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Publisher's Weekly
In this lackluster effort by veteran novelist Cleary (this is his 34th book), the characters are superficial; the story is longwinded and implausible, weakened by attempts to evoke Berlin in 1939. Cathleen O'Dea has left Hollywood to make films in Germany with the hope of getting her Jewish mother out of Ravensbrueck. Cathleen's secret mission involves flirting with Reichminister Goebbels, who is in charge of movies under the Third Reich, while resisting his advances. As he grows more importunate, Cathleen confides in Sean Carmody, who agrees to help rescue her mother. The love affair between Sean and Cathleen and the facile solution to their supposedly impossible problem comprise the main plot. But it debouches into inventions about patriotic Germans who scheme to assassinate Hitler, a deluded British noblewoman hoping for England's alliance with Germany, the thwarted career of an American homosexual jazz musicianall developed in an improbable manner.
Library Journal
Berlin in the late summer of 1939 is a city filled with fear, mistrust, plots, and counterplots. American actress Cathleen O'Dea is there to film one of Goebbels's propaganda pieces. Secretly searching for her Jewish mother, she confides in Sean Carmody, a journalist from Australia who utilizes his contacts to assist and protect Cathleen. Another element of suspense is introduced through Helmut von Albert, whose military father is plotting to remove Hitler. Actual figures and events have been embellished with Cleary's fictional additions. Although his characterizations lack great depth, the novel provides an interesting, believable look at life in Berlin in the last days before World War II. Cleary is a popular, prolific writer, and this is recommended for most popular fiction collections. Ellen Kaye Stoppel, Drake Univ. Law Lib., Des Moines
Genre: Mystery
In this lackluster effort by veteran novelist Cleary (this is his 34th book), the characters are superficial; the story is longwinded and implausible, weakened by attempts to evoke Berlin in 1939. Cathleen O'Dea has left Hollywood to make films in Germany with the hope of getting her Jewish mother out of Ravensbrueck. Cathleen's secret mission involves flirting with Reichminister Goebbels, who is in charge of movies under the Third Reich, while resisting his advances. As he grows more importunate, Cathleen confides in Sean Carmody, who agrees to help rescue her mother. The love affair between Sean and Cathleen and the facile solution to their supposedly impossible problem comprise the main plot. But it debouches into inventions about patriotic Germans who scheme to assassinate Hitler, a deluded British noblewoman hoping for England's alliance with Germany, the thwarted career of an American homosexual jazz musicianall developed in an improbable manner.
Library Journal
Berlin in the late summer of 1939 is a city filled with fear, mistrust, plots, and counterplots. American actress Cathleen O'Dea is there to film one of Goebbels's propaganda pieces. Secretly searching for her Jewish mother, she confides in Sean Carmody, a journalist from Australia who utilizes his contacts to assist and protect Cathleen. Another element of suspense is introduced through Helmut von Albert, whose military father is plotting to remove Hitler. Actual figures and events have been embellished with Cleary's fictional additions. Although his characterizations lack great depth, the novel provides an interesting, believable look at life in Berlin in the last days before World War II. Cleary is a popular, prolific writer, and this is recommended for most popular fiction collections. Ellen Kaye Stoppel, Drake Univ. Law Lib., Des Moines
Genre: Mystery
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