Blood Eagle

by Robert Barr Smith

A single pistol shot in the night, and an attractive young woman is dead, a suicide. A passing thing in 1931 Munich. Except the dead woman was Adolf Hitlers niece and mistress, the lovely Geli Raubal. The pistol was Hitlers. And the location was Hitlers sumptuous flat.More than half a century later, despite the facts surrounding Gelis death, surely no one should care. But western intelligence learns someone does care. Very much. Both the KGB and a well-financed neo-Nazi organization. And both are willing to murder to uncover a long-buried secret connected to Gelis demise. A secret important enough to torture and kill to find three elderly Germans.American Tom Cooper and Englishman Simon Berwick, agents of U.S. intelligence and British MI6, are given the mission to find the three before the Russians or the Nazis. Both men have scores to settle. Both lost their families to terrorist bombs. They have killed for their countries in the twilight war of espionage; they will kill again.More than one person has already died in the desperate race across Germany. More will die before the search ends in a blinding snowstorm above Hitlers former residence high on the Obersalzburg in Bavaria. And the only reward for the agent who makes a mistake will be a nameless grave.

325 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 1, 2007

About the author

Robert Barr Smith, Colonel, USA (ret). senior parachutist; holds Bronze Star, Legion of Merit (x2), other decorations. Service in Vietnam and many years in Germany, where his fiction is laid. German speaker. Otherwise specializes in military and western history, plus several books on trial practice (under his attorney hat). Graduate of Stanford and Stanford Law; member, California Bar. Professor Emeritus, University of Oklahoma College of Law, where he also served as Associate Dean for Academics and Associate Director of the Law Center.

Reviews

[Neil · Rating 3 out of 5]

While the apparent suicide of Hitler's niece in 1931 may have gone unquestioned in its time, modern Allied agents must race to uncover the truth behind her death before the KGB and a well-financed neo-Nazi group interfere. As the death toll rises and time runs out, this compelling story comes to a thrilling conclusion as those in search of answers must fight to keep the truth from being hidden forever.The story is well created with an intriguing theme - Hitler's legacy is not dead!The characters were nicely described, the main ones quite likeable, and the story built up to a fine climax, in places it was quite predictable but I don't feel that this really detracted from it. The intelligence game is a nasty one and no quarter can be given - and, in this story, none is given.

[Tisha · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book. I enjoy WW 2 era fiction, and this book went back and forth between the 1960's and the 1930's. It had good characters and I would love to see them come back in a 2nd book!

[Mark · Rating 1 out of 5]

Found the book slow and boring. Returned the book to the library unfinished.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

Absolutely great cold war/WW 2 thriller.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cooper and Berwick have both lost wives and children to terrorism and have both vowed to avenge the deaths with extreme action within their new roles. They end up working together when the tortured body of a former Prussian general is found. The book starts with an electrician finding a box hidden outside the shelter where Hitler died and what he found within scared him so much that he never told of what he had in his possession.