1945

Rating:
Summary: Surprising story..........
Review: Well, what do we have to say about this one ?
Anybody who have studied Otto.Scorzeny knows that he had a much better reputation than reflected in this book.
The story in itself is interesting, but unimaginitative.
It is the sort of what-if we poses ourselves sometimes in the discussion of what might have been.
Most, if not all, historians will agree that IF Hitler had crushed the Soviet-machine, he would not have the manpower enough to invade the Uk, or the US.
The US were at that time building up enough war-material to have countered ANY attack, what-so-ever.
The Germans could have stationed 2-3 million men in Mexico, and they would have been unable to conquer the US.
Please study some history, guys - this stunk !!!

Rating:
Summary: We need the sequel
Review: This is a very entertaining read. I really hate that the sequel has not been forthcoming. The main character in this book reminds me of a Chuck Norris-type character a la Invasion USA or Missing in Action. I think the scenario seemed possible given the exact circumstances described in the book and I would like to know the ending of the story. I want to encourage the authors to make the sequel an ebook like Stephen King has done if the publisher still refuses to publish the sequel.

Rating:
Summary: Tom Clancy imitation
Review: The premise of the book is intriguing, but the execution failed. This reads like a bad copy of a Tomy Clancy novel. Having James Bond-like special ops running during WWII is already a bit of a deviation from the period norm, and of course the good guys dodge bullets. It was light reading, though, and I got through it in a day.

Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable page turner, but a little uneven
Review: First off, let me say I'm not a fan of Newt Gingrich. However, I did find the idea of the story fascinating. I'm just getting into Alternate History and I like to compare and contrast these works with those of historians such as Stephen Ambrose.

The writing isn't bad, but it's fairly uneven. The characterizations are interesting as well as behind-the-scenes political and tactical manuevering. However, some of the dialogue seems out of place for 1945 and the characterizations and dialogue for the 2 women who appear in the story are just plain silly.

It's a good page turner and both authors appear to be quite knowledgeable about military hardware, but toward the end it does trend toward military geek-speak.

Too bad to hear about the sequel; maybe Newt can put it on his Web page ala Stephen King and you can download in serial form.

Rating:
Summary: Save yourself some time and some money
Review: Not a bad book, however keep in mind it is the first part of a series that has not seemed to have any more parts. So if you have a strong desire to buy a book that just gets a story set up with plot and some character development and then ends. It is sort of like if Star Wars had ended 20 minutes into the movie. If you like reading books and then making up your own endings then go ahead and spend the money.

The authors version of what the world could have been like in 1945 if the US and Germany had not gone to war in WWII was within the realm of posibility. The authors tend to sprinkle the story with names from the era without much rhyme or reason. A mention of a "great pilot" named George Bush. Sgt. York from WWI makes an appearance, etc.

Save yourself some money and get a different book

Rating:
Summary: Surprisingly decent, once the action starts
Review: I borrowed this and read it in a day, because, well, I had to go back to school.

Amazingly enough, I did enjoy this, up to a point. After the "gimme", it sets up an interesting premise (which I won't bother going into). Unfortunately, the dialogue and writing are atrocious, for the most part. I'm fairly sure real people did not and do not speak the way they do in this novel. Also, the writers are rather tech-happy, too much so for their own good.

Now, the saving grace in this book is the raid on Oak Ridge. Forschten/Gingrich wrote this very well, and I was deeply impressed. I also thought the political element (i.e. the locals taking to arms to defend against the raid) were nicely put, but not obtrusive.

It is unfortunate that the sequel, Fortress America, never found a publisher. Oh, well. Maybe in a few years, it will.

Rating:
Summary: VERY GOOD,NEWT & BILL.
Review: 1945,IS A VERY SUPERIOR PIECE OF FICTION. A little bit of brown nosing the Republican party here and there. But was a great what if story. How about Alic Baldwin as Lieutenant Commander James Mannheim Martel,and Arnold Schwarzenegger as Colonel Otto Skorzeny? Hey! it's all fiction,right? I would most definitely love to read chapter two. THANK YOU,JAMINJIM.

Rating:
Summary: Very good book... when is the sequel?
Review: The premise is very believable. Many times I myself have wondered why Hitler inexplicably kept his word to his Japanese Allies (for the first time in his career, he did what he said he would), by declaring war on the US. He had absolutely nothing to gain by this action. The plot line flows well, with Martel (hero) showing just enough self-conscious angst mixed with brilliant deduction. He is a very likable character. Some of the "unknown" (ie, not historical) characters are a bit thin, but not too bad. Come on guys, let's get that "to be continued" going.

Rating:
Summary: 1945 'The Big Tease'
Review: I really enjoyed this book. It was the first alternate history book I had ever read. As a history buff, I found it entirely plausible. The Isolationist factions in the U.S. at the time were doing a very good job at keeping America out of 'Europe's War'. If Germany had not declared war on the U.S., we very well could have continued to support the British and the Russians with what material we could send, but our military force would have been centered on Japan as fighting a one front war is much easier than fighting on two fronts. Some of the characters were a two-dimensional in their make-up, but for the most part believable in composition. This wasn't heavy reading, by any means, just an enjoyable story for those of us that like to think 'what if?'. The only down-side to '1945' is after the fast pace at the end of the book, there's NO SEQUEL! Give us a break, the story was left hanging in mid-air. What happen's next? Do the surviving Nazi commandos get out of the country or do they have to set down in the mountains to be possibly helped by Charles Lindberg and sympathizers from the German-American Bund? Does former-Sergeant York hunt them down with the help from the gang from the VFW hall and then have a final sniper-on-sniper confrontation with Skorzeny? Will the A-bomb fall into Hitler's hands? What, check back with us about five years later to find the answer to these and other questions? Throw us a line guys! Where's the next one?

Rating:
Summary: Really excellent sci-fi
Review: I'm not sure exactly how much of this book that Mr. Gingrich wrote himself, as he is listed as co-author with William Forstchen, but it is a suprisingly good work of historical fantasy.

What has been put together here is history as we know it with a few 'what if's' thrown into the mixture of actual events. The authors spin a believeable scenario that is in some ways very close to WW2 history and in some ways drastically different. All very entertaining.

My favorite parts were those dealing with air power. Anyone who has taken a look at the history of the war will know that Germany was very close to putting into production some very advanced aircraft, and in some cases had already used some very high tech equipment to fight the allies (like the ME262 jet fighter). In this book the Nazi's were able to develop their aircraft as they wished with the full industrial capacity of Germany to work with. The weapons that are used in this book are very plausable.

The name dropping is also very entertaining. By this I mean that the authors have inserted actual historical figures into this story as characters. It added a dimension of familiarity that was very easy to digest. Well, maybe the famous Sgt. that makes an apperance at the end was pushing it a bit but I still very much liked that part.

I can't give this book 5 stars because I reserve that for the true classics, which this definately is not. I did however give it four because it is what a sci-fi novel should be, enjoyable to read and well thought out in storyline.

Even if you don't agree with Newt's politics I would suggest putting that aside and picking this book up. It is very much worth reading.

Now if he'd only write a second one!