Blood of the Reich: A Novel

by William Dietrich

“WilliamDietrich...should be read by anyone who loves adventure at its grandest!”—James Rollins, author of Alter of Eden Atthe height of WWII, a quartet of daring American adventurers pits theircunning against a cadre of Nazi S.S. agents seeking to acquire a powerfulweapon for the Fuhrer’s arsenal; today, as the Nazi specter begins to rear itshead once again, the descendants of those long-ago adventurers must unlock thesecrets of their forebears’ mission in order to save the world from Hitler’sresurgent Reich. Now, modern science and ancient Tibetan mythology surround adaring zoologist and a beautiful aviatrix who are all that stand between theNazis and world domination in New YorkTimes bestselling author William Dietrich’s Blood of the Reich , a knockout stand-alone novel perfect for fansof Ken Follett, Frederick Forsyth, and Thor Brad.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Thriller, Adventure, World War II, Historical, Historical Mystery

576 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published June 28, 2011

About the author

William Dietrich is a NY Times bestelling author of the Ethan Gage series of eight books which have sold into 28 languages. He is also the author of six other adventure novels, several nonfiction works on the environmental history of the Pacific Northwest, and a contributor to several books.

Bill was a career journalist, sharing a Pulitzer for national reporting at the Seattle Times for coverage of the Exxon Valdez oil spill. He taught environmental journalism at Huxley College, a division of Western Washington University, and was adviser to Planet Magazine there. He was Nieman Fellow at Harvard University, and received several National Science Foundation fellowships for reporting on science. His travels have taken him from the South Pole to the Arctic, and from the Dead Sea to the base camp of Mount Everest. The traveling informs his books.

He lives in Anacortes, WA, in the San Juan islands, and is a fan of books, movies, history, science, and the outdoors.

Reviews

[Lisa Eskra · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book. The premise sounded really interesting. Unfortunately, the execution is horrible on almost every level.

Where do I begin...I'll start with the good. Chapters end on a very strong note, and the dialog is decent. I love Sam as a character; he serves as a great foil to Jake. In some places the descriptive passages are breathtakingly awesome. And the history is immersive.

But that's all it has going for it. It feels like this novel is being rushed to press before it's ready. The plot is far-fetched, the characterization is poor, and the editing seems nonexistent. Not a good combination.

For the most part the writing is mediocre. Sloppy editing plagues the book. Descriptive passages are frequently bogged down by the excessive use of passive voice. "Lending the only color was a bowl of fruit." There's too much rehashing of events that happened just a few chapters prior. And the similes...on one random page (216) I counted five, four of which occurred in the same paragraph and two of which occurred in the same sentence. Who up the publishing food chain let these amateur mistakes slide? It reads like a first draft.

As far as plot goes, the novel has a slow start -- especially on the Nazi side of things. Prior to chapter 10, the storytelling of 1938 is stale and quite boring. The Nazi storyline skirts the fantasy/sci-fi realm too much for my tastes in a historical fiction. Too many coincidences or convenient outs, both past and present, which had me rolling my eyes so much I feared they might get stuck like that. As the book approaches its climax, it turns into a farce.

The plot didn't interest me as much as I'd hoped. There's a serious story going on with the Nazis and a flippant present-day melodrama, two things that in my opinion don't work together. Don't go into this expecting an Indiana Jones-type thrill ride. It just never happens.

The present-day thread is the weakest part of the novel. It comes off as a really poor after-school TV movie. It feels like it was added as an afterthought to pad the book's length (or to appeal to a YA demographic). Suspension of disbelief? Yeah, throw that right out the window. And to top it all off, it was predictable. This coming from a reader who isn't good at metagaming.

Which leads me to my main problem in the book. With so much going on in both time periods, Dietrich doesn't devote much effort to character development. Don't get me wrong, I liked the characterization of the women in the book early on until I realized they're all essentially the same characters. Nor did Raeder or Hood have much development beyond their prior collaboration in Tibet. Both zoologists, both crack-shots, both have the same voice...only one's a Nazi and the other's a rich American playboy. And Jake, was he supposed to have a believable personality? The addition of point-of-view characters in the last third of the book worsens the problem.

In conclusion -- very far-fetched and not really all that interesting a book. To me, anyways. Fans of historical fiction might think otherwise. Dietrich weaves history into the text effortlessly, as I'm sure he did in his other novels. Sadly, he really missed the mark with this one.

[Larry · Rating 1 out of 5]

The characters were cartoon caricatures, the writing was atrocious. One example: "...walking into the technology like sperm penetrating the gigantic egg of this vast, bulky machine." I won't spoil it for anyone who wants to read the book, but clunky, silly figures of speech like this abound. The plot is one of the over-the-top pseudo-scientific genus, which can be fun reading. This one could have been, had the author bothered to staff it with somewhat realistic actors.

I guess one could say that I really didn't care for this one.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good book that has a sort of Indiana Jones feel to it. The story flashes back and forth from the past to the present and I have to say the author does this very well. I have read some books that use this method and some of them can really cause a reader to pause to figure out who is where and what is what. Dietrich is able to use this method to carry the story of the past and present very well. Some of the little secrets of the past stay hidden until a relevance can be found for them in the present story. And just like Indiana Jones you will encounter some of those evil Nazi bastards in this story. So if it looks interesting give it a shot. Who knows you just might like it.

[Jonathan Tomes · Rating 5 out of 5]

I recently reviewed Invitation to Valhalla which I enjoyed very much and motivated me to read the sequel, Blood of the Reich by Mike Whicker. No it isn’t a vampire novel, but it is just as enthralling. It continues the story of Ericka, a German spy who is sent to the United States to spy on a plant that produces landing ships for the invasion of Europe. The first book ends with her on the run when her spying is exposed. This book picks up with her on the run but still determined to get critical information to Germany that will let them know that the invasion is not going to land at Calais. She enlists the help of a reporter for a Cincinnati newspaper, where she goes because a German sympathizer can help her complete her mission. Any more would give away the compelling plot. A real page-turner that I could hardly put down. With my background in military intelligence and law enforcement, I can attest to the accuracy of the settings and techniques both of the protagonist and those hunting her. These two books, taken together, are clearly in my top ten percent of WWII military fiction.

[Sud666 · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was my first Dietrich book and if this book was par for the course then it will be my last. It started off well, but then the story seemed to me formulaic. When I read a thriller I often find it helps to empathize or like certain characters. This was not the case here-the primary protagonist was someone that not only did I not root for but I began to dislike intensely. She just is not smart. At all. I don't know if Dietrich has ever written novels with relationships in them, but he would be advised to leave them out and tell a story about WW2. Perhaps my dislike of the main character is what threw me off. Also the intimate moments of the book seemed very forced-almost like a gratuitous sex scene in a horror movie. All in all by the end of the book I was just waiting for it to be over. Sorry this one wasn't awful-there are some interesting things going on, but the lead "heroine" just completely ruined it for me. Could not identify or empathize with her and by extrapolation her plight.

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

the way a thriller has to be, bit constructed at the end, nice insight into Tibet, nice background info on the Nazi research...

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Based on the intriguing premise of a Nazi expedition to Tibet, this book had many elements that could have made it great, but as a whole, it didn’t deliver. Kurt Raeder is sent to Tibet by Himmler to uncover a long lost power, and in America, Benjamin Hood is recruited to stop Raeder and his team from success. Intertwined in this decent historical drama is the current day plot of Rominy Pickett, who is conveniently rescued from a car bomb by a mysterious stranger who explains her ties to the quest that occurred generations before. This “hero” Jake is too well informed and prepared to not be suspicious and Rominy is too trusting and complacent for her to be a strong protagonist. Their dialogue is corny and the author uses their witty banter to explain sub-atomic physics, spirituality and other complex issues. This modern-day adventure seemed too contrived in relation to the captivating historical component. The one-dimensional characters of both plots tended to make poor decisions that were frustrating. The conclusion could be open for a sequel, but if not, it ended too abruptly. I commend the fast pace and the pre-WWII Nazi aspect, but when the past and present plots come together at the end, it did not feel cohesive. If one can look past the flaws, this book will appeal to fans of the genre, but I wish it had been better developed to offer a more profound experience.

I received a complimentary copy of this book via the Amazon Vine program.

[Grace Of Liddle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read as audiobook. Not a bad little pot boiler. I'd put it between a 3 and a 4 if possible. I'll read another by this author as honestly it was a bit of an adventure tale. Beach reading? Escapism? Sure thing, and that's just fine too. Like ice cream for.dinner.

[Alan Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a lover of Dietrich's "Ethan Gage" novels, I was really keen to see what he could do in a different genre - that of the occult thriller. And certainly there's all the ingredients here for a fantastic work. A tight, exciting story, interesting characters, fast-moving plotline, a gob-smacking terminal twist and, in general, excellent lucid storytelling.

So why only three stars?

Well, the thing is - good as this is, there was nothing here I haven't seen before. Sure it was a great story, and kept me gripped on my bus commutes to work, but so could fifty other stories of this kind.

The old formula of a feisty girl, not sure if she's in love or not with her fellow seeker after fortune(an inquisitive macho journalist,) the uptight Nazi hit man, serene Buddhist monks, the secret potentially world-destroying occult technology from out of the past... sometimes one gets the impression it was a case of throw all the best-seller ingredients into a pot and stir over a slow flame. All we needed was a ninja and a vampire to complete the roll call.

I'm sure this will be a huge best seller and perhaps that was Deitrich's only aim - and fair enough. But as for me, while I intend to be reading a lot more of this author in the near future, I'll be picking up the Ethan Gage stories rather than his thrillers.

[Emmett · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was attracted to the book because of its alternate historical interpretation, so no surprises there that I was more interested in the past than 'present day' sequence of events. Even to the extent of skipping chunks to reach the next block of events.

Found this rather disappointing, apart from the fascinating account of Nazi 'research' which was expertly woven into fiction. I couldn't become accustomed to Dietrich's portrayal which was varied a bit from the impression I gathered from biographies. He might be intimidating at times but I found the general sense of assertiveness the author tried to infuse strange; in my books Himmler isn't that threatening, not overtly, in any case.

The plot struck me as a bit of a stretch. The inclusion of the Collider, though integral to the plot, left me in disbelief. The whirlwind of locations left me a bit bewildered; wanderings, then a secret Shangri-La and now of all places, the Hadron Collider? I probably missed the whole point, not to mention the glaring parallels between the machinery the reader was introduced to in Tibet and the modern invention we have here.

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good book for 300 pages. Then the author ran out of ideas.

[Warren · Rating 2 out of 5]

A decent escapist read. Not quite history, not quite sci-fi but comparable to a Dan Brown read. Borrowed it from the e-library, so definitely worth the money!

[Albert · Rating 2 out of 5]

dissapointed

[Robs · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as good as the Ethan Gage series, but enjoyable action adventure mixed with history.

[Laurissa Yip · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had high hopes for an entertaining read but this one fell flat.

The big mystery started out intriguing and I was looking forward to the big reveal, but it all fell flat and was very anticlimactic. The findings in Tibet were barely explored and it was very poorly thought out. Who were the people there? what happened? how did Kurt survive but not Ben?

The characters....geez. Rominy was the most naive, idiotic character. She "fell in love" with Jake for literally no reason and within 48 hours. There were giant clues everywhere that he was not who he said and she just believed him because...? Then big surprise, he turns out to be a modern day Nazi and she is shocked!....because it wasn't glaringly obvious from his rhetoric.

All the relationships were ridiculous with everyone falling in love with everyone for absolutely no reason.

This book was disappointing and I will not read another by this author.

[Jim · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book started out strongly during the interesting setup stage and ended poorly and in a rushed fashion. In-between, much of the story alternated between three separate but interrelated plots, one in the present day and two in the past. And of the three, one was weak and the other two were only so-so. Pacing problems were everywhere, but mostly in that middle third, and the writing overall just seemed sluggish and not very thriller-ish. And finally, the author seemed to have the sort of limited and sometimes unflattering understanding of women that I'd expect out of a schoolboy. In the end, there was a good story in here that a good editor could have helped to flush out and tighten (by at least 100 pages if not more) and fine-tune, but it just never happened.

[Erik · Rating 2 out of 5]

Either Dietrich's target audience is 13 year old girls, or he had a 13 year old girl co-writing this book.
The main character, Rominy, has multiple personalities. At one point she is college graduate, a fairly mature adult. Then she's behaving like a 13 year old, even to the point of sticking her tongue out a people. Twice.

This is the last non-Ethan Gage book I will read from Dietrich.

[Randy Hedlund · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was kinda a fun read in an Indiana Jones sort of way. The science logic was a bit wack, shambalans discovering dark energy? I do like the fact that it referenced the god particle just though the execution was a bit poor. The Nazi search for Shambala was a bit intriguing. The idea of the 600 billion dollar particle collider is a bit resentful.

[Jay Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

I waited a long time to listen to this book and I am glad I did. Tedious. I tried hard to enjoy it, but it just became a chore. I loved the premise and wanted to love the book. It had the potential for a great Indiana Jones type adventure. It was just good enough to finish. Too much plot, too long.

[M. A. · Rating 3 out of 5]

William Dietrich's Blood of the Reich will appeal to those who enjoy farfetched conspiracy stories and cartoonish Indiana Jones-style adventure (particularly the tomb-raiding, Nazi-battling kind), but its lack of strong characters and tendency to loose itself in its own topical tangents will likely put off most readers. Indeed, while it certainly requires a fair amount of patience, the book is not the lost cause that many paint it as.

Combining the popular narrative technique of shifting back and forth between time periods, BotR weaves together the interrelated journeys of Kurt Raeder, an ambitious Nazi anthropologist who leads a pre-war SS expedition in 1938 to Tibet in search of an ancient power; of Benjamin Hood, a spoiled anti-Indiana Jones museum curator, sent by the American government to thwart Raeder; and of Rominy Pickett, a modern-day young woman, who finds herself caught up in the legacy of the events of 1938.

To reiterate what many reviewers have said, the overall main character, Rominy, is your average American yuppie. She is sarcastically self-aware but very passive, and more or less just along for the ride. She herself laments this at various points in the book, but even her attempt to take the reins of her own destiny towards the end of the story lacks conviction. Perhaps if the book had continued past the ending (which sets up for a second book that may or may not ever be written), we would have seen more of this evolved Rominy, but no such luck for her character.

As for the other main narration charcters, Kurt Raeder, the sadistic but charismatic leader of the Nazi expedition to Tibet, made for an interesting villain despite his descent into "Wacky Occult Nazi Megalomaniac" territory towards the end. Raeder and his Nazi colleagues find evidence of "Aryan" superiority everywhere, and their self-importance and ardent dedication to their cause is believable and palpable. Raeder's own dogged determination to find a superpower sleeping in Tibet, his self-importance, and his deplorable sadistic streak make him a chilling but compelling character. Meanwhile, Hood is a playboy scholar who has inklings of seeking a life of greater meaning, but despite what he does and uncovers during his adventures, I never felt like he was a particularly compelling character. Like a more innocent version of Raeder, he was rather unlikable in general, but with no interesting aspects to make up for it.

As a whole, though, the supporting characters don't fare well; Jake seems to be a prop for the plot and Rominy's (lack of) character development, going from flat to unbelievably cartoonish after a certain plot revelation. Other incidental characters end up being either caricatures (the mannish aviatrix, the dogged government agent, etc) or just plain uninteresting. Sam MacKenzie was probably the most interesting of all, as a semi-self-assured drifter with a self-deprecating streak whose transformation from tour guide to action hero in the latter half of the book is more convincing than Rominy's entire character arc over the course of the book.

In terms of writing, while the author does paint a few beautiful settings and piques the reader's interest with exquisite details about various locations--from Himmler's medieval "SS Camelot" castle to ancient Tibetan ruins--the author often descends into excessive exposition. The worst of this comes in certain dialogue exchanges, where a characters--usually Jake or Raeder--will explain in detail the workings of, say, subatomic particle physics (yes, really) in the middle of a conversation. Very little of this contributes to the plot or the reader's understanding of it, with even Rominy lampooning Jake and Sam's tendencies to do this multiple times. Thus this book strikes me as a first draft that should have been pared down to perhaps 400 pages. I found myself outright skipping large parts that I knew I would not need to read in order to understand the advancing plot; sure enough, I was able to continue reading without having missed anything. This sort of excess just does not belong in a novel like this.

Overall, the plot advances far too slowly for the first 3/4 of the book, then after the long-awaited and unsatisfactory climax rushes to a conclusion in the end, which leaves me to believe that the book could have been pared down even more to produce a better-paced first half. The story ends with a clear indication that Rominy's adventures are just beginning. But while the adventures of Hood and Raeder in 1938 were fairly compelling, the modern part of the story is contrived and boring; the "ancient mystical power" that Hood and Raeder discover is corny enough without a plot element involving neo-Nazis weaving a grand conspiracy. The author would have been better off weaving a tale of good vs evil that lie solely in the pre-and inter-WW2 era than having the results take place over 60 years later. Alas, Dietrich chose to split the narrative, and result is a book that spends most of its time boring you, drowning out its more interesting aspects with paragraphs of pointless explanations. But for those who are interested in the subject matter, BotR might be worth a look.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Steve Berry-like "artifact thriller" has a young woman traveling intercontinentally, following the explorations of an unknown ancestor...from the US, to the mythical Himalayan Eden Shambhala, to the CERN Large Hadron Collider...all the while chased by Nazis & neo-Nazis...all great fun!!!

[Joyce Becker · Rating 2 out of 5]

The plot’s concept was interesting. I had to muscle through the first quarter, then finished only because I had read that far and hoped it would become better. Some twists and turns that caught my interest to read more. I hope this doesn’t become a movie.

[Mike · Rating 1 out of 5]

An interesting thesis but poor realization. Tepid is the word that comes to mind. Characters are barely two dimensional. What passes for plot development reads more like AP news reports with no depth. Give it a pass.

[Sandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

An adventure involving a young woman searching for answers about her birth parents and grandparents. Lots of action both in 1938 with the Nazi's looking for a lost city in the high mountains of Tibet and flashing to current time with the same quest.

[Dayna Keiser · Rating 4 out of 5]

Himmler sends Nazi's to Tibet and the American's send an agent. In the present a young man saves a woman when her car is bombed by a neo Nazi. Both of these events are related. Quite an adventure.

[Ron · Rating 2 out of 5]

A disappointment

This story started out so good...and then deteriorated into a fantasy story that had no touch with reality or credibility

[Ed · Rating 3 out of 5]

Six-word Review: Combines three genres, not all successfully.

Longer review later.

[Elizabeth Jensen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an imaginative story about a group of individuals trying to create the Fourth Reich. There are many twists and turns including a trip to Tibet, but ultimately the good guys win.

[Jimboninja · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wow. This is the worst book that I've actually read in its entirety. Just wow....

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a decent adventure. It had some nice twists and turns and kept me entertained. The flow and pace of the story was pretty good also.