Rating: 
Summary: Forsyth's best book by far!!!!!!
Review: After reading "The Day of the Jackal", I thought that there couldn't be a better suspense thriller than this, but I still hadn't read "The Odessa File". Its set in the early 1960's, where a young freelance German journalist comes across the personal diary of an old German Jew who's committed suicide. Reading the diary through the night, the journalist, Peter Miller finds out that the Jew was a prisoner in the Nazi concentration camp at Riga, Latvia during World War II. As he reads on, he's shocked by the graphic description by the Jew of the atrocities committed on the camp inmates by the camp commandant, Eduard Roschmann. Millers vows to track down Roschmann and bring him to justice. But while doing so, he comes across a super-secret organization known as Odessa, which protects Nazi ex-SS members from being captured and brought to justice. When Miller starts getting too close to the Odessa, his life is in grave danger. But he decides that it will end with him bringing Roschmann to justice for his crimes, or with his death."The Odessa File", as with all other Forsyth books, has a super-shocking twist in the end, where we get to know the real motive behind Miller wanting to find Roschmann. In the process, Forsyth manages to include The Beatles' short stint in Hamburg, the background of the brief Arab-Israeli war and last but not the least, Kennedy's assasination. As usual, Forsyth's factual knowledge is accurate to the point, and his research is deep and minute. "The Odessa File" is undoubtedly Frederick Forsyth at his very best.
Rating:
Summary: gripping classic mystery thriller
Review: A classic mystery suspense set in 1960s Germany. A journalist gets involved in hunting down a Nazi war criminal (the Butcher of Riga) who is being aided by a shadow organization called The Odessa (name an acronym, not geographical). With a plot that links to arab terrorists, Israel, and ex-SS men, it's thrilling and tightly crafted. Fantastic, and apparently based on much fact in the generals.
Rating: 
Summary: Skip The Last Half
Review: The author's description of Nazi attrocities is outstanding!!!!
It should be required reading for every class in Holocaust Literature. The book also revealed a great deal of information about the Jewish ghetto in Riga, Latvia that could almost be a book in itself.
However, halfway through the book I became very disappointed. The plot degenerated into a cheap thriller. Such a cleverly researched book should never have been coupled with such a poorly written plot.
The horrors of The Riga Ghetto recently made news because of an investigation by The Latvian Holocaust Commission. Unfortunatly, even sixty years after the horrors of The Riga Ghetto, The Government of Latvia couldn't overcome it's antisemitism and Abraham Foxman of The World Jewish Congress resigned from the commission.
Rating:
Summary: Forsyth's best book by far!!!!!!
Review: After reading "The Day of the Jackal", I thought that there couldn't be a better suspense thriller than this, but I still hadn't read "The Odessa File". Its set in the early 1960's, where a young freelance German journalist comes across the personal diary of an old German Jew who's committed suicide. Reading the diary through the night, the journalist, Peter Miller finds out that the Jew was a prisoner in the Nazi concentration camp at Riga, Latvia during World War II. As he reads on, he's shocked by the graphic description by the Jew of the atrocities committed on the camp inmates by the camp commandant, Eduard Roschmann. Millers vows to track down Roschmann and bring him to justice. But while doing so, he comes across a super-secret organization known as Odessa, which protects Nazi ex-SS members from being captured and brought to justice. When Miller starts getting too close to the Odessa, his life is in grave danger. But he decides that it will end with him bringing Roschmann to justice for his crimes, or with his death. "The Odessa File", as with all other Forsyth books, has a super-shocking twist in the end, where we get to know the real motive behind Miller wanting to find Roschmann. In the process, Forsyth manages to include The Beatles' short stint in Hamburg, the background of the brief Arab-Israeli war and last but not the least, Kennedy's assasination. As usual, Forsyth's factual knowledge is accurate to the point, and his research is deep and minute. "The Odessa File" is undoubtedly Frederick Forsyth at his very best.
Rating:
Summary: Kameraderie
Review: THE ODESSA FILE is one of Frederick Forsyth's classics. Cleverly written, meticulously researched, and absolutely readable, THE ODESSA FILE recounts the story of Peter Miller, a young German crime reporter who decides to infiltrate the secret Nazi support network in the early 1960s in order to discover the whereabouts of Captain Eduard Roschmann, "The Butcher of Riga," who sent some 80,000 people to their deaths in the Riga Ghetto.While Miller's outrage at the twisting of Germany by the Nazis is real and intense, his motivations are unclear...until the O. Henry ending. This is fine historical fiction, melding historical figures (like Roschmann)and fictional characters (like Miller) together seamlessly.THE ODESSA FILE is an intense thriller, and rates as one of the finest and most memorable works of its genre anytime and anywhere.
Rating: 
Summary: solid Forsyth material
Review: This is a solid contribution by Frederick Forsyth, one of the best espionage/thriller writers around. Odessa is a secret organization dedicated to furthering the interests of the Nazi regime in the post-World War II era, and the book is about one German's encounters with that group. Both how that German becomes drawn into pursuing Odessa and the revelation of his motivation for doing so make this book an excellent thriller. It is not quite on par with The Day of the Jackal, but it does come awfully close.
Rating:
Summary: Great Forsythe!
Review: One of the things I like about Frederick Forsythe's writing is that it is not overly florid. It is very detailed, matter-of-fact, and filled with suspense. I read the Odessa File as research for a book I'm interested in writing (which would be my fifth book) about the differences between African American and Jewish culture. The book interested me because of its revelations about the concentration camps. Of course, plenty other books give more detail about that subject. And the Odessa File is primarily about the organization formed to help former Nazi SS officers escape prosecution for war crimes. But I wanted to read it anyway. I think Forsythe is one of the few novelists who know how to combine all the proper elements -- style, characterization, and suspense -- in just the right proportions, to write fascinating suspense fiction.
Rating:
Summary: The best of the best
Review: This one is, in my opinion F.F's best book EVER!
Rating:
Summary: Nazi Germany after the War.
Review: Freddie Forsyth is clearly one of the best and this could be his best effort along with Jackal. Story takes place in Germany after WWII and involves the hunting of a particular ex-nazi who ran the Rigi death camp in Latvia. The pursuer is a free lance writer who has his own special reasons for the hunting. Two interesting things (1) The reason the German government was not diligent looking for nazis (natzii ?) after the war was because dead people don't vote but ex-nazis did (2) Tom Clancy said on C-Span booknotes he thought Forsyth was "the best". Nuff said.
Rating:
Summary: STUNNING
Review: Yes, that's right, it's even better than Jackal. It's an absolutely fantastic mix of fact and fiction, and it's tremendously accurate. Everything is tied up neatly, never leaving a doubt in the reader's mind. Great stuff by Forsyth. Five stars all the way.
|
