What do you think?
Out of Mecklenburg
With Hitler at the height of his power, Carl von Menen, suave, wealthy and aristocratic, a high flying servant of the German Foreign Office, lives a duplicitous and dangerous life – he abhors the Nazis and wants to kill Hitler! But his vision of seeing a Nazi-free Germany shrinks to despair, when he is unexpectedly assigned to Argentina to keep a watchful eye on the emerging United Officers Group (GOU), a pro-Nazi/Fascist faction of military officers led by the aspiring Juan Domingo Peron.
In Buenos Aires, von Menen is sucked into a cauldron of treachery, deceit and revolution, heightened by his secret ideology, the far-reaching threat of the Gestapo and his clandestine dealings with the seemingly obliging Colonel Filipe Vidal, a man who emerges with a devious and sinister agenda: a plot to side-line Peron and seize power for himself. But Vidal needs arms and his coercive key to getting them is the life of the woman von Menen loves, the dazzling Maria Gomez.
Scheming his way back to Europe, von Menen finds Berlin in ruins, the Gestapo in overdrive, and a merciless Red Army charging towards Germany with only one thing in mind – vengeance! Gambling his own survival against certain execution, he contrives to convince a desperate and weakening Nazi hierarchy that Vidal has a pro-Nazi deal on offer that not even Peron can equal. Hitler finally gives his approval, but the scent of treachery is in the air and the Gestapo is watching. What follows is a bold and daring plan to rob the Reichsbank, a perilous journey by U-boat to the South Atlantic and a maelstrom of heart-stopping events back in Buenos Aires…
In Buenos Aires, von Menen is sucked into a cauldron of treachery, deceit and revolution, heightened by his secret ideology, the far-reaching threat of the Gestapo and his clandestine dealings with the seemingly obliging Colonel Filipe Vidal, a man who emerges with a devious and sinister agenda: a plot to side-line Peron and seize power for himself. But Vidal needs arms and his coercive key to getting them is the life of the woman von Menen loves, the dazzling Maria Gomez.
Scheming his way back to Europe, von Menen finds Berlin in ruins, the Gestapo in overdrive, and a merciless Red Army charging towards Germany with only one thing in mind – vengeance! Gambling his own survival against certain execution, he contrives to convince a desperate and weakening Nazi hierarchy that Vidal has a pro-Nazi deal on offer that not even Peron can equal. Hitler finally gives his approval, but the scent of treachery is in the air and the Gestapo is watching. What follows is a bold and daring plan to rob the Reichsbank, a perilous journey by U-boat to the South Atlantic and a maelstrom of heart-stopping events back in Buenos Aires…
432 pages, Paperback
Published August 28, 2017
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 11, 2018
A brilliant story about espionage in the 2nd World War but from the German’s point of view.
This book is just under 500 pages long but it could have been twice as long and I still would have enjoyed every minute. Maybe the fact that I have just returned from a visit to Munich where there is so much history surrounding the Nazis, and in particular Hitler who started his horrendous dictatorship by speaking in a beer hall in the city, but this really made me realise what Germany must have been like during the war.
Carl von Menen is working in the German Foreign Office and is very proficient at his job. However, he is not a member of the Nazi party and detests everything it stands for. He is from an old German family based in Mecklenburg, which gives the book its title. However, he has Spanish ancestry and is fluent in Spanish. Unfortunately for Carl, this makes him an ideal person to be assigned to Argentina where his remit is to watch a group called the United Officers Group, a pro-Nazi faction of military officers.
His task is further complicated when on his journey over to Buenos Aries, he meets and falls in love with Dr Maria Gomez. Through her, he is brought into contact with her uncle, Filipe Vidal. Vidal’s ultimate ambition is to become the President of Argentina but in order to do this he needs weapons and he enlists Carl to negotiate with the German authorities to provide these. If Carl is not successful Vidal will have no compunction in killing Maria.
This book is fast-paced and switches between Germany towards the end of the war, when everything is beginning to fall apart, to Argentina where everything is exotic. Carl is surrounded by enemies, he does not know who to trust, there are Gestapo agents everywhere in Argentina and back in Germany, there are plans afoot for the top Nazis, knowing the war is lost, to arrange getaways to South America. The ending is slightly unexpected but is going to lead to another book.
What makes this book so different from any other ‘spy’ type of novel is reading it from the German side of things. I think we are all well aware of what the Nazis were capable during the war but we do not normally see events from the ‘ordinary’ German person’s perspective. Carl is a proud German and is doing a difficult job to the best of his ability but he despises the ruling party. He is a man alone, surrounded by enemies, and he cannot even confide in the woman he loves. There must have been many German people who were horrified at what their country had become but was powerless to express their feelings knowing that would lead to a concentration camp or death. Who can say how many of us in the same circumstances would have behaved?
I thoroughly recommend this book to anyone with even a fleeting interest in the 2nd World War, but it also stands alone as a great read and story. I await the sequel with bated breath!
Dexter
Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review
This book is just under 500 pages long but it could have been twice as long and I still would have enjoyed every minute. Maybe the fact that I have just returned from a visit to Munich where there is so much history surrounding the Nazis, and in particular Hitler who started his horrendous dictatorship by speaking in a beer hall in the city, but this really made me realise what Germany must have been like during the war.
Carl von Menen is working in the German Foreign Office and is very proficient at his job. However, he is not a member of the Nazi party and detests everything it stands for. He is from an old German family based in Mecklenburg, which gives the book its title. However, he has Spanish ancestry and is fluent in Spanish. Unfortunately for Carl, this makes him an ideal person to be assigned to Argentina where his remit is to watch a group called the United Officers Group, a pro-Nazi faction of military officers.
His task is further complicated when on his journey over to Buenos Aries, he meets and falls in love with Dr Maria Gomez. Through her, he is brought into contact with her uncle, Filipe Vidal. Vidal’s ultimate ambition is to become the President of Argentina but in order to do this he needs weapons and he enlists Carl to negotiate with the German authorities to provide these. If Carl is not successful Vidal will have no compunction in killing Maria.
This book is fast-paced and switches between Germany towards the end of the war, when everything is beginning to fall apart, to Argentina where everything is exotic. Carl is surrounded by enemies, he does not know who to trust, there are Gestapo agents everywhere in Argentina and back in Germany, there are plans afoot for the top Nazis, knowing the war is lost, to arrange getaways to South America. The ending is slightly unexpected but is going to lead to another book.
What makes this book so different from any other ‘spy’ type of novel is reading it from the German side of things. I think we are all well aware of what the Nazis were capable during the war but we do not normally see events from the ‘ordinary’ German person’s perspective. Carl is a proud German and is doing a difficult job to the best of his ability but he despises the ruling party. He is a man alone, surrounded by enemies, and he cannot even confide in the woman he loves. There must have been many German people who were horrified at what their country had become but was powerless to express their feelings knowing that would lead to a concentration camp or death. Who can say how many of us in the same circumstances would have behaved?
I thoroughly recommend this book to anyone with even a fleeting interest in the 2nd World War, but it also stands alone as a great read and story. I await the sequel with bated breath!
Dexter
Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review
April 15, 2018
During A-level history, I learned lots about World War II from the British side and emerged with a fair grasp on what happened in Germany throught the 1930s to precipitate war.
But although the war in Europe was familiar territory, I had no inkling of what was going on in South America at that time. One of the many things I loved about this book is that, through the adventures of Carl von Menen, you see what is happening in Berlin and Buenos Aires. Every detail in the historical background rang true.
Add in the well-written characters and clever plot, and you end up with a cracking good read.
But although the war in Europe was familiar territory, I had no inkling of what was going on in South America at that time. One of the many things I loved about this book is that, through the adventures of Carl von Menen, you see what is happening in Berlin and Buenos Aires. Every detail in the historical background rang true.
Add in the well-written characters and clever plot, and you end up with a cracking good read.
October 25, 2017
This book has received a Discovering Diamonds Review:
Helen Hollick
founder #DDRevs
'I could not fault the story or the characters in any way. Highly recommended.'
Helen Hollick
founder #DDRevs
'I could not fault the story or the characters in any way. Highly recommended.'
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews