Review: A suspenseful, action-filled Cold War thriller  -  4 1/2 stars
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 04 14, 2012
Note: I received Amongst My Enemies, by William F. Brown, as a review copy submitted to me by the author.Overall:  4 1/2 starsPlot/Storyline:  4 1/2 starsIn the closing weeks of World War II, German U-boat U-582 slipped into the Baltic Sea on a top-secret mission for the second-most powerful man in Nazi Germany. The boat was never heard from again. When the U-boat's captain turned up a few years later as an up-and-coming NATO official, American Michael Randall smelled a rat, since he had witnessed the U-boat go down with all hands. Soon, Randall was involved in an operation that would attract attention from several sides, including the United States, Sweden, Israel, the Soviet Union, and former Nazis in one of the first toe-to-toe confrontations of the Cold War.William Brown has written another first rate suspense thriller with "Amongst My Enemies." Think of the nonstop action of the 1960s film "Ice Station Zebra," add some Nazis and Israelis to complicate things, and you've got all the elements of a real page-turner.I enjoyed the story very much. I did have a problem with the scuba diving scenes in the Baltic Sea that led to the big climax. In the story, the divers went deep and stayed down a long time. In the real world, they would have likely died from decompression sickness (the "bends").Character Development:  4 3/4 starsThere was an ample number of characters to like, and an equal number to dislike. American Michael Randall couldn't return home after the war until he worked through the memories of the horrors he experienced as a POW. When he finally returned to the U.S., he met Leslie Hodge, the sister of a buddy who died in Germany. It looked like a romance made in heaven, but Michael had dark secrets that threatened to destroy their relationship.Heinz Kruger was a ruthless Nazi assassin who had a longstanding grudge with Michael Randall. He would have gladly killed Randall, but he needed information about the missing U-boat that only Randall could provide.And not to leave out the Soviets, the MVD (secret police) had plenty of reasons to make sure that no one ever found the U-582. It was all in the hands of Sergei Valentsov, a high-ranking MVD official whose career could either skyrocket upward or take him to the basement of the Lubyanka for his execution. He was desperate enough to take any risks to succeed.Overall, character development was quite good for a novel that was largely plot-driven.Writing style:  5 starsHaving read other books by Mr. Brown, I expected taut, well written scenes and lively, realistic dialogues, and I was not disappointed. After the big climax, the denouement added a little more drama and made for a very satisfying ending with no loose ends.Editing: 4 starsThe book needed another proofreading. I noticed a number of punctuation and spelling errors in the copy submitted to me for review.