Informium

by Barry Stiller, Dana Stiller

In the middle of the Egyptian desert, an excavation crew headed by Peter Conrad hits upon a huge burial ground. The archaeologists quickly notice that things don’t fit together. The mummies they find cannot be dated and show signs of severe congenital diseases. And the religious inscriptions littering the site are equally mysterious. As Egyptologist Lisa Franks discovers clues that the Nazis carried out top-secret excavations here back in the day, a member of the team is found stabbed to death.

At the same time, East Berlin is shocked by a series of murders, that brings Volkspolizei-Hauptmann Josef Keller face to face with a conspiracy that goes back to the days of the Third Reich, and seems to be connected to the events in Egypt.

After a raid on the excavation house, Peter and Lisa manage to flee from Egypt. But that is only the beginning of a deadly hunt for a secret society in the divided city of Berlin.


This special edition of 'Informium' comes with exciting bonus material:
- detailed maps of the story's main locations in Egypt and Berlin
- a glossary of German historical terms used throughout the book
- an exclusive preview of the upcoming Cold War thriller Green Mamba

486 pages, ebook

First published September 5, 2015

About the author

Barry Stiller holds a degree in Electrical Engeneering and, after working in RTL Television's production department for several years, he became editor for a number of popular IT magazines in Munich. Later, he changed his line of work and wrote as managing editor for a major music journal.

In the early 2000s he took up studies of Prehistoric and Protohistoric Archeology in Cologne. Since 2003 Barry Stiller has been devoting his time to writing and painting.

Reviews

[Jennifer S. Alderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informium is a complex thriller set in Egypt and East Germany. When strange skeletons are found at an excavation site in Egypt, two researchers get embroiled in an international conspiracy that dates back to the Nazi era.
I really enjoyed the descriptions of the archeological digs, research into the past, and the details provided about East Germany before the fall of the wall.
The plot is quite complex and there are lots of red herrings to throw the reader off track. Because there are many unexpected plot twists, there were a few moments when I wasn’t exactly sure what was going on. However, by the end everything became crystal clear.
Readers interested in World War Two thrillers and Nazi conspiracies will enjoy this novel.

[Sabine · Rating 5 out of 5]

After I have read „Die Ersten“ (in German), a story that ends with Peter’s and Lisa’s return from East to West Berlin, I had to read „Informium“ sooner or later. By now „Informium“ is my third thriller written by Barry and Dana Stiller. Therefore, I wasn’t too concerned by the different plot lines. I knew, it would all make sense in the end.
In fact, the story jumps between Egypt and Berlin, from East to West, from 1939 to 1988. Reading it is a thrill and unsual provided that – to me - 1988 still feels contemporary and again already historic. However, the authors don’t bank on funny effects with loud gimmicks, but rather make use of the uniqueness of the divided Berlin as a center of their plot. The fact, that the events of 1939 taking place in the egyption desert are even more related to a series of murder 1988 in East Berlin, comes as a real shock. Especially knowing that the authors themselves have studied archeology. They know what they are writing about, which is fun reading and gives the whole story an even more authentic feeling.
Certainly, „Informium“ is nothing but a novel. Yet the basic idea contains a germ of truth. I don’t want to say more. But I can promise this much: the book is packed with suspense up to the very last horrid end.

[Ursula Janssen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Endlich mal ein Archäologiethriller, der eindeutig von Kennern der Materie geschrieben wurde. Hinzu kommt noch die Spannung zwischen Ost- und Westberlin kurz vor der Wende, außerdem die Beschäftigung mit der unrühmlichsten Zeit der deutschen Geschichte. Mehr soll hier nicht verraten werden, nur soviel: Ein empfehlenswertes Buch! Kleiner Tipp: Es gibt noch weitere Bücher aus der Reihe.