The Enemy Within

by Michael Dean

1941. Amsterdam’s Jewish Quarter. More than four hundred young Jewish men have been taken hostage in revenge for the death of a German policeman. The Jewish resistance group - the knokploegen - is fighting back and the Christian population has gone on strike in their defence. And Hans-Max Hirschfeld will have to make a fatal choice. As the Dutch Secretary General for Trade and Industry he is working closely with the Germans, but as a Jew he is also trying his best to help the civilian population. Hirschfeld’s nephew, Manny, has joined the Dutch resistance. When he discovers Manny’s plans to blow up the German cruiser Arminius, Hirschfeld knows he has to stop him in order to save any more Dutch Jews from being taken hostage, and ultimately killed. But with brother pitted against brother, and man spying on man, how can Hirschfeld stop the resistance without being branded a traitor himself? And how can he save the shipyard from sabotage without putting his nephew’s life in danger? As Hirschfeld becomes more and more embroiled in the plot he discovers that compromising with evil can have terrible consequences, and must learn to wrestle with The Enemy Within… "A gripping story or war and moral choices, rich in drama and historical detail." - Robert Foster, best-selling author of 'The Lunar Code'. Michael Dean studied history at Worcester College, Oxford and has a translator's qualification in German. He lived in south Germany for five years. He has written for television and now writes fiction full-time.

283 pages, Paperback

First published September 16, 2013

Reviews

[Ian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loosely based on the true story of Dutch resistance to the Nazi occupation, this is a well-paced thriller that builds nicely to a climax.

Some of the characters aren't quite fleshed out as much as they could be. Also the text of the Kindle edition is littered with formatting errors - misplaced paragraph breaks mainly - which detracts from the reading experience.

Presentation issues aside this is an interesting story of little known events.

[Rick Northrup · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Dutch fight back, sticks and brass knuckles vs guns

This book describes the terror of the Dutch civilians, to the Nazi occupation .They rejected Hitler,s offer to be part of the Reich, they fought with whatever they had against armed soldiers, even with thier fists. Even thought they had Nazi
Collaborators, they maintained their defiance, remained Dutch !

[Michael Bully · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's great that the novels highlights the magnificent February Strike in Amsterdam in 1941- when non-Jewish Working Class citizens supported Jews protesting against the seizing of 400 young men as hostages, and how this transformed into physical resistance. Also found the predicament of the lead character Hans-Max Hirschfield, the Secretary for Trade and Industry, trying to save as many Jewish lives as possible by outwardly appearing to work with the Nazis, whilst having a hot-headed young nephew active in the Resistance, depicted well. Knowing that the Occupying forces and their Dutch supporters would take brutal retaliation and Hirschfield faces crisis after crisis trying to protect his people. The tightrope Hirschfield had to walk,as different factions amongst both the occupiers and resistance were waiting for him to come crashing down, is skillfully conveyed. So far so good.
But now that the writer has got the makings of a great story, he seems to be unsure what to do with it. He moves the (actual) 1942 round up of Jews to the Westerbork Camp to the end of February 1941 , so he can do something with the characters. The ending becomes clumsy and awkward as a result. Felt let down.