Spandau Phoenix

4.1/5 ( ratings)

A long-buried Nazi secret erupts into a nerve-shattering nightmare, as fact meets fiction in this explosive international thriller.

In 1941, Rudolf Hess, Hitler's fanatical Deputy Fuhrer, shocked the world by flying on a seemingly mad peace mission to Britain. He was captured there, and after the war, spent the rest of his life behind the forbidding walls of Berlin's Spandau prison

In 1987, with that sole remaining prisoner's death, Spandau is razed, and the strangest, most mysterious chapter of World War II is closed forever...Or is it?

The answer to this question is a decisive and deadly no for Berlin police sergeant Hans Apfel. In the rubble of Spandau, Hans discovers a sheaf of tattered papers in a hollowed brick. It is the half-mad diary of Prisoner #7, known to the world as Rudolf Hess. And it holds the first shocking revelation of why Hess flew to Britain, and the terrifying dimensions of Hitler's boldest, most brilliant move at the height of his evil genius.

Thus the most vicious and momentous competition in the annals of international espionage is set in motion. In a Germany moving toward unity, in a Soviet Union falling part, and an Israel facing destruction, the most skilled players of the post-glasnost era will stop at nothing to seize the Spandau papers. Brutal violence, global intrigue, treason, and terror turn innocent bystanders into desperate combatants - in a world where nations battle for supremacy and trust is another word for suicide.

With unforgettable characters - including Sgt. Hans Apfel and his estranged father, forced to ally themselves against impossible odds; Hans' kidnapped wife, fighting to save her unborn child; and a driven Israeli agent whose country's survival depends on the contents of the Spandau diary - this riveting thriller moves relentlessly across time and around the globe. Its pulse-pounding action ranges from Germany to South Africa, from England to Israel, from a World War II conspiracy to its long-delayed but inescapable endgame - a Nazi dream that will not die. Greg Iles has written a brilliant epic novel that rips open the last great secret of World War II.