Spandau Phoenix: A Novel Mass Market Paperback – 1 April 1994

Love the books

Greg Iles really packed the action into "Spandau Phoenix." I would have rated the book higher, but it is way too long and goes off on many unnecessary tangents. A tighter narrative would have made a more suspenseful, and enjoyable read. However, if you have the patience to hang-in through almost 700 pages, you may find this suspense thriller very worth while.Berlin's Spandau Prison, where WWII Nazi war criminals were kept, was the last residence of Rudolph Hess, Prisoner #7, and Hitler's one time second in command. Hess left Nazi Germany in 1941 and flew a plane to Great Britain. His reasons, or mission, for going to the UK were never revealed. Hitler publicly called Hess insane for making the flight and parachuting into enemy territory. When Hess supposedly committed suicide in his prison cell in 1987, he was Spandau's last occupant. The prison was then scheduled to be destroyed. As crowds gathered to watch the demolition of this famous building, Berlin police were assigned to maintain crown control. KGB agents diligently photographed the crowd for later identification by the East German Stasi. Among the observers was an Israeli agent. A German police captain, in charge of the contingent guarding the rubble, unexpectedly finds mysterious papers hidden in what was Hess' cell. The papers were all written in Latin, a language he does not understand, except for the first paragraph, which is in German. The paragraph interested the police officer enough for him to bring the papers home to his wife to translate.Thus begins a desperate and brutal quest by the Soviets, British, Americans, and an Israeli agent for the Spandau Diaries - a search which leaves many dead bodies in its wake. Was Rudolph Hess really Prisoner #7, or did he have a double? Did Hess have a political agenda when he parachuted into Great Britain or was he really insane? Were members of the British nobility involved in a subversive plot with Hess and Hitler?This novel involves Germans, Russians, Israelis, British, Americans, South Africans, and Libyans. Iles' extraordinary tale takes the reader on a terrifying adventure into the past, which leads to the chilling realities of the present, that could very well result in worldwide nuclear war. His action scenes are so well written that they are almost visual, and certainly bring this drama to life. The main characters are complex and well defined, individually and in their relationships to each other. The ending will have you on the edge of your seat.In spite of the book's unnecessary length, and a confusing narrative at the beginning, I do recommend "Spandau Phoenix" to fans of mystery-thrillers and espionage novels. Bottom line - great plot and characters overcome any flaws.JANA

Delivered as expectted

Iles intricate attention to detail and careful construction of characters brings this story vividly to life. The book was engaging at many levels throughout the beginning and most of the way, almost to the end.Unfortunately, at the ending, the story does not wrap itself up nearly well enough. Readers are really left hanging with this one and the story badly needs another 150 to 200 pages to round itself out. One almost feels that the author - who is really one of the best in the business - ran out of steam about 3/4 of the way through and just wrote a few simple pages and put his pen down.(Slight spoilers below)The crucial storyline of the British interest in the Spandau papers is left dangling - how did things end with “Shaw” and the people he was working for and also how about the famous families of England who were embarrassed about taking the wrong side in the war?The Russian storyline was left dangling. Were they happy with the fate of the S papers and with various groups within German police?The storyline with the main German characters was left hanging - how did Hauer and Hans avoid false charges for murder when they returned home and also how did the German police overcome the presence of corruption within?What about Hans wife Ilse and her life after the adventure?What about the aftermath for South Africa where a nuclear bomb was detonated without any foreknowledge by the authorities of that country?What about Israel and the consequences of its learning ( from Gadi) of the plot to destroy Tel Aviv?The little thing with the S papers getting mailed to the Israeli displomat was hardly enough of an ending to satisfy readers who were obviously and understandably hungry to learn the fate of all the government interests and strong characters introduced throughout.Even the scene with Stern and Hess could have been much more intricate and detailed, although at least here there was some effort put in.My mass market paperback edition copyright 1993 had 695 pages. But a story with this many plot elements needed at least 850 pages if not more. Maybe Iles should have told the story in two books and not ry to crush it all into one?Iles is one of the most brilliant authors today, but he let down his readers this time…

A very meaty and enjoyable read, but for someone who understands German, the German texts are excruciating. The plot is good even if it overstretches one's gullibility and the characterisations are not as good as in Greg Isles' later books.