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The Seventh Secret
alone suspected that no one know the truth about what really happened in Hitler`s bunker on that fateful April day over forty years before. But soon four other people joined forces to find out if Hitler and Eva Braun really were still alive. They cold not imagine that these figures from the evil past still could be shadowing the world. They were even less prepared for the shattering revelation that awaited them as they moved step by terrifying step toward-The Seventh Secret.
317 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 22, 1985
145 people are currently reading
1361 people want to read
About the author
Irving Wallace
180 books291 followersIrving Wallace was an American bestselling author and screenwriter. His extensively researched books included such page-turners as The Chapman Report (1960), about human sexuality; The Prize (1962), a fictional behind-the-scenes account of the Nobel Prizes; The Man, about a black man becoming president of the U.S. in the 1960s; and The Word (1972), about the discovery of a new gospel.
Wallace was born in Chicago, Illinois. Wallace grew up in Kenosha, Wisconsin. He was the father of Olympic historian David Wallechinsky and author Amy Wallace.
Wallace began selling stories to magazines when he was a teenager. In World War II Wallace served in the Frank Capra unit in Fort Fox along with Theodor Seuss Geisel - more popularly known as Dr Seuss - and continued to write for magazines. He also served in the First Motion Picture Unit of the Army Air Force. In the years immediately following World war II Wallace became a Hollywood screenwriter. He collaborated on such films as The West Point Story (1950), Split Second (1953),and Meet Me at the Fair (1953).
After several years in Hollywood, he devoted himself full-time to writing books. Wallace published 33 books during his lifetime.
Wallace was born in Chicago, Illinois. Wallace grew up in Kenosha, Wisconsin. He was the father of Olympic historian David Wallechinsky and author Amy Wallace.
Wallace began selling stories to magazines when he was a teenager. In World War II Wallace served in the Frank Capra unit in Fort Fox along with Theodor Seuss Geisel - more popularly known as Dr Seuss - and continued to write for magazines. He also served in the First Motion Picture Unit of the Army Air Force. In the years immediately following World war II Wallace became a Hollywood screenwriter. He collaborated on such films as The West Point Story (1950), Split Second (1953),and Meet Me at the Fair (1953).
After several years in Hollywood, he devoted himself full-time to writing books. Wallace published 33 books during his lifetime.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 157 reviews
February 8, 2019
3.5/5 Hitler Zindaaaa hain ! A historian and his daughter collaborate to find out whether Hitler really committed suicide on 30th April 1945. This leads to a well-written roller-coaster ride in which a no. of other interesting characters too play a part. But for the Bollywood-style filmy ending it would have been a 4* for sure.
This was my second book by the author after the superb "The Man" (5/5). And it confirms that Wallace is a master at writing an unputdownable novel, like Sidney Sheldon.
Irving Wallace is jokingly called "Irv the Perv(ert)". In this book, I understood why :) I am just thankful that he restrained himself in "The Man" and wrote it with sensitivity.
Will be reading more by him.
This was my second book by the author after the superb "The Man" (5/5). And it confirms that Wallace is a master at writing an unputdownable novel, like Sidney Sheldon.
Irving Wallace is jokingly called "Irv the Perv(ert)". In this book, I understood why :) I am just thankful that he restrained himself in "The Man" and wrote it with sensitivity.
Will be reading more by him.
March 10, 2020
Tam kış aylarında okumayı sevdiğim bir diğer fantastik kitaba başlıyordum ki, izlediğim ikinci dünya savaşında geçen bir film nedeniyle gözüm Yedinci Sır'a takıldı. Yine iyi bir okuyucu olan annemin kitaplığından aşırdığım, mis gibi eski kitap kokan Yedinci Sır.
Leon Uris ile Irwing Wallace ailemin hep bahsettiği heyecan verici yazarlardandır. Yedinci Sır da beni şaşırtmadı. Açıkçası bu kitap 35 yaşında bir ortayaşlı olsa da heyecanı bana artık hiç keyif vermeyen, bir zamanların gözdesi Glenn Meade'nin Kar Kurdu, Sakkaranın Kumları, 8. Gün kitaplarını hatırlattı. 400 küsür sayfayı sadece 2 günde bitirdim ve sonuçtan memnun kaldım.
Bu kitabı tavsiye eder miyim, ederim.
Bulabilir misiniz? Ondan pek emin değilim.
Herkese keyifli okumalar!
Leon Uris ile Irwing Wallace ailemin hep bahsettiği heyecan verici yazarlardandır. Yedinci Sır da beni şaşırtmadı. Açıkçası bu kitap 35 yaşında bir ortayaşlı olsa da heyecanı bana artık hiç keyif vermeyen, bir zamanların gözdesi Glenn Meade'nin Kar Kurdu, Sakkaranın Kumları, 8. Gün kitaplarını hatırlattı. 400 küsür sayfayı sadece 2 günde bitirdim ve sonuçtan memnun kaldım.
Bu kitabı tavsiye eder miyim, ederim.
Bulabilir misiniz? Ondan pek emin değilim.
Herkese keyifli okumalar!
February 5, 2012
Sigh. Some books just make you frustrated. The Seventh Secret has a awesome concept; a group of people investigate the final hours of Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun's life and begin to question if they really did commit suicide as Berlin fell. Throughout the novel, author Irving Wallace continued to build the story up for an awesome ending! But, when the ending came, I was beyond disappointed. It was as if Wallace was writing the ending the night before the book was published and he just through something down. Overall it was a decent book but the ending was very disappointing.
August 24, 2007
Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun committed suicide in the "Führerbunker" on April 30th, 1945. Their corpses were dragged into a crater outside the bunker and burned. Everybody knows that.
But what if an Oxford-professor gets killed on the streets of Berlin after announcing his plan to write a conclusive Hitler-biography? And what if a painting appears, obviously an original Hitler, that can only have been painted after 1950?
The author follows the investigation into the professor's death, in which four people join: the professor's daughter (a historian), a Sowject art conservationist, an American architect and a Mossad agent. While searching for the murderer and the true identity of the painting, they also come closer and closer to the answer of the real question: Did Hitler really die in 1945?
Set in the 1980's divided Berlin - it is an immensely gripping tale that left me breathless throughout its entire length. A compelling read on a monstrous question.
But what if an Oxford-professor gets killed on the streets of Berlin after announcing his plan to write a conclusive Hitler-biography? And what if a painting appears, obviously an original Hitler, that can only have been painted after 1950?
The author follows the investigation into the professor's death, in which four people join: the professor's daughter (a historian), a Sowject art conservationist, an American architect and a Mossad agent. While searching for the murderer and the true identity of the painting, they also come closer and closer to the answer of the real question: Did Hitler really die in 1945?
Set in the 1980's divided Berlin - it is an immensely gripping tale that left me breathless throughout its entire length. A compelling read on a monstrous question.
October 20, 2019
It was known to public that fascist Hitler created a havoc for the world and Germany by his enimity for one community. He with his lover Eva brown died in bunker around 1945 but this fascinating story or secret of the world takes you breathlessly to a secret from a painting made by Hitler around 1950 and it’s fascinating story.I read a similar story at Shri Aurobindo s place at Mumbai besides churchgate station title Hidden forces of life wherein it states Hitler used to pray to some evil force in cosmos which directed him to commit such disaster against one community and later told him to suicide .This story by the author is greatly put and very captivating thanks to the author.
March 15, 2015
What it could happen if Hitler and Eva Braun - "The Merry Window" did not die in the bunker in 1945 but rather survived to perpetuate the Third Reich into modern times?
4* The Second Lady
3.5* The Seventh Secret
4* The Second Lady
3.5* The Seventh Secret
August 25, 2014
Normally I enjoy reading Irving Wallace. Not this time. The premise here is that several totally unrelated people, in totally different countries all decide to "look into" Hitler at the same time, yet for totally different reasons. The coincidences collide at every turn - very conveniently for the progression of the story. A little badly described gratuitous sex gets thrown in for those who like that sort of thing and it all concludes very explosively yet unsatisfactorily.
This book was very poorly edited. Grammatical errors and typos bring the reader right out of the story time and time again. The characters are shallow and totally unbelievable. It just felt like Wallace was told to hop on the Nazi bandwagon (Boys from Brazil, Marathon Man, Eye of the Needle, The Eagle has landed...etc.) and to do it quickly. He mailed it in...that's just the way I feel.
This book was very poorly edited. Grammatical errors and typos bring the reader right out of the story time and time again. The characters are shallow and totally unbelievable. It just felt like Wallace was told to hop on the Nazi bandwagon (Boys from Brazil, Marathon Man, Eye of the Needle, The Eagle has landed...etc.) and to do it quickly. He mailed it in...that's just the way I feel.
April 17, 2008
Wish I had a way to mark this book "one of the worst I've ever read" because that's what it was. The plot could have been interesting, but the whole thing was so contrived. And coincidences abounded... to the tune of a character thinking something along the lines of "If only I knew someone knowledgeable about Soviet art!" and two seconds later the curator of the Leningrad art museum knocks on the door. Bad, bad, bad.
February 2, 2021
Ucronía bastante desconocida. Sin embargo es uno de mis libros preferidos de siempre, espero que aunque hace bastante que lo leí por última vez no haya envejecido demasiado mal.
March 23, 2013
Good read but there is room for a sequel
December 6, 2017
What an amazing book...this novel just went to the top of my list. Based on one of the famous conspiracy theories of all times...whether Hitler did die or did he fake his death and escaped. For quite some time I was under the impression that Hitler shot himself and his wife Eva Braun had consumed the cynide pill. But after reading this book and doing some research..I read that the DNA tests conducted on the charred bodies of Hitler and Eva were never really conclusive.
It made me wonder and I often asked myself this question...did Hitler really manage to slip away ???
This book is so interesting from the very first page...its hard to put it down. The people involved in Hitler's life and his other interests, such as, his passion for painting...all this was mentioned very accurately.
Also the 4 people coming from different parts of the world to West Berlin all coming with a different motive but having one common connection that is Adolf Hitler has been depicted so well. Whether its a British professor's daughter who wants to finish her father's work, the American architect trying to finish his book on Nazi architecture, a Russian who deals exclusively in portraits painted by Hitler or a Mossad agent...the way these 4 people join forces to crack down the biggest mystery of all times has been depicted really well.
Should be definitely included in the reading list.
Also I wonder how come there hasn't been a movie made on it yet ..?
It made me wonder and I often asked myself this question...did Hitler really manage to slip away ???
This book is so interesting from the very first page...its hard to put it down. The people involved in Hitler's life and his other interests, such as, his passion for painting...all this was mentioned very accurately.
Also the 4 people coming from different parts of the world to West Berlin all coming with a different motive but having one common connection that is Adolf Hitler has been depicted so well. Whether its a British professor's daughter who wants to finish her father's work, the American architect trying to finish his book on Nazi architecture, a Russian who deals exclusively in portraits painted by Hitler or a Mossad agent...the way these 4 people join forces to crack down the biggest mystery of all times has been depicted really well.
Should be definitely included in the reading list.
Also I wonder how come there hasn't been a movie made on it yet ..?
January 15, 2016
I got this book from one of my friend who had read it long back and had great memories. This was also my first Irving Wallace and I must say what a start to the new year :-) Irving Wallace is a crackling good storyteller; he hooks you on the first page and holds you until the last--not an inconsiderable achievement at all. I had to literally force myself every night to stop and put it for the next day otherwise I would have ended up reading all night!
The story written around a historic event/date gives goosebumps as the event unfolds and forces you to think what if it really happened! An amazing book dealing with the shocking probability that Adolf Hitler and his beloved Eva Braun never died on 30th November 1945 which we have been told for all these years!
The story written around a historic event/date gives goosebumps as the event unfolds and forces you to think what if it really happened! An amazing book dealing with the shocking probability that Adolf Hitler and his beloved Eva Braun never died on 30th November 1945 which we have been told for all these years!
June 9, 2020
Estaba aburrida en casa de mi abuelo y encontré este libro en la biblioteca, me encanta el tema de la segunda guerra mundial, y cuando leí la sinopsis del libro quedé fascinada, lamentablemente, el libro casi no me gustó.
No se me hizo muy creíble eso de que un montón de expertos en Hitler se encontraran en el mismo lugar por pura casualidad.
Los personajes se me hicieron muy planos y en general estúpidos, en especial odié al tal Rex Foster, y el romance fue muy forzado.
El final no me gustó, fue como si el autor no supiera como terminar el libro pero ya no hubiera tenido tiempo y escribió lo primero que se le vino a la cabeza.
En fin... realmente me decepcionó porque la premisa era muy interesante y estaba emocionada.
No se me hizo muy creíble eso de que un montón de expertos en Hitler se encontraran en el mismo lugar por pura casualidad.
Los personajes se me hicieron muy planos y en general estúpidos, en especial odié al tal Rex Foster, y el romance fue muy forzado.
El final no me gustó, fue como si el autor no supiera como terminar el libro pero ya no hubiera tenido tiempo y escribió lo primero que se le vino a la cabeza.
En fin... realmente me decepcionó porque la premisa era muy interesante y estaba emocionada.
March 16, 2018
The first book I read by Irving Wallace, back in the early 80's or so, was The Man. I remember being impressed by Wallace's ideas and his narrative. Reading this for the first time, in 2018, I'm disappointed by the huge plot holes and character decisions that make no sense. It makes me wonder if the average reader in the 80's had less breadth of knowledge about things such as building construction or spycraft than the average reader today. The declaration of love within a few days of meeting is just silly, but I recall that being a necessary convention for characters in mainstream literature to have sex (which is depicted pretty clinically.)
January 25, 2022
This work written in the 1980s is a narrative historical novel limited to unaltered real events as the anchor of its plot, combining real characters with fictional characters. It is interesting to analyze the form of Wallace's writing where he seeks to enlarge, like many other writers of the time, the Anglo-American prose after the Second World War to form a group of adventurers in the best style of Indiana Jones and thus discover a secret conspiracy.
An entertaining book, however with a lot of clichéd explanation of the story, but better written and developed than many historical novels being written today.
An entertaining book, however with a lot of clichéd explanation of the story, but better written and developed than many historical novels being written today.
May 3, 2020
It is a very long time since I read an Irving Wallace novel and it may well be a very long time before I read another one. This is a rather preposterous, but still page- turning thriller about the truth of Hitler’s death. The plot is clever and there is evidence of solid research, but overall it is rather silly.
August 12, 2009
I loved this book. I read it within 48 hours and was taken by it. The reason why I gave it 4 out of 5 stars is, I was not very happy with the ending. I think there could have been a better solution.Otherwise its a good read.
September 3, 2012
A diabolical plot..chilling to the core.
May 25, 2014
Interesting conspiracy story. What if the two most hated people in the world had survived? As far fetched as it seems by the end you will find yourself asking the same (and a few others) question.
May 14, 2021
Nice book
Even after knowing that this is fictional book we start believing on all characters.
Great work!
Even after knowing that this is fictional book we start believing on all characters.
Great work!
June 28, 2024
3.2 stars
I want to preface this by saying that the ideas are really smart. All of the plot points work together well and the framework is actually better than a lot of other books'. My my biggest problem with this book was the execution of said plot points. Because the book mainly consists of a lot of people going places and doing things, and then telling other people about the places that they went and the things that they did, and then verifying that the things that they did were correct by going to another place. If the execution was done better, I saw so much potential for numerous shocking plot twists and epic reveals, but instead everything is just kind of handed to the protagonists, there's no tension and the story-shifting epiphanies aren't treated as such. I just wish that the characters had to work harder and toil for longer so that the revelations would seem earned.
SPOILER Probably the best moment of the book was when we found out that Evelyn was Eva Braun. END SPOILER
Also I just really wanna talk about Emily and Rex Foster because WHATTT WAS THAT. THE WORST WRITTEN SCENE EVER?? WHY DID HE DESCRIBE IT LIKE A TEXTBOOK?? WHY WAS IT JUST FLAT OUT INACCURATE?? WHY WAS IT SO OUT OF NOWHERE??? Alas, I don’t think I will ever rest in peace again. I just want one other person to read it and tell me I'm not crazy. Also Rex Foster was just a walking red flag, like the way that he talked about his previous marriage immediately turned me off. Bruh no shot you're making your previously rich wife live in poverty with you so that you can pursue your American Dream like be so fr. I will say though, the one (singular) conversation that Emily and Rex had before they said their ilys was actually pretty nice especiallyyyy considering the era.
The ending was fine, but again, felt too easy
I want to preface this by saying that the ideas are really smart. All of the plot points work together well and the framework is actually better than a lot of other books'. My my biggest problem with this book was the execution of said plot points. Because the book mainly consists of a lot of people going places and doing things, and then telling other people about the places that they went and the things that they did, and then verifying that the things that they did were correct by going to another place. If the execution was done better, I saw so much potential for numerous shocking plot twists and epic reveals, but instead everything is just kind of handed to the protagonists, there's no tension and the story-shifting epiphanies aren't treated as such. I just wish that the characters had to work harder and toil for longer so that the revelations would seem earned.
SPOILER Probably the best moment of the book was when we found out that Evelyn was Eva Braun. END SPOILER
Also I just really wanna talk about Emily and Rex Foster because WHATTT WAS THAT. THE WORST WRITTEN SCENE EVER?? WHY DID HE DESCRIBE IT LIKE A TEXTBOOK?? WHY WAS IT JUST FLAT OUT INACCURATE?? WHY WAS IT SO OUT OF NOWHERE??? Alas, I don’t think I will ever rest in peace again. I just want one other person to read it and tell me I'm not crazy. Also Rex Foster was just a walking red flag, like the way that he talked about his previous marriage immediately turned me off. Bruh no shot you're making your previously rich wife live in poverty with you so that you can pursue your American Dream like be so fr. I will say though, the one (singular) conversation that Emily and Rex had before they said their ilys was actually pretty nice especiallyyyy considering the era.
The ending was fine, but again, felt too easy
January 23, 2022
3.5/5⭐
Péssimo início, desenvolvimento com altos e baixos e claro uma conclusão ótima! Não podia ser tudo péssimo. Não sei se posso considerar um livro do hol77 uma vez que fala no pós segunda Guerra mundial e nada fala sobre o holocausto.
Pode ser difícil de ler o início, mas o fim vale a pena! 😌😉
Péssimo início, desenvolvimento com altos e baixos e claro uma conclusão ótima! Não podia ser tudo péssimo. Não sei se posso considerar um livro do hol77 uma vez que fala no pós segunda Guerra mundial e nada fala sobre o holocausto.
Pode ser difícil de ler o início, mas o fim vale a pena! 😌😉
February 20, 2023
Al principio se me hizo muy pesado,y me costó bastante entrar en la historia. Pero una vez que entré no pude parar
February 10, 2024
não é a melhor leitura da história, mas tem uma história bem interessante, além de que é possível conhecer bastante coisa desse momento, mesmo que algumas sejam fictícias.
September 1, 2025
A bit of a slow build - the last 10 or so pages were absolutely riveting, but the build up not so much! Still very interesting, and a good read. Just didn’t get as absorbed as I would have liked.
August 25, 2021
Esperaba mucho más, una historia más cuidada. Hay cosas que suceden porque sí, otras que deberían suceder pero no ocurren para que haya historia, amor en dos días, clichés metidos a presión, momentos de mucha suerte (muchísimos), brotes de inteligencia metidos también a presión para asegurar el avance, y lo peor de todo, errores argumentales garrafales (de una página a la otra) con tannnntas reediciones que acusa tener... Otro best seller para el montón que no sé por qué llegó a ser best seller. Supongo que tiene una buena sinopsis y un buen tema, porque por eso lo leí yo también, pero luego defrauda. Mucho. Lo terminé a duras penas esperando, quizás, estar equivocada.
January 3, 2013
Ein netter kleiner Verschwörungsthriller, den der Autor aus Anlass des 40. Todestags von Adolf Hitler begonnen hat. Die deutsche Ausgabe kam 1989 auf den Markt und war binnen kürzester Zeit Makulatur, denn mit dem Fall der Mauer verlor auch der in der Todeszone dahinter gelegene gesprengte Führerbunker seinen Status als Trümmerhaufen im Sperrgebiet.
Rein sprachlich fühlt man ich wie in einem Agententhriller der Sechziger, das Personal passt auch besser in diese Zeit, obwohl die Handlung Mitte der Achtziger angesiedelt ist.
Unabhängig voneinander tauchen mehrere Hinweise auf, dass Hitler und Eva Braun sich nicht Ende April 45 im Führerbunker ums Leben gekommen sind. Der Hitler-Biograph Harrrison Ashcroft geht mit seinen Erkenntnissen an die Öffentlichkeit und bezahlt dafür mit dem Leben. Seine Tochter und Co-Autorin beschließt das fast fertige Buch zu vollenden und will ihrerseits die weiterhin bestehende Grabungsgenehmigung auf DDR-Territorium zur Beweisfindung nutzen und gerät ihrerseits auf die Abschussliste. Der Architekt und Vietnamvetern Rex Foster, der die erste vollständige Darstellung sämtlicher Bauvorhaben des Dritten Reiches veröffentlichen will, rettet der Wissenschaftlerin das Leben als der Killer unter ihrer Dusche sein Werk vollbringen will.
Aber das geschieht erst in der Mitte des Buches, es folgt eine fünfseitige Liebesszene, die an Eindeutigkeit kaum zu wünschen übrig lässt, die sehr technische Beschreibung sorgt aber für ausreichend Distanz. Nicht ganz so nachvollziehbar ist eine ähnlich ausführlich dargestellte Aufwachnummer des Liebespaares, das 70 Seiten später noch einmal einen ähnlich ausführlichen Spielraum für diese ständige horizontale Wiederkehr des Immergleichen bekommt.
Kein Grund zur Klage, ich finde Bücher viel schlimmer, in denen der Held über 300 Seiten oder auch mehr wie wild um sich ballert, aber bei keiner Frau zum Schuss kommt.
Ärgerlicher ist, dass Wallace schon auf Seite 78 Eva Braun alias Evelyn Hoffmann einführt und den Polizeipräsidenten von Berlin als ihren engsten Verbündeten. Insofern wird schon früh viel Spannungspotenzial verschenkt und dem Leser bleibt nichts anderes zu tun, als weiterzulesen bis auch bei den Helden der Groschen fällt. Der sowjetische Kunstexperte Kirwow, die blonde Mossad-Agentin Tovah und ein der Springer-Journalist Peter Nitz sind die weiteren Mitglieder des internationalen Hitler-Jäger-Quintetts, das ein Viertes Reich verhindern muss.
Die erste Hälfte ist so weit gelungen, die sprachliche Patina gibt der Geschichte einen gewissen Charme, der zweite Teil ist eher ein Ausverkauf und liegt auf Will-Berthold-Niveau.
Eigentlich schade, man merkt schon, dass Wallace 20 Jahre früher eine respektable Größe war. Der Fall der Mauer im Jahr der deutschen Veröffentlichung ist zwar ein wenig Künstlerpech, aber Bestand hätte dieses Buch wohl kaum gehabt.
Rein sprachlich fühlt man ich wie in einem Agententhriller der Sechziger, das Personal passt auch besser in diese Zeit, obwohl die Handlung Mitte der Achtziger angesiedelt ist.
Unabhängig voneinander tauchen mehrere Hinweise auf, dass Hitler und Eva Braun sich nicht Ende April 45 im Führerbunker ums Leben gekommen sind. Der Hitler-Biograph Harrrison Ashcroft geht mit seinen Erkenntnissen an die Öffentlichkeit und bezahlt dafür mit dem Leben. Seine Tochter und Co-Autorin beschließt das fast fertige Buch zu vollenden und will ihrerseits die weiterhin bestehende Grabungsgenehmigung auf DDR-Territorium zur Beweisfindung nutzen und gerät ihrerseits auf die Abschussliste. Der Architekt und Vietnamvetern Rex Foster, der die erste vollständige Darstellung sämtlicher Bauvorhaben des Dritten Reiches veröffentlichen will, rettet der Wissenschaftlerin das Leben als der Killer unter ihrer Dusche sein Werk vollbringen will.
Aber das geschieht erst in der Mitte des Buches, es folgt eine fünfseitige Liebesszene, die an Eindeutigkeit kaum zu wünschen übrig lässt, die sehr technische Beschreibung sorgt aber für ausreichend Distanz. Nicht ganz so nachvollziehbar ist eine ähnlich ausführlich dargestellte Aufwachnummer des Liebespaares, das 70 Seiten später noch einmal einen ähnlich ausführlichen Spielraum für diese ständige horizontale Wiederkehr des Immergleichen bekommt.
Kein Grund zur Klage, ich finde Bücher viel schlimmer, in denen der Held über 300 Seiten oder auch mehr wie wild um sich ballert, aber bei keiner Frau zum Schuss kommt.
Ärgerlicher ist, dass Wallace schon auf Seite 78 Eva Braun alias Evelyn Hoffmann einführt und den Polizeipräsidenten von Berlin als ihren engsten Verbündeten. Insofern wird schon früh viel Spannungspotenzial verschenkt und dem Leser bleibt nichts anderes zu tun, als weiterzulesen bis auch bei den Helden der Groschen fällt. Der sowjetische Kunstexperte Kirwow, die blonde Mossad-Agentin Tovah und ein der Springer-Journalist Peter Nitz sind die weiteren Mitglieder des internationalen Hitler-Jäger-Quintetts, das ein Viertes Reich verhindern muss.
Die erste Hälfte ist so weit gelungen, die sprachliche Patina gibt der Geschichte einen gewissen Charme, der zweite Teil ist eher ein Ausverkauf und liegt auf Will-Berthold-Niveau.
Eigentlich schade, man merkt schon, dass Wallace 20 Jahre früher eine respektable Größe war. Der Fall der Mauer im Jahr der deutschen Veröffentlichung ist zwar ein wenig Künstlerpech, aber Bestand hätte dieses Buch wohl kaum gehabt.
May 5, 2020
I actually enjoyed this.
In have to say I was dubious. The reviews and the low quality of the cover art made me think it might be a self published low grade piece. However I was pleasantly surprised. A certain amount of suspension of belief is required and one must remember that this is very light entertainment but the central premise is actually interesting. I initially reacted with disbelief but that was my issue not the premise. Once I thought about it I realised that in many ways it was more credible than that this bunch of fanatics watched the end getting closer every day for several years without making any attempt to plan for the unavoidable end that was hurtling through history towards them. The solution hypothesized is audacious and actually really quite clever and to me credible. But here we come to my relevant issues. The ending seemed very rushed like once the author had concluded the conspiracy there was no more inspiration and he quickly finished. There was so much room for more. Even a sequel could have come and I certainly would have read it. As I have stated upon reflection the basic premise is remarkably viable but the background to what they planned after was weak in the extreme. I found myself questioning not the elaborate escape but the loose and undeveloped plans they had been following since the end of WWII. In short this was good fun but could have been truly brilliant and that is a shame. If I was the author I would do a rewrite and perhaps follow Eva and Klara to South America. Maybe they do not even leave Europe. Perhaps the network the Nazis in Germany and other parts of a Europe dominated by Americans or even including rabid anti communist Americans could be fleshed out. This no electronic had scope for so much more. I doubt very much Irving Wallace will ever read this but if he does...... realise this stories potential.
In have to say I was dubious. The reviews and the low quality of the cover art made me think it might be a self published low grade piece. However I was pleasantly surprised. A certain amount of suspension of belief is required and one must remember that this is very light entertainment but the central premise is actually interesting. I initially reacted with disbelief but that was my issue not the premise. Once I thought about it I realised that in many ways it was more credible than that this bunch of fanatics watched the end getting closer every day for several years without making any attempt to plan for the unavoidable end that was hurtling through history towards them. The solution hypothesized is audacious and actually really quite clever and to me credible. But here we come to my relevant issues. The ending seemed very rushed like once the author had concluded the conspiracy there was no more inspiration and he quickly finished. There was so much room for more. Even a sequel could have come and I certainly would have read it. As I have stated upon reflection the basic premise is remarkably viable but the background to what they planned after was weak in the extreme. I found myself questioning not the elaborate escape but the loose and undeveloped plans they had been following since the end of WWII. In short this was good fun but could have been truly brilliant and that is a shame. If I was the author I would do a rewrite and perhaps follow Eva and Klara to South America. Maybe they do not even leave Europe. Perhaps the network the Nazis in Germany and other parts of a Europe dominated by Americans or even including rabid anti communist Americans could be fleshed out. This no electronic had scope for so much more. I doubt very much Irving Wallace will ever read this but if he does...... realise this stories potential.
June 29, 2024
Adolf Hitler's invasion of Poland in September 1939 drove Great Britain and France to declare war on Germany, marking the beginning of World War II. Over the next six years, the conflict took more lives and destroyed more land and property around the globe than any previous war. Sensing that Berlin might fall at the hands of advancing Allied forces, Hitler, chancellor and dictator of Nazi Germany committed suicide via a gunshot on the head in the Führerbunker on 30th April, 1945. His wife Eva Braun, too, swallowed cyanide and fell dead by his side at the same time. Both the bodies were buried in a bunker and shifted to a nearby crater and burned, as per the wish of Hitler to avoid humiliation and disgrace, were they captured alive by the Russian soldiers. This is history.
Irving Wallace, the glittering American novelist took a glimpse from this dark history and formed a plot for his novel “The Seventh Secret “ that was given to the reading public in 1986. An interesting and gripping story from the beginning till the end.
Dr. Harrison Ashcroft, a renowned historian of Oxford University is on the project of writing Hitler’s biography in collaboration with his daughter, Emily, who is also a historian at that famed university. He gets a vital information on Hitler’s suicide from one of the dentists, Dr. Max Thiel of West Berlin who had attended on Hitler himself in the last two years before the dictator’s unfortunate end. Dr. Thiel firmly believes that Hitler didn’t commit suicide and that was a cover to escape from the Soviet capture. Dr. Harrison proceeds to Berlin and meets Dr. Thiel. Dr. Thiel’s contention surprises Dr. Harrison. He, then, loses no time in contacting his friend, Mr. Otto Blauch who is in a powerful position - being the deputy prime minister of East Germany to obtain permission to dig the ground where the bodies of Hitler and his wife were buried and burned. The ground is in the East German territory. Dr. Harrison obtains the permission.
With his doubt on the mystery shrouding the death of Hitler getting confirmed after the meeting with Hitler’s dentist and the arrival of green signal from Otto Blauch to go ahead with the excavation of the bunker, Dr . Harrison Ashcroft gets excited. He feels that his dream project would be nearing completion. He shares his happiness with his daughter who is in London. In an outburst of emotion, he takes one step further. He arranges for a press meet, and shares with the reporters about the mystery and his proposal to excavate the Führerbunker. After the press meet, on returning to his hotel, he gets killed by a truck. The story begins momentum from here. Emily, after getting a letter from a journalist in West Berlin that her father’s death wasn’t natural while assuring her of any help in solving the suspense, proceeds to Berlin for twin purposes - to complete the avowed mission of his father and to probe into her father’s death. The journalist joins her. Irving Wallace introduces another character - Rex Foster, an architect from America. He is on a project of writing a book “Architecture of the 1000-Year Third Reich”. He has an appointment with Dr. Harrison Ashcroft. He comes across the death of the learned professor in a newspaper and gets shock. He tries Emily, daughter the late professor and learns from Emily’s secretary that Emily has gone to Berlin. He meets her in Berlin. Wallace introduces another track in the story. The track of Mossad Agents from Israel. These Agents, spread over Germany, South American nations and elsewhere in Europe under disguise are bent on obliterating the last vestiges of Nazis to wreak vengeance for the inhuman acts of the German dictator during his reign. These Agents are carrying on their mission surreptitiously and clinically - the mission of annihilation of the Nazi population. One of Mossads - Tovah Levine, a handsome lady, under the garb of a journalist joins Rex Foster and Emily. These three crack the mystery. I said simply these three crack the mystery. How much pains and troubles they undergo, you have to linger in the mesmerising pages elegantly crafted by Irving Wallace.
I just quote two paragraphs of the author (narrated through the character of Emily Ashcroft in the novel) that gives a gory account of Hitler’s barbarism.
“All those microscopic human facts on the one hand. Yet on the other, all those six million men, women, children he condemned to be stripped naked and gassed—each of them a mother, a father, a daughter, a son, a grandchild, wanting to grow older and enjoy life, yet each of them helpless and each of them murdered, until finally, finally, the bloodletting was stopped by millions of better, more decent people than Hitler, people who sacrificed years, even their own lives, to blot him off the face of the earth.”
“You know for a fact that Hitler’s Vernichtungslager existed. The extermination camps. Auschwitz, Buchenwald, Dachau, Mauthausen, Treblinka, thirty Nazi death camps in all. You know about Auschwitz, the most efficient, with its four great death chambers, two thousand helpless, naked victims suffocating and writhing in their death throes in each chamber every day, then being dragged away to have their rings taken off and dental gold fillings pulled out for deposit in the Reichsbank, and then the crematoria burning the bodies, with their ashes sold for fertilizer. The six million Jews and others gassed to death and fed to flames, the twenty million—real people—he caused to be killed during World War II, his utter cold disregard for the sufferings of his own followers, like the thousands he allowed to be drowned when he flooded the Berlin subways, and the million troops he allowed to be maimed or shot dead in the absolutely hopeless sixteen-day defense of Berlin. All of that was Adolf Hitler’s doing, and no one else’s.”
Each chapter, every page, every paragraph, every sentence grips the readers.
A consummate novel!
Irving Wallace, the glittering American novelist took a glimpse from this dark history and formed a plot for his novel “The Seventh Secret “ that was given to the reading public in 1986. An interesting and gripping story from the beginning till the end.
Dr. Harrison Ashcroft, a renowned historian of Oxford University is on the project of writing Hitler’s biography in collaboration with his daughter, Emily, who is also a historian at that famed university. He gets a vital information on Hitler’s suicide from one of the dentists, Dr. Max Thiel of West Berlin who had attended on Hitler himself in the last two years before the dictator’s unfortunate end. Dr. Thiel firmly believes that Hitler didn’t commit suicide and that was a cover to escape from the Soviet capture. Dr. Harrison proceeds to Berlin and meets Dr. Thiel. Dr. Thiel’s contention surprises Dr. Harrison. He, then, loses no time in contacting his friend, Mr. Otto Blauch who is in a powerful position - being the deputy prime minister of East Germany to obtain permission to dig the ground where the bodies of Hitler and his wife were buried and burned. The ground is in the East German territory. Dr. Harrison obtains the permission.
With his doubt on the mystery shrouding the death of Hitler getting confirmed after the meeting with Hitler’s dentist and the arrival of green signal from Otto Blauch to go ahead with the excavation of the bunker, Dr . Harrison Ashcroft gets excited. He feels that his dream project would be nearing completion. He shares his happiness with his daughter who is in London. In an outburst of emotion, he takes one step further. He arranges for a press meet, and shares with the reporters about the mystery and his proposal to excavate the Führerbunker. After the press meet, on returning to his hotel, he gets killed by a truck. The story begins momentum from here. Emily, after getting a letter from a journalist in West Berlin that her father’s death wasn’t natural while assuring her of any help in solving the suspense, proceeds to Berlin for twin purposes - to complete the avowed mission of his father and to probe into her father’s death. The journalist joins her. Irving Wallace introduces another character - Rex Foster, an architect from America. He is on a project of writing a book “Architecture of the 1000-Year Third Reich”. He has an appointment with Dr. Harrison Ashcroft. He comes across the death of the learned professor in a newspaper and gets shock. He tries Emily, daughter the late professor and learns from Emily’s secretary that Emily has gone to Berlin. He meets her in Berlin. Wallace introduces another track in the story. The track of Mossad Agents from Israel. These Agents, spread over Germany, South American nations and elsewhere in Europe under disguise are bent on obliterating the last vestiges of Nazis to wreak vengeance for the inhuman acts of the German dictator during his reign. These Agents are carrying on their mission surreptitiously and clinically - the mission of annihilation of the Nazi population. One of Mossads - Tovah Levine, a handsome lady, under the garb of a journalist joins Rex Foster and Emily. These three crack the mystery. I said simply these three crack the mystery. How much pains and troubles they undergo, you have to linger in the mesmerising pages elegantly crafted by Irving Wallace.
I just quote two paragraphs of the author (narrated through the character of Emily Ashcroft in the novel) that gives a gory account of Hitler’s barbarism.
“All those microscopic human facts on the one hand. Yet on the other, all those six million men, women, children he condemned to be stripped naked and gassed—each of them a mother, a father, a daughter, a son, a grandchild, wanting to grow older and enjoy life, yet each of them helpless and each of them murdered, until finally, finally, the bloodletting was stopped by millions of better, more decent people than Hitler, people who sacrificed years, even their own lives, to blot him off the face of the earth.”
“You know for a fact that Hitler’s Vernichtungslager existed. The extermination camps. Auschwitz, Buchenwald, Dachau, Mauthausen, Treblinka, thirty Nazi death camps in all. You know about Auschwitz, the most efficient, with its four great death chambers, two thousand helpless, naked victims suffocating and writhing in their death throes in each chamber every day, then being dragged away to have their rings taken off and dental gold fillings pulled out for deposit in the Reichsbank, and then the crematoria burning the bodies, with their ashes sold for fertilizer. The six million Jews and others gassed to death and fed to flames, the twenty million—real people—he caused to be killed during World War II, his utter cold disregard for the sufferings of his own followers, like the thousands he allowed to be drowned when he flooded the Berlin subways, and the million troops he allowed to be maimed or shot dead in the absolutely hopeless sixteen-day defense of Berlin. All of that was Adolf Hitler’s doing, and no one else’s.”
Each chapter, every page, every paragraph, every sentence grips the readers.
A consummate novel!
August 1, 2022
I have to admit: this is one of my guilty pleasures (and so much more compelling than "Fatherland" by Robert Harris!).
I've read this book multiple times over the past 3 decades and still find it very intriguing.
It's one of those so-called "what if" novels (in this case: what if Hitler survived WW II).
As I've read it in English and in German parallel this time, it took me a few weeks to finish both books.
I've read this book multiple times over the past 3 decades and still find it very intriguing.
It's one of those so-called "what if" novels (in this case: what if Hitler survived WW II).
As I've read it in English and in German parallel this time, it took me a few weeks to finish both books.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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