek Jacobs was an inmate of a Nazi prison camp and saw his mother horrifically abused. With an aunt, they both emigrated to Canada just after WW2. Then forging a career in the environment movement, he was co-opted by the Secret Hunters, a group who tracked down the perpetrators of genocide to exact their revenge.

A part of this book tells the horrific story of the mass killings of the Jews during WW2. In 1945 the Jews, in the concentration camps, were moved on to the so-called “Death Marches” that were formed all over Germany and Poland. The reason for this was that Hitler decided that the concentration camp inmates shouldn’t live to enjoy liberation. About 700,000 prisoners were involved in these Death Marches of which between a third and a half were killed en route

By reading this book, you can get an inkling of the utter horror that awaited any prisoners in the process of being killed in the concentration camps.

Another chapter dealt with the conflict between the Tutsis and the Hutu in Rwanda were in 100 days in 1994, 800,000 Tutsis were killed by the Hutus.

This is a deeply disturbing book and it will haunt you for a long time. Not for the faint-hearted. Gave it 3 -stars although it borders on 4-stars. 370 pages

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

If there were a 3 1/2 stars option this would get it. The plot is good, the action sequences build suspense and there is a lot of vivid description that grounds the action in its landscapes.

Where the book falls down is in its approach to covering the Nazi crimes before and during WW2. The author gets trapped wanting to tell us too much - more than is necessary to the story in the rest of the book, and so a couple of characters are introduced whose purpose is clearly only to detail what happened in parts of the holocaust which major characters would not have been exposed to. This is a shame, because in these sections the narrative begins to feel like something from a history textbook - a good, and well researched history textbook, to be sure - but unmoored from the rest of the book. This is a shame because the historic portions of the story which *are* connected to a major character are extremely strong, in particular (small spoiler alert) the section focusing on one of the SS Death Marches of 1945 (an aspect of the Nazi terror which tends to feature less in literature than the camps).