Code Name Grand Guignol

by Ib Melchior

British Intelligence had learned on the eve of D-Day that the Nazis were racing to complete some sort of secret weapon that threatened the destruction of the whole invasion operation...

285 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1987

About the author

Ib Jørgen Melchior was a novelist, short story writer, film producer, film director, and screenwriter of low-budget American science fiction movies, most of them released by American International Pictures.In world War II, he served with the OSS ,for awhile, then was transferred to the U.S. Military Intelligence Service, spending two years in the European theater of War as a military intelligence investigator attached to Counter Intelligence.

In 1965, he was dubbed Knight Commander of the Militant Order of Saint Brigitte of Sweden.In 1976, the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films awarded Ib Melchior its Golden Scroll Award to Merit for Outstanding Achievement.

Melchior's novels include Code Name: Grand Guignol, Eva, The Haigerloch Project, The Marcus Device, Order of Battle: Hitler's Werewolves, Sleeper Agent, The Tombstone Cipher and The Watchdogs of Abaddon.

Reviews

[Bill Wallace · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm a Grand Guignol enthusiast, having read everything I can find on the theater, visited the site, collected posters, even bought a pitcher that once belonged to the theater's last director. I also like corny old SF and horror films, so Ib Melchior is a name known to me, if not for the quality of his work, then for the quirkiness of some of it. The book's plot is simple - a group of actors from the Grand Guignol theater in Paris set out on an espionage mission in WW2 Germany, using their unique skills to help them along the way. It's a terrific premise and Melchior makes good use of actual theatrical history to set his stage. (He fudges a few things too but that's forgivable for the sake of the drama.)

Unfortunately, the writing is overly pulpy, workmanlike, padded, and often plods, and the story, once you get past the premise, isn't very engaging.

[Darcee · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was interesting historical fiction set during WWII in the months before Dday. A trio of actors from the Grand Guignol horror theatre in Paris aid an allied spy in investigating a secret Nazi weapon (enormous pressure pump guns in underground concrete bunkers - these really did exist) in order to warn the Allies and neutralize the weapon.