The Human Pool

by Chris Petit

THE HUMAN POOL

400 pages, Paperback

First published October 22, 2002

About the author

English novelist and filmmaker.

Reviews

[Mike White · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Mention of the newspaper article threw Eichmann into a tantrum. ‘The article was written by a Jew! It was all lies and inaccuracies. A hundred thousand Jews exterminated? Where do they get their figures? Do they have so little faith in our efficiency? We are talking millions! And I resent the little worm calling me a blackmailer because of my demands, and not even having the professional competence to name me. I am not ashamed. I am an official of the Third Reich undertaking state policies. I am underwritten by the law, and they make me sound like a cheap gangster.’”
Convoluted spy thriller, mostly taking place in Switzerland, Hungary, and Turkey. The time is 1943-5 and the second half of the20th century. Historical characters are irreverently included: “I have identified ‘our man O’s driving force. Greed. The reference to Dulles as ‘our man O’ was apparently a joking one to the letter O being the only thing standing between the SS and Dulles’s OSS.”
The major theme is genocide, both wartime and current. Willi Schmidt is reported dead in1945, which makes it difficult to withdraw his ill-gotten gains from a Swiss bank. Spies old and young search for clues.
Intriguing plot twists and piecemeal revelations of what’s been going on. Interesting.

[Jonathan Gurney · Rating 1 out of 5]

One of very few books where I could not even be bothered to read it through to the end. A mixture of vague ramblings with occasional outbursts of gruesome and poorly-unexplained violence.

It seemed to be about an elderly former agent from the American OSS (forerunners to the CIA) and an equally elderly former Nazi SS officer getting together to investigate the possibility that another former Nazi believed to have died in 1945 might still be alive in 1997 (in which case he would be aged in his 80's). This leads them into contact with a gang of modern neo-Nazis involved in smuggling illegal immigrants from Syria and Iraq into Germany, and to endless reminisces about espionage in the early 1940's.

Having given up on the turgid content part-way through I went to the final pages to see what emerged, and found not much did.

[Patrícia Braz · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.7⭐

[Belinda · Rating 2 out of 5]

I honestly just didn't care about any of it. I was reading words. Not a story.

[Stu Noss · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Human Pool is a geo-political-historical thriller spanning decades and following the story of 4 central characters. Lets be honest, its your classic summer holiday adventure read. In my opinion though it should be regarded as a superbly written classic of the sub-genre. At no point does the storyline ebb or lose momentum, right the way through to the end you want to know what the outcome is. The plot is well controlled and moves at pace. It also deals with some really powerful issues and certainly takes a nod towards the issues of big business and the developing world today. Admittedly, the ending isn't the best but it's a minor annoyance in what is a well plotted and delivered story that grips you throughout. Well worth a read if you enjoy pulp-style adventure with nazi's and the theme of history continually repeating itself. Definately a 4* read in my opinion.

[Francis Valletta · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book that stays with you for a long time after having finished it. It gives you a different view of how and why war is waged and an insight into humanity's dark side. Don't miss it.

[Babete · Rating 4 out of 5]

[ Feira do Livro 2019 ]