Raven

Murray sets a complex tale into the existing historical sequence of WWII and without taking liberties with characters or public events weaves a wonderful story . The plot strains the imagination and yet has the ring of truth and provides an explanation which makes the historic events seem more plausable. The tight writing style demonstrates a high level of both skill and devotion to careful writing. The author lines up his story with the skill of hunter stalking his prey. His research into detail is refreshing and adds to the enjoyment of the book. Murray takes to the challenge of creating a magnificent, bold plot tightly woven into the history and politics of WWII. His characters and plot have the feel of reality. Highly recommended.

This book was simply amazing. It's a must-read for alternate history buffs and anyone interested in WWII. It is an established fact in most academic circles that Hitler could have won the war in 1940. But the man who commanded the Wehrmacht after the German invasion of France appeared to be someone entirely different from the pre=France Hitler. Murray proposes that he WAS different, that the British managed to kill the real Hitler in 1939 and install an imposter in his place. What ensues is a superb, tightly-woven tale that takes on more complexity than you could possibly imagine. Murray takes us through the war from the perspective of a German-born but American-raised Luffewaffe officer who is also an undercover British agent, and he puts a scarily real face on the world's most famous dictator. He sticks pretty close to the facts, and it's intriguing to follow the events that unfolded over the next five years through the viewpoint of the British, with every decision Hitler made being painted to look as if it'd been done solely to preserve British supremacy and survival. But aside from all the historical detail, the novel itself is an excellent, fast paced work of fiction with fluid plot transitions and real, in depth characterization. Murray gives the often-villianized SS soldier a human face, and he does it really well.

My comments below about proofreading apply to the hardcover version of this book. I have since learned that many of the problems were fixed in the paperback version, so I now highly recommend this book, but be sure to read the paperback version so you aren't distracted by the errors. Everything the other readers have said about the plot is true. It is an innovative, engrossing book and was hard to put down. You have a hard time waiting to find out how it is going to end. ----------------- I really enjoyed the plot of the book, but whoever proofread it did a really lousy job. Words that a spellchecker would have caught were not corrected. Words often did not belong in a sentence (as if someone had reworded the sentence but failed to take out some of the original words). Joseph Goebbels was referred to as Joseph Goebbles half the time. At least be consistent in the spelling even if your consistency is wrong! As another reviewer noted, the location often changed in the middle of a page. This occurred because there was sometimes no doublespacing to indicate a change of time, place, or person. I don't mind an occasional error, but this book was error filled. Either the author needs a good proofreader, or the publisher needs a good editor, or both. Errors slow the flow for the reader.

Raven is one of the most original WWII books I have read in a long time. Raven is a "what-if" book that doesn't travel down the treacherous path of alternate history. The what if is quite simple. In 1940, a British Commando unit parachutes into Germany, intercepts Adolf Hitler's train and kills him. The entire scheme is to insert a Hitler look alike to issue a single order: Cancel Operation Sealion - the invasion of England. Things get complicated when Archie the actor is rescued by the SS and stays for the duration of the war play acting as Hitler and directing the Nazi war machine in disasterous ways. This is a top notch book.

This book grabbed me from the very beginning and every spare moment was spent reading it until I finished. Murray's plotting is fantastic, the work of a real pro, and yet it fits extraordinarily well into the known facts about how Hitler actually conducted his end of World War II (and I'm a WWII history buff). Once you accept Murray's fictional stance that Hitler was assassinated in a daring British commando attack on his personal train and then replaced by a middle-aged second-tier British actor with an amazing facility for imitating him, you're in for a wonderful ride. I was constantly kept wondering how in the world this very frightened amateur spy was going to keep up the pretense of being the leader of Germany without getting caught and at the same time keep throwing spanners into the works of Nazi war strategy. It's a great read for straight spy/adventure enthusiasts as well as very subtle alternative history. I recommend it highly.