Hitler's Peace
Philip Kerr
Putnam, May 2005, $26.95, 464 pages, ISBN: 0399152695
reviewed by Harriet Klausner

In 1943, the leaders of the Third Reich conclude that they cannot win the war against the allied forces. Hitler wants to negotiate a peace different from the First World War in which Germany is left with dignity; Roosevelt demands unconditional surrender. Various plans offered by the Germans to the American fail to convince the President that the Russians will turn against the allies when the Communists feel the time is right.

Philosopher Willard Meyer works for OSS as a German analyst when Roosevelt selects him to scrutinize the Third Reich allegations against the Russians. Once a diehard communist who spied for the Russians against the Germans, Willard is now a super American patriot, who plans to learn the truth about reported German-Russian atrocities. Meanwhile German patriotic General Schellenberg plans to kill The Allies leaders in order to save the hinterland from further destruction in a losing cause.

Philip Kerr returns to World War II Germany, the setting where his stupendous Berlin Noir trilogy took place, with an exciting heart pumping alternate history based on allied and axis leaders making different decisions at key moments. Interestingly General Schellenberg and Willard Meyer share a similar zealousness for their respective country, willing to kill or die if necessary for their homeland. There is plenty of action in this exciting thriller, but the characters, real and fictional, drive the plot into a believable what if scenario told by altering perspectives.