Spandau Phoenix

Rating:
Summary: This is Edge-Of-The-Seat Reading
Review: Greg Iles wrote an outstanding first novel. Intrigues, cover-ups,secret facist brotherhoods abound in this thriller. The characters are well written and the dialougue is believable. This one really should be made into a movie. The best and scariest part of this one is it all seems plausible. Read and enjoy. I'm going to start Iles 2nd work "Black Cross" today.

Rating:
Summary: Comic book without the pictures
Review: Have the reviews so far been written by the author himself? This is historically accurate and well researched? At the very least, Iles should have used an editor who knows something about the German language and German customs in general. To anyone who is familiar with these and also actually knows some history (not propaganda), this book is nothing but a juvenile attempt at imitating writers who do 'know what they write about' (Michener and Clancy are mentioned). The consistent errors (as opposed to typos) are obnoxious.

Rating:
Summary: Convoluted and way long
Review: History has a strong appeal to me, and I can suspend credulity as well as the next guy, but this one was really over the top for me. Maybe I should never read an author's first book after reading a later one first. Mortal Fear, Greg's later book, was excellent, even if a bit too long and involved with too many sub-plots. I was happy for Spandau Phoenix to (finally) end. It is as if Greg puts in a lot of research effort and doesn't want any of it to go to waste.

Rating:
Summary: one of the very best for a new author
Review: I came upon this book in Nov. 98. It is one of the best. I want to purchace anything esle that he wrote. His writting is "busy", but to point that you just have to keep reading I don't think that his imagination has any bounds.

Rating:
Summary: A present day climax based on WWII mysterious events
Review: I love an author's first work, and this is THE cream of the crop. Simply put, the people I recommended this book to hated me because they weren't able to put it down til 4 in the morning and would come to work with bags under their eyes. A real historic premise woven into a cloak and dager thriller that will make the hair on your arms rise. Superior writing style, the words flow of the pages. I tell every one I can about this book, and felt guilty when I received a 5 dollar rebate through the mail from the publisher. Ken Crawford, MD. ([e-mail]),Balt,Md.

Rating:
Summary: One Enriching Book
Review: I must say this is the book that made me fall in love with the WWII thriller, though its no actually a WWII conspiracy thriller, its close though. Its been tough though finding a book in the same sub-genre that meets the enjoyment I got from this book. This book and a segment of Unsolved Mysteries has convinced me that there was something fishy going on with the whole Hess mess. But anyway, this book has made onto the keep shelf of my book case, because I have already re-read it and plan on doing so many times in the future. Though I need to get a new copy, lent it out too much, and its now falling apart. Hope you take my advice and pick one up for youself.

Rating:
Summary: Very Disappointing
Review: I previously read Greg Iles' novel "Mortal Fear" and enjoyed it so much, I couldn't wait to read another book by him. To say that I found "Spandau Phoenix" to be disappointing is an understatement. I thought it was poorly written and silly. I also thought it was about 200 pages too long. Iles seemed to cram every cliché he could think of in here.

I hardly know where to begin to describe this mess. There is not one memorable character, good or bad, in this book. There is also no real hero either. Characters seem to come and go without purpose. A number of individuals who seem destined to play major roles either get killed or just disappear. It is not enough that the villains are Nazis, they also have to be sadistic and, in one notable case, child molesters. The "good guys don't fair much better other than, perhaps, Ilse, her grandfather, and a Berlin detective who doesn't really have all that much to do. (Question: since the name Ilse has the same letters as Iles, does she represent the feminine side of the author?) Also, no one walks or runs in this book. Everyone is too busy sprinting and dashing from place to place. Please!

Then there is the so-called plot. Anyone who doesn't spot the real Hess as soon as he appears in the book needs to go back to junior high school. Everyone is chasing the Hess diary, which, of course, is not written by Hess, but by the end of the book there are all sorts of copies of it floating around. People are being killed so they can destroy or publish it, and yet everyone seems to agree that no one will reveal what it says anyway. I guess none of the characters have heard of the New York Times or the National Enquirer, two publications that have probably never been mentioned in the same sentence in the entire history of Western Civilization. My personal favorite part of the book involves a character who has found the diary, hidden it in his apartment, and is worried about his wife finding it. So what does he do? He goes to the movies. Wouldn't you?

The last quarter of the book is pretty much a running gunfight. I found it especially hard to read because I had to stop every few minutes to roll my eyes in disbelief. Is everyone in this book stupid, or what? For example, one person is a sadistic killer, but when he is captured, no one bothers to check to see if he has a gun hidden on him. Also, it isn't clear why the Nazis don't win out in the end since the "good guys" keep turning on and, in some cases, killing each other.

I guess disbelief is the key for me here. I don't expect to believe everything I read in thrillers, but I do expect to be able to suspend reality. I never was able to do that.

So, if you want to read a good novel by Iles, try "Mortal Fear". If you want to read something good about Nazis, try one of Robert Ludlum's early novels, but forget about "Spandau Phoenix".

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic...right on up until the end.
Review: I read "Black Cross" first, and was extremely impressed with Iles skill in blending fact and fiction. It was interesting, too, to have Jonas Stern back. Having met him in "Cross" first, it gives me a better understanding of the man's motivations and personality.
This is one lengthy book..not that this is bad, but I somehow feel like someone who's gone to an "All You Can Eat", stuffed myself, and then had a tummy ache all night! Iles tries to stuff so much in this book that by the last third, I was having trouble remembering who's who, who got killed, etc. I also was confused at all the different situations between all these different countries..Russians/Arabs/Brits/Americans, etc. etc.
But one cannot deny Iles' expertise in this expansive, suspenseful tale. There are quite a bit of extraordinarily well-crafted action scenes, especially when Hess' fortress is attacked. One thing after another; there are tons of villains, all of them incredibly despicable; there are heroes where you least expect them; also heroes who turn a little villainous themselves when they don't get their way (Gadi, e.g.). Iles' finesse with characters is phenomenal, particularly with Captain Hauer; Ilse; Hans; Sparrow; Jonas Stern; Sergeant Schneider; Luhr; Pieter Smuts; and of course, the indomitable Thomas Alfred Horn/Rudolf Hess.
All in all, a terrific book, but I was extremely disappointed in the ending, not knowing what fate awaits Hauer, Hans and Ilse; and also by the "twist" in which one of the characters decides what needs to be done with the remaining copies of the Spandau papers. What in the world good would it do? Maybe I'm too "conventional"?
Anyway, Iles' two WWII historical fiction efforts are tremendous examples of this gentleman's talents.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Rating:
Summary: NO BALLET HERE!!!
Review: I read "Black Cross" first, and was extremely impressed with Iles skill in blending fact and fiction. It was interesting, too, to have Jonas Stern back. Having met him in "Cross" first, it gives me a better understanding of the man's motivations and personality.
This is one lengthy book..not that this is bad, but I somehow feel like someone who's gone to an "All You Can Eat", stuffed myself, and then had a tummy ache all night! Iles tries to stuff so much in this book that by the last third, I was having trouble remembering who's who, who got killed, etc. I also was confused at all the different situations between all these different countries..Russians/Arabs/Brits/Americans, etc. etc.
But one cannot deny Iles' expertise in this expansive, suspenseful tale. There are quite a bit of extraordinarily well-crafted action scenes, especially when Hess' fortress is attacked. One thing after another; there are tons of villains, all of them incredibly despicable; there are heroes where you least expect them; also heroes who turn a little villainous themselves when they don't get their way (Gadi, e.g.). Iles' finesse with characters is phenomenal, particularly with Captain Hauer; Ilse; Hans; Sparrow; Jonas Stern; Sergeant Schneider; Luhr; Pieter Smuts; and of course, the indomitable Thomas Alfred Horn/Rudolf Hess.
All in all, a terrific book, but I was extremely disappointed in the ending, not knowing what fate awaits Hauer, Hans and Ilse; and also by the "twist" in which one of the characters decides what needs to be done with the remaining copies of the Spandau papers. What in the world good would it do? Maybe I'm too "conventional"?
Anyway, Iles' two WWII historical fiction efforts are tremendous examples of this gentleman's talents.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Rating:
Summary: hard to put down
Review: I read this book twice that is how good it was. I enjoy the fact that it started out with excitement. If you enjoy thriller books then this is the book for you.