The Final Act

by John Watson

In April 1945, as allied bombs reduced Hamburg to rubble, Otto Heine is press-ganged into the German navy & finds himself aboard the battleship Hindenberg, under orders to sail to America in one of the Reich's last attempts to reclaim the upper hand in the war. Captain Erich Bach & most of his crew believe their mission is to shell Washington but another officer & Otto know that many of the shells on board are dummies full of gold. When Hitler commits suicide there is mutiny & Otto thinks he can beach the ship in Greenland & escape with the treasure. But the elements, lack of seamanship & shortage of fuel means only he gets away with his life, leaving the ship & its secrets in the ice. Now, 55 years later, an entrepreneur is determined to free the great battleship & turn it into a floating theme park. This news spurs Otto into action, believing he can at last lay hands on the gold, & it brings out the German government's lawyers who believe the ship is rightly theirs. Unknown to anyone else it also propels another player into the Erich Bach's grandson, who is determined to fulfil his grandfather's last orders - to shell Washington.

432 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

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Reviews

[Marc Brune]

Pretty decent story and plot, although from a history standpoint it is slightly out there. I would recommend this book to anyone that is looking for a history what if.