Black Cross

Rating:
Summary: A CROSS WORTH BEARING
Review: Greg Iles is a terrific writer. I have read his later books, which are gripping contemporary suspense stories. His career got jump started with this book and the previous "Spandau Phoenix" (which I haven't read yet, but am planning on starting soon).
"Black Cross" is an involving, complex story of trust, greed, love, evil, heroism, and change. As always, Iles' characters are superb, and not black and white stereotypes.
Join Mark McConnell, the pacifist, who joins in a suicide mission only to help defend, and finds himself in the position of having to risk the lives of innocent people to achieve a goal to save the invading Allied troups; Josh Stern, a daredevil Jew, whose bravery and macho charm, are equal to his selfishness and innate brutality; Anna Kaas, an undercover nurse, who has faced the horrors of the concentration camp and who realizes that she too must act to save more than the prisoners; Rachel Jansen, an incredibly brave, level-headed prisoner who watches both her husband father in law murdered, and then desperately tries to save her two children; and Wolfgang Schorner, the head of the camp who falls for Rachel and wants to help her, but who is still a murdering, consciously Nazi.
All of these leading characters are devastatingly real; but the supporting characters are stunning, too: Ariel Weisz, the "weasel" Jew who helps the Nazis; Frau Hagan, the burly woman who befriends Rachel and teaches her the tricks of the prison; Sergeant Strum, a heartless, mindless killing machine; Duff Smith, the arrogant general who recruits McConnell and Stern to do the bidding, lying to them in the process; Avram Stern, the shoemaker who also has another secret; and Ian McShane, the burly Scotsman who trains McConnell and Stern in how to get the gas bomb to the camp.
What a stunning book this is. At first, I thought I wouldn't get involved as I am not a fan of blending historic characters into fictional plots. (We have Churchill and Eisenhower here). But Iles is a genius. This is a great read and HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Rating:
Summary: Best adventure novel ever...period!!
Review: I remember Quentin Tarantino mentioning in a tv interview that 'Where Eagles Dare' was in his opinion the ultimate men-on-a-mission movie. Well, in that case 'Black Cross' is the ultimate men-on-a-mission novel.

I won't go into the plot (see other reviews for that). I also won't go into the book that much. I just want to give my whole hearted two VERY BIG thumbs up to this novel. It had Stephen King raving and I completely agree with him.

I understand Greg Iles moved onto other thriller subgenres with later novels and that's a shame. I read a few of them and 'Black Cross' still is his best work. Without ruining anything I think I can best describe this as Alastair Maclean pushed into overdrive, but besides that Iles also doesn't glamorize the war or forgets it's horrors (the concentration camp where most of the action takes place is enough evidence of that). If it's Maclean, than cross him with 'Schindler's List' and you get the idea.

I read this book last Christmas and from page one (a flash forward to 1995 so to call) it had me hooked. All I can say is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!

Rating:
Summary: Thrilling and chilling
Review: I've now read all of Greg Iles' books, and Black Cross just might be his best. Black Cross, along with Spandau Phoenix, are unlike his more recent efforts in that they relate to WWII and mix actual history with fiction to come up with an exciting story that could actually be true.
Black Cross is the story of an American pacifist Dr. Mark McConnel and a Jewish soldier Jonas Stern who are sent to Germany to make the Germans believe the Allies have just as much poison gas as the Germans do. This is done to convince Germany that the allies will retalliate if the Germans use gas to stop the Normandy Invasion.
Black Cross stands out because Iles takes us inside a German concentration camp and lets us meet all kinds of characters. We get to know Jewish and Polish prisoners, sympathetic German nurses, spies, and even a German officer is made to look somewhat sympathetic. Iles portrays him as a soldier who puts up with the German brutality because he has no choice, and because it is his duty to fight for his country.
Iles also bookends the book with McConnel's grandson finding out the truth about his grandfather. So what happened in WWII isn't a secret, but is tied to the present. Therefore while reading, we want to know how everything turns out but you want to know what happened to these characters for the rest of their life. The conclusions aren't breathtaking or startling, but they are satisfying.
I do think Black Cross might have been a bit two long. The ending seems to go one and on until the mission is accomplished. Also some of the logistics of the plan seemed a bit far fetched. Like what were the German guards in the tower doing when all this was happening. But these are minor problems in what is a great novel. Maybe in the future Iles will return to this genre.

Rating:
Summary: Perfection, thy name is Greg Iles!
Review: This book has everything: history, adventure, espionage, even a dash of romance. It's a page turner, with not a wasted word, and is unbelievably gripping. Definitely worth staying up all night and losing sleep for. It's also thought-provoking. How do you cope with sheer horror on a day-to-day basis without losing your sanity and humanity? Set in the concentration camps of WWII, it answers (in its way) the question of why Hitler never used his stockpile of poisonous gas. Get this book NOW and spread the word!

Rating:
Summary: A Book That You Couldn't Put Down!
Review: This proved to be an outstanding book by Greg Iles. A Jewish warrior and a doctor from Georgia team up to destroy nerve gas that is bein produced by the Nazis in a concentration camp. This book portrays the toughness of the Jewish warrior by very ably pointing out some of the trauma that the Jewish warrior has been through. In a plan that is devised the warrior is teamed with a Georgia doctor to halt the production of the deadly nerve gas. The race against time will keep you on the edge of your seat.The final ending situation will give you bad nerves. This Jewish warrior shows no fear as he accomplishes his mission. I was very pleased to discover the warrior in old age in Spandau Phoenix. Read this book and you will become a Greg Iles fan also.