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Black Cross (World War Two #1)
by
Greg Iles
It is January 1944 ? and as Allied troops prepare for D-day, Nazi scientists develop a toxic nerve gas that will repel and wipe out any invasion force. To salvage the planned assault, two vastly different but equally determined men are sent to infiltrate the secret concentration camp where the poison gas is being perfected on human subjects. Their only objective: Destroy a...more
Audio CD, 0 pages
Published
October 28th 2007
by Brilliance Audio on CD Value Priced
(first published November 1995)
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In 2001 I conversed a bit with Greg Iles through emails and after reading The Quiet Game I told him I was torn between reading 24 Hours or Black Cross next. He told me he felt Black Cross was his best novel, so dilemma solved. Normally I wouldn't pick up this type of novel; wartime
action novels just don't appeal to me from a reading standpoint but I love war movies.
But as you know by now I'm a big fan of Greg Iles so I owed it to myself to read this. It's pretty good. It's about an A...more
action novels just don't appeal to me from a reading standpoint but I love war movies.
But as you know by now I'm a big fan of Greg Iles so I owed it to myself to read this. It's pretty good. It's about an A...more
Having enjoyed past books by Greg Iles, the author name and book cover caught my eye. Resting on a table, front and center at Border's gave me the impression it was a new Iles page turner; I was surprised to see it was from the last century.
This is a slice of life story, about a young American doctor working for Britain during WWII. As a pacifist, he is happy doing research, but his unique background make him a prime cadidate for a "behind the lines" last ditch effort to ...more
This is a slice of life story, about a young American doctor working for Britain during WWII. As a pacifist, he is happy doing research, but his unique background make him a prime cadidate for a "behind the lines" last ditch effort to ...more
This was one incredible book. The book is based during WWII at one of Germany's camps where different gases were tested. The book is a snap shot of England and America and their reaction to the rumor that Germany has perfected a gas for warfare. The allies send their brave men into the fray in order to save the day for the victims in the camp and the world at large. It is a hard and emotional read, Greg didn't pretty it up, IMO. But he did include moments of beauty and love within the horrors of...more
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This was my first Greg Iles book, so I can't compare it to anything else he's written, but I found it a decent page-turner with good characters and a reasonable premise. A lot of the historical points are truthful, which made the journey more believable, and I think he did a commendable job in both portraying the different factions (Jew, Nazi, Brit, American) and keeping them human. For me, the strongest portions of the book were the very beginning and the afterword, which contained the cleare...more
This story was quite a ride. Briefly, it tells how an American doctor/scientist and a German Jew partner together to stop a Nazi poison gas attack against the D-Day Allied troops. But I have to say that it seemed more than that. It seemed very realistic when everything kept going wrong and nothing was going according to plan. It felt like it could have been a true story. There was a lot of suspense. I'm not really good with suspense; if this had been a movie I would've covered my eyes at some pa...more
The story begins in modern day upon the deaths of a doctor's grandparents. A rabbi comes to the house and begins to tell a tale of how the grandfather, Mark McConnell (Mac), earned a medal during WWII. The story then moves back to take place in WWII as Mac, who is a scientist and a pacifist, teams up with a Jonas Stern, Jewish activist/soldier, to combat the Nazi devlopment of a deadly nerve gas with a commando mission.
The portions of the story that take place inside the concentrat...more
The portions of the story that take place inside the concentrat...more
This was a great book, telling the fictional story of an unassuming physician who risks everything to thwart WWII Germany's attempt to develop and deploy a powerful, never-before-seen chemical weapon. He must infiltrate Germany's death machine to complete a nearly impossible mission, knowing his death is almost inevitable even if he can. The story has many twists and turns as serious problems arise with the mission, leaving the reader wondering, doubting if the mission will prove successful, and...more
This is a very long book, but it held my attention from beginning to end. The main character, "Mac," is introduced as someone who has just died, and the story is being recounted to his grandson who had no idea of what Mac had done during the war. Because there were significant hints early on about what had happened, I kept thinking there wasn't much left to learn about. But I kept being wrong -- the entire story was full of little surprises, things the reader couldn't possibly have ant...more
I had read two book written by Iles before this one; Footprints of God and 24 hours and I really liked them both. I also have a large interest in history so my expectations were pretty high for this book.
The story is really gripping and feels very plausible. The Characters are very well written especially Stern; Mc Connelly and Schörner. They come across as real people, neither completely good or bad but in the grey zone like most of us. The action sequences are the biggest flaw in the book, th...more
The story is really gripping and feels very plausible. The Characters are very well written especially Stern; Mc Connelly and Schörner. They come across as real people, neither completely good or bad but in the grey zone like most of us. The action sequences are the biggest flaw in the book, th...more
This spy/action/suspense novel set during World War II is longer than most books I attempt to read. 560 pages. However in the audio version, the length did seem less. It did suffer from a few flaccid scenes, and an epilogue that felt like a cheat in a few ways. But despite those weaknesses, the vast majority of the chapters consist of prose which kept me reading, and wanting to know what happened next.
It does get a bit repetitive in the final third, though it does avoid monotony. I sup...more
It does get a bit repetitive in the final third, though it does avoid monotony. I sup...more
I have never gravitated towards the genres of World war II history and military thrillers. However, I did find myself enjoying this story. The most intriguing character to me was that of Anna Kaas, the civilian nurse who was trapped at Totenhausen. She knew her power was limited but rebelled in her own quiet ways. For example, she created a diary of the atrocities perpetuated by Doktor Brandt. I even thought her back-story had depth. I may not read another of Iles' stories if they are in this ve...more
An engaging story of an attempt by the British to fool the Nazis during WWII into thinking that the British had a full supply of nerve gas which would act as a deterrent to Nazi use of its gas supplies. The story is full of action. Characters are fully developed (and the reader -- at least this reader -- engages with them. Lots of twists and turns of plot add to the overall interest. This is a book that is hard to put down once you get started. A fun read -- not deep literature -- but rewar...more
I didn't know what to expect with this book and can't remember when I picked it up, but I couldn't put it down. A half-fictional book of an American pacifist Chemist and a Jewish rebel fighter thrown together on a secret mission into a German nerve-gas testing camp during WW II. It was exciting, yet grusome throughout the whole book. Based on facts and stories of the concentration camps. The Camp the story was based on was fictional, yet there were camps throughout Germany just like it, if n...more
This was my first Greg Iles book, so I can't compare it to anything else he's written, but I found it a decent page-turner with good characters and a reasonable premise. A lot of the historical points are truthful, which made the journey more believable, and I think he did a commendable job in both portraying the different factions (Jew, Nazi, Brit, American) and keeping them human. For me, the strongest portions of the book were the very beginning and the afterword, which contained the clearest...more
I have read many Holocaust novels. Although this one was far from my favorite (not my favorite Isles either, for that matter), the moral issue he struggles with - is deeply disturbing and moving. In school we used to do an activity for values clarification - you can only put 5 people in a life boat. Whom will you choose? This is at the heart of Isles's novel as well as the time honored war time struggle - to sacrifice a few to save many. Those pronouns - few and many - just lose their humanity!
This book grabbed my attention from the very first chapter. I knew it would be a good book...but after the riveting chapter 1 it does take a little while to get the characters all figured out and determine exactly what is going on....but don't give up. It is so worth it in the end. This was a book I couldn't put down. The characters are well developed. The plot is well thought out. I loved the very last line of the ackowldgements at the end where Iles says for the younger generations to re...more
This book was a combination of exciting WW2 espionage novel and sobering concentration camp tale, that really managed to balance off the two fairly well for a well paced, interesting read. A very unlikely duo is put in charge of taking out a concentration camp that is being used to develop and manufacture the two deadliest war gasses in the world, both of which are years ahead of the Allies’ gasses, and things get very exciting when they finally reach the valley where the camp is located.
A truly first-rate historical novel set in 1944 as the Allies prepare to invade across the English Channel but must first deal with the specter of potentially lethal poison gas counterattack on the part of the Germans. The result is the recruitment of an unlikely pair of civilian operatives who are dropped into Germany near the concentration camp/factory where the deadly sarin and soman are being tested and manufactured. This book is very difficult to put down.
A pretty riveting read told in the form of an older gentleman telling another person. The story goes back to WWII and becomes a thriller with an odd couple of "spies" who dislike each other, working to prevent an atrocity that may happen to a large group of Jews in a concentration camp. It takes a good while to get into the story, but once you're there, you'll definitely want to finish!
The first book I read from Greg Iles, Spandau Phoenix, was a page turner with many surprises and unbelievable action that kept me engaged. I was excited to learn that the character of Jonas Stern was also in Black Cross, this book was a surprising fast read that was very difficult to put down. Iles does a good job keeping the suspense until the very end. Highly recommended.
Interesting story of a pacifist and a mercenary teamed up against their will to man a raid into Nazi Germany to cripple production of nerve gases Sarin and Soman (developed by German scientists in the 1930s). Iles is similar to Steve Berry in that he combines a gripping fictional story with historically accurate settings and detail. I remember being shocked to see a news report about soldiers being taught to inoculate themselves against Sarin and Soman in the late 1990s. They are still some o...more
good wwii espionage thriller. I read so much about poison gas though I started having nightmares about it. I did feel it had sterotyped characters at time, ie: SS commander who falls in love with a Jewish concentration camp prisoner. I was glad that all of the main characters made it through though, I was sure some of them would be killed off.
I gave a good rating to this book because it kept me interested all the way through. It is a WWII story based on some facts. I stayed up one night and read for six hours. That is a record for me. Thanks, sister for sending me this one. I am starting anothe book by Iles now. I hope it is another good one.
I love Greg Iles books. All of them. This is a spy story, ...and a great book. The only problem is, ....I listened to it rather than actually reading it, ....and I worked on the computer at the same time.
I won't do that again. I missed big portions of the book as I can't do two things at once.
I won't do that again. I missed big portions of the book as I can't do two things at once.
The story is told to us by a Rabbi, who describes the story to the son of the main character. The Rabbi tells the son that he must tell him the entire story, otherwise the end would not be believable. Too much hype, not enough actually being unbelievable. Still, a good solid story nonetheless.
I haven't read anything this detailed about daily life in concentration camps. It's horrifying - no surprise of course but truly appalling to realize the many many details of ghastly treatment that people thought up to do to other people, then planned, built, carried out. Even if you were doing these things to insensate material, it would be incomprehensible, so how they did them to other humans is just beyond me.
As for my opinion of the book, that will remain to be determined as I...more
As for my opinion of the book, that will remain to be determined as I...more
After 159 pages I put this down. I can see lots of action coming in the WWII setting, and I can see there will be some hard moral decisions. But I just couldn't connect with the characters well enough to want to go the distance with them
Not every book is for every reader.
Not every book is for every reader.
WWII Gen Eisenhower had a tight grip in mananging the war. Winston Churchil was getting scared of the posibility that the Germans would used poison gas on the invasion of Normandie Beach. The British send two persons, an American Doctor and Jewish agent to spread poison gas and kill all the prisioners of a concentration camp where the Germans were getting ready to give their high command a demonstration of how powerfull the gas was. The mission was a success. There were casualties but they ...more
I do not normally even read historical fiction. But this book was recommended to me by so many people that I went ahead and read it. It's been years since I read this book, but so much of it has stayed with me. Probably one of my favorite books of all time.
A young physician returns to his home town to bury his grandparents
& meets with an old friend of his grandfather's. From this old rabbi
he learns things about his grandfather that he never knew, most
notably, his service in WWII. Great Yarn.
& meets with an old friend of his grandfather's. From this old rabbi
he learns things about his grandfather that he never knew, most
notably, his service in WWII. Great Yarn.
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Greg Iles was born in Germany in 1960. He grew up in Natchez, Mississippi, and graduated from the University of Mississippi in 1983. He was active in a band called "Frankly Scarlet", but quit after realizing that the touring lifestyle was not conducive with his family life. Once no longer busy with the band, he turned his attention to writing.
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